Three Ways to Pave the Way for Employee Adoption of PSA

Investing in professional services automation (PSA) software is an important first step for an organization hoping to establish more efficient project delivery and obtain more predictable business outcomes. But the work is not over once you decide which PSA to adopt. In order to unlock the complete potential of your solution, you must approach the PSA implementation process strategically. That strategy must include processes and practices that will encourage user adoption – a tool is only as powerful as the people who wield it. Below are a few tips to ensure that the people actually using the tool are engaged and excited for the rollout of a new solution.

Three Adoption Strategies to Build in to Implementation

1 Have a clear benefit statement for software adoption – even before selecting

Communication is key – in order to achieve widespread employee adoption of the PSA, create a benefits statement that outlines the reason why your organization is investing in a software solution in the first place. Be sure to establish and share the business benefits you are expecting to achieve after go-live. This can include benefits such as achieving scalability, reducing overhead, or increasing business predictability. Be clear about how the software will impact different departments and roles throughout the organization – make sure it’s understood that this isn’t one department’s tool and that everyone has a specific role to play in its success.

2. Keep all users in mind during the initial project plan

Approach your implementation with a team that’s prepared to speak on behalf of every role and department that will be affected by the new solution. A PSA implementation team that includes stakeholders from only the services team, for example, will miss critical requirements from sales, resourcing and the back office, which will slow down adoption across the organization. If you run a consulting organization, involving someone who understands the needs of your consultants in the project planning will go a long way to ensuring consultants will use the tool when it goes live. Take time to understand who will actually be utilizing the tool and include representatives from those different areas of the organization in the actual implementation process so any potential challenges can be raised in a proactive manner.

3. Encourage a culture of decision-making before go-live

As part of preparing your organization for PSA, emphasize the importance of decentralized decision-making. PSA software helps to remove decision-making bottlenecks, acting as a single source of truth for all departments and functions. The focus of the application is on empowering each user to make impactful business decisions based on accurate data. Support this transformational aspect of PSA by encouraging a culture of autonomy across your business – that way, users feel enabled by the tool to make more strategic and thoughtful choices. If individuals do not feel encouraged to make decisions, the complete benefits of the PSA will not be realized.

Getting employees to adopt the software you select is the key to unlocking the potential benefits on offer and ensuring ROI. Ensuring adoption is more complicated than making an announcement or holding a training workshop – it requires full-fledged strategies that span the organization. To learn more, visit our Guide for Successful PSA Implementation which provides step-by-step suggestions for incorporating not just employee adoption but also reporting, configuration and integration considerations into your implementation roadmap.

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