3 Things to Evaluate Before Signing Up For A New Software
Choosing the right software for your business can elevate your team’s processes, productivity, and collaboration.
Though, the decision-making process can be laborious. There are so many different software programs that can accomplish what you need. Choosing the right one means researching and carefully evaluating your options.
Use case for multiple processes
What’s the objective of this software? Is it to replace a current system that isn’t accomplishing XYZ in a process? Is it to ensure specific metrics are being tracked for this team?
Whatever the use case, make sure that the software you choose can fit your specific needs and either work within or improve established processes. It’s a cherry on top if the system can accomplish more and help improve several processes. For instance, an event production client of ours uses Intelligent. Intelligent is able to streamline its processes from sales to inventory management to billing and accounting. In this case, the software fits multiple department use cases.
Team Adaptability
How likely is your team to get on board with this new software? How will you enforce its use and how will you train your team?
Resistance to change is a huge factor in the failure of many software transitions and implementations. There needs to be a clear implementation plan that includes management support, employee engagement, and enforceable criteria. For instance, we specialize in implementing Monday.com as a task and project management system. We take the time to understand what the team is used to (Asana, MS Projects, etc.) and create a plan that will be easy for them to adopt and maintain. Though, it still takes leadership saying “this is what we’re doing” to help overcome team members that are hesitant or resistant.
Cost
That’s right, the last thing you should think about is the cost. If a system is expensive but fits multiple process uses and will be easy for your team to use, then it should be a no-brainer. Conversely, if a less expensive system works for what your team needs, then there’s no reason to waste additional resources on an expensive system.
For instance, I love HubSpot. However, there are many features with a subscription that my team and I simply do not need. So, even though it fits some of our needs and can apply to multiple processes, the cost isn’t worth it for us.Ultimately, the most important thing to remember is that your technology should work for you. With the new software, you’re going to have to adjust your SOPs to an extent, but any changes should have clear benefits to efficiency, productivity, and team collaboration. Anything that causes too much change (or requires too high of a price tag) without these benefits is not the right solution for your team.