Government Finance Officers Association
Research and Consulting Center
Consulting Report to
The District School Board of Pasco County, FL
Change Management Focus Group
Results and Analysis
October, 2011
District School Board of Pasco County - Change Management Report
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 ................................................................................Introduction
Chapter 2 ................................................................................Executive Summary
Chapter 3 ................................................................................Summary of Findings and
Recommendations
Chapter 4 ................................................................................The District’s
Change Characteristics
Chapter 5 ................................................................................Organizational Change
Management Roles
Chapter 6 ................................................................................Next Steps
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CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION
The District School Board of Pasco County (District) is planning on implementing the
Tyler MUNIS Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to replace aging technology,
improve and integrate its business activities, and to increase functional and reporting
capabilities. However, the implementation of an ERP system is much more that just
installing software. The system will provide the District with the opportunity to redesign
ineffective business processes, design policies and procedures that will facilitate smarter
business activities, and enable staff to perform more value-added activities. The
implementation of such a system will provide the District with the opportunity to
ultimately transform the organization’s structure into an environment that is more
effective, more efficient, and that better serves the changing needs of the community.
Implementing and supporting the MUNIS system will not be easy. A project of this scope
and complexity will require the District to dedicate extensive time and financial resources
to the success of the project. It will also require the management of project risk and
commitment of significant staffing resources to the project, all while maintaining ongoing
operations. The potential long-term benefit of these efforts can far outweigh its shortterm investment. However, as many organizations have realized, the success of these
efforts will rely heavily on the degree that the District prepares for and manages the
organizational changes that result from this strategic project.
The significance of the “people part” of ERP implementations is frequently undervalued,
largely because people have incorrectly understood ERP implementation projects to be
“technology projects,” perceiving that technology is tangible and relatively
straightforward to design and implement. Over time, professionals in both IT and
functional departments have begun to appreciate that ERP projects, while they do have a
technological component, are largely business improvement projects, which require
significant input and participation from the functional experts within an organization.
People have not always appreciated the transformative potential that ERP projects may
have, not only on technology, but also on business processes and the people that are
impacted by them. However, addressing the organizational needs of people as they go
through the changes associated with ERP implementations is often an involved process.
Therefore, a specialized effort is required to help the people impacted by such changes, as
they transition from a fragmented environment towards an enterprise culture. The
specialized activities and strategies that are used to support organizations through this
transition are known as “change management.”
Within improvement initiatives, change management (CM) serves several functions:
1) it should prepare people and organizations to maximize the opportunities and
potential of the future changes
2) it should serve as the primary vehicle for organizational communication, user
involvement, and training
3) it should mitigate non-technology risk and resistance, and shorten the time to
productivity increases and process efficiency.
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In a word, change management is intended to allow an organization to achieve the goals
and objectives set out at the beginning of the project. GFOA is pleased to support the
District as it continues to develop and refine its change management strategies and
activities, which will help it to successfully navigate the anticipated and unanticipated
changes and opportunities ahead.
It is important to note that at this juncture of the ERP project, the District has already
taken a few steps towards an effective change management strategy. First, it has
recognized the importance of change management and integrated CM activities, and has
taken steps to ensure that there will be a change management strategy and
communication plan integrated with other implementation tasks and activities. Secondly,
there is strong executive level support for the project, and a project governance structure
has already been established with the authority to direct the project team’s efforts and
assign resources. This active form of project governance is vital to building momentum
and assuring project team members and participants that the District is committed to the
project’s success.
The District is close to completing negotiations with Tyler, and it is important that
change management planning keep pace with the software implementation ramp-up that
is already starting to occur. In late September, we conducted focus group meetings to
explore change management topics and issues by functional area. This report is the
culmination of the data gathering and analysis from those meetings.
Despite its place as a milestone, it is important to understand that these first focus group
meetings are really a jumping off point for developing specific communication activities
that will be used throughout the remainder of the project. It will be increasingly
important to develop and execute these activities as the District moves towards
implementation. While there are certainly challenges (as any major project must contend
with), the District is well-positioned to understand and meet them.
Scope of Work
The purpose of this report is to lay the foundation for a strong change management
approach, and thereby limit the negative impacts of poor preparation and communication.
Change management can help positively shape staff attitudes and beliefs now and
throughout the project. Also, many of the organizational challenges that change
management seeks to address are often much broader than the ERP project itself, and
therefore must be immediately addressed in a systematic manner.
This document is divided into the sections below.

Summary of Findings and Recommendations- A summary of organizational
findings from the online survey, management interviews, and focus groups, along
with a summary of recommended strategies that the District may employ to
increase its opportunity for a successful implementation.

District Change Characteristics – A description of the factors both resulting
from and affecting the ERP project.
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
Proposed Organization Change Management Roles – A recommended team
structure within which the District staff will execute the change management
strategy.

Next Steps - A discussion of how the analysis here will be built upon to advance
the District’s ERP change management strategies.
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CHAPTER 2- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Within this Change Management Strategy, we provide an extensive analysis that will
help the District address the challenges that typically impact enterprise-wide initiatives.
The report also includes information that will enable the District to develop specific plans
intended to maximize the chance for project success. The following is a summary of the
information that is included in this report.
Summary of Findings and Recommendations
Within the Summary of Findings and Recommendations section of the report, GFOA
identifies the core organizational issues that may significantly impact the success of the
ERP project. GFOA also identifies a number of strategies that the District and the project
team may employ to address the findings that were identified.
Based on the focus group discussions, the following is a summary of our observations:
Summary of Organizational Findings
Finding #1 – There will be resistance, but not to the technology – There was very
little, if any, resistance to the idea of updating the District from TERMS 3.1 to the Tyler
MUNIS software. Instead, resistance will come from staff perceptions that they don’t
have time to learn a new system, have other things to do, do not have the right skill set,
and fear that they will make mistakes.
Finding #2 – There are conflicting communication needs – Most focus groups
indicated that they are too busy to be involved heavily in the project, but at the same time
want to have even the smallest details explained thoroughly. Providing necessary
information, gathering feedback, and ensuring that staff are prepared will have to be
balanced with the need to minimize the project’s impact on current operations. This will
require a diligent communications effort.
Finding #3 – Process improvement will be difficult, and there are strong cultural
elements that will be challenged – Efficient operations, supported by the MUNIS
system, will require a shift in roles and responsibilities that have been in place for many
years. For example, much more validation will occur at the time a transaction is created,
error correction may shift away from central functions and closer to the transaction itself,
and there is likely going to be more accountability and transparency across all functions
and departments.
Finding #4 – Training and support need to be addressed early Staff are concerned
about receiving enough training and support to adequately adapt to and take advantage of
the new system. While nearly everyone we spoke with expressed a willingness to adapt
to new standards and processes, they were also somewhat skeptical of the District’s
willingness to invest in the training and support needed to implement and sustain
improvements.
Finding #5 – There is a need to overcome skepticism The TERMS 3.1 rollout was
widely viewed by focus group participants as a disappointment, and as a result, there is
some skepticism amongst impacted departments that the MUNIS system will be better.
Steps will need to be taken to address that and build confidence in the user community.
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Summary of GFOA Recommended Strategies




Recommended Strategies
Strategy #1- Develop and implement a structured communications plan that will
be the basis of the change management team’s activities. This plan should include a
regular update at department head meetings, presentations on a rotating basis at key
individual department meetings, and use of a project web page or collaboration site to
disseminate information.
Strategy #2 – Increase executive and managerial support Staff will feel more
comfortable learning new processes and technology if they know that executives
understand the time commitment needed, are committed to process change, and will
provide the resources needed to be successful. Executive support needs to be more
visible and active in order to accomplish those goals.
Strategy #3- Set expectations on process change. While nearly all staff understand
that business processes will change, few fully appreciate the extent of that change and
the work involved in making it happen. On the other end of the spectrum, some staff
do not have realistic views of the time needed to realize ERP benefits, and may be
disappointed if their expectations are not aligned with project constraints and goals.
These areas also need to be addressed in the communication plan.
Strategy #4 – Begin developing a training and post-implementation support plan
now, augmenting it with vendor recommendations as implementation begins. Ensure
that the training plan goes beyond software utilization to include process and
workflow changes. Publicize this planning effort to help assuage users who share a
common concern about the District’s willingness to support changes in job duties.
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Change Characteristics of the District
Within the Change Characteristics section, GFOA provides the District with a summary
of the types of issues that must be considered as it endeavors to replace old technology
and improve its business environment. The section covers the following areas:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Scope of the Change
Number of Individuals Impacted by the Change
Type of Change
Amount of Change
Organizational Change Management Roles
Within this section, GFOA provides the District with a summary of the roles and
responsibilities that are common within the Change Management function. These
functions include the following:




Organizational Change Management and Communication
Organizational Training
Organizational Impact
Supplemental Change Management Support
Next Steps
In this section, GFOA discusses activities that will occur beyond acting on the
recommendations in this report. These focus on three areas:



Identifying and training change management team members
Ensuring that executive sponsors are identified and trained
Developing a detailed communication plan that builds on the strategies identified
in this document.
GFOA is pleased to work with the District as it develops a strong foundation for its
improvement success. We trust that the information within this report will support the
District as it moves forward toward establishing long-term improvements in its
technology platforms and business operations.
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CHAPTER 3- SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The section elaborates on the findings that were identified during our focus group
meetings, and provides a number of recommendations that the District may wish to
employ during implementation.
Methodology
GFOA facilitated 10 focus group meetings September 27-29, involving 112 District
employees from a wide variety of schools and departments. The groups were:
Bookkeepers
Work Orders
Payroll
Projects/Grants
Finance (District)
Information Systems
Human Resources (end users)
Human Resources (District)
Accounts Payable/Purchasing
EBARM
Each discussion lasted one to three hours, and by design, no managers or executives were
allowed to attend the discussions. Our hope was to avoid “politically correct” responses
and uncover specific concerns and issues. Participants in all ten groups were highly
active and willing to share their opinions and concerns, and the sessions were thus
dynamic and at times highly animated.
Overview
Although simply improving access to information through replacement of aging
technology is a significant benefit in and of itself, the District is looking to leverage this
effort further by improving its business operations through the Tyler MUNIS system. To
do so, it will have to address the challenges of moving to more centralized and
standardized functions and operations. Specifically, the District will need to establish an
“enterprise culture”, in which business functions are focused on addressing the needs of
the organization as a whole, and not only the specific needs of the particular departments
or schools. This paradigm shift will be significant, especially given the flexibility of
manual processes that many departments and their leaders have grown accustomed to in
performing their day-to-day business activities.
Getting organizations to “own” the improvement process is often the largest challenge to
the success of ERP projects. Many organizations mistakenly assume that “the new
system” will fix their problems, and that it will save the organization from performing the
hard work and making the difficult decisions that are often associated with making
substantive business improvements. Yet, the problems that need to be addressed are often
not related to technology or functionality, but are sometimes based upon organizational
dynamics, outdated policies and cultural issues - issues that no system can address.
To the credit of the District’s leadership, the ERP project has a strong level of executive,
managerial and staff support. As the improvement effort moves into implementation, all
District staff will need to understand that the ERP system will most certainly result in
positive technical improvements, but by itself will not make the operational
improvements that are needed to reach project goals. Staff will ultimately be accountable
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for investing the time, resources and hard work to yield those desired benefits, while
using the ERP system to facilitate and enable process improvements.
Observations and Findings
The following is a summary of the findings that were observed during our site visits.
Following the findings is a summary of recommended actions that the District should
take to address the findings.
Finding #1- There will be resistance, but not to the technology – The focus group
participants were very supportive of new software. In general, there was lack of
satisfaction with the TERMS 3.1 upgrade, with some participants indicating that version
3.1 was a step backwards for them. None of the participants indicated that TERMS 3.1
was a viable solution for the long term.
As a result, there is very little, if any, resistance to the notion of obtaining and
implementing new software. Participants who had a chance to attend software
demonstrations during the selection phase were enthusiastic about software features and
functions, and were largely looking forward to using a new system.
This is not to say, however, that there will be low resistance to the project. Participants
indicated the following concerns:

Not enough time – participants were concerned that there would not be enough
time to assist with design reviews, user acceptance testing, or deployment
scheduling. Additionally, they felt that there would not be enough time to attend
training and learn a new way of doing things.

Other things to do – similarly, participants indicated that the need to attend to
day-to-day operations would not allow them to participate in the project.

Wrong skill set – there was some concern that the new technology would be
overwhelming for staff who only have experience with simpler, character-based
systems.

Fear of mistakes – some participants indicated that there would be a fear of
creating errors, and that they might not know how to fix them in the new system.
Each of these concerns are very common in ERP projects, and addressing them requires
two strategies. The first is implementation of a communications plan that builds
excitement and enthusiasm for the new platform, and the second is having executives
send a clear message about expectations, resources and support. These are each
discussed in the next section.
Finding #2 – There are conflicting communication needs – The majority of
participants indicated that they wanted to have much more information about the project,
the software, new processes, and impacts on their job, and that they wanted the
opportunity to provide feedback to the project team. However, similar to Finding #1,
participants also said that they didn’t have time for high levels of involvement in the
project.
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Addressing this concern will involve creative communication vehicles that can provide
information and receive feedback in a highly user-driven way. As such, the
communications plan will need to use “pull” mechanisms instead of “push” mechanisms
where users can gather information and provide feedback on their own terms and with
tools that they are comfortable with. This has an added benefit from a resource
perspective, as some of the responsibility for adequate communications lies with the user.
Finding #3 – Process improvement will be difficult, and there are strong cultural
elements that will be challenged – The Tyler MUNIS system will need to work for both
the District and the schools, which have traditionally been at opposite ends of information
flow. Chart of accounts design, for example, needs to support District-wide reporting,
annual audit, and departmental manager needs all at the same time. In other words, the
implementation will need to focus on a truly enterprise solution that meets the needs and
goals of all the various users, departments and schools that comprise the District.
It was clear during the focus group meetings that there are at least some cultural gaps
between schools and the District. School personnel believe that District staff do not
understand how things work at a school, and how difficult it can be to meet District
demands for information. Similarly, District personnel tend to believe that they are a
service center for the schools, and that they have to “fix everything” even when schools
submit bad data, break business rules, or fail to process items correctly.
Although the project team is a long way from completing any design activities, in
GFOA’s experience, new ERP technology tends to push transaction processing out
towards the end user. Whether you are creating a purchase order, changing an
employee’s status, or generating a report, the tools to accomplish a task are generally
available to and the responsibility of the end user. The result, of course, is that many
business processes must change to accommodate best practices, business rules and
workflow.
GFOA strongly suspects that while system design, configuration, testing and deployment
will pose the normal set of technical issues, the cultural impact of the changes created by
the software will require a very strong communications and training program that is
supplemented by active executive support. The District’s cultural silos cannot be
overcome simply by introducing new software.
Finding #4- Training and support need to be addressed early. As noted earlier, there
is very little, if any, overall resistance to the District’s ERP project from a software
standpoint. However, a consistent concern arose during our discussions around the need
to support the user community in terms of training and post-implementation support. In
our discussions, those sentiments were focused on two areas:

Will the District commit the necessary resources to ensure that the software
works as advertised, and that training is thorough and effective?

Will the District develop long-term support structures to ensure that new
technology and process changes “stick” and become part of the District’s new
operating culture?
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Given the degree of process change that the District is likely to experience on this project,
it is crucial that users feel supported as they absorb these changes. Training and postimplementation support will be important areas for the District to address to respond to
that need.
Finding #5 – There is a need to overcome skepticism – As mentioned elsewhere in this
report, participants were by and large negative in their views of the TERMS 3.1 upgrade
project. In discussing details, several points were made:





Communications tended to focus only on the core group of highly impacted staff
System changes actually increased work in central HR, according to participants
Payroll saw no improvement from the upgrade, and calls for assistance from
schools and other departments actually increased
Query and report functions in TERMS are difficult
Training on TERMS was widely criticized as ineffective and insufficient
The point here is that this negative experience creates an expectation that the Tyler
MUNIS implementation will also be fraught with problems. Focus group participants
have not seen enough of the system to be convinced that it will actually meet the
requirements within project scope.
Recommended Change Management Strategies
Based on the previous findings, GFOA recommends the following actions to the District:
Strategy #1 – Develop and implement a structured communications plan. As
mentioned in the findings, the TERMS 3.1 upgrade suffered from inadequate
communications, user information needs must be balanced with workload impacts, and
process changes may be culturally difficult to implement. A formal communications plan
is needed that incorporates the following elements:





The content and purpose of the communication
The method by which it will be delivered
Who the intended audience is
The frequency with which the communication will take place
The person or group responsible for developing and delivering content
Additionally, the project manager and/or change manager should continually evaluate the
effectiveness of the plan elements, and be ready to modify them as needed. A good
communications plan is not a static document, but goes through changes based on
feedback from both the team and various audiences. The intent is to ensure that
communication needs are met for all audiences – enabling the project team to take
advantage of the broad base of support that it currently enjoys.
Development of a communications plan is already within scope of the project. Our goal
with this strategy is simply to accelerate its development and usage to begin as soon as
practicable.
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There are three tools that the District can implement almost immediately to further the
goals of this strategy:

Create a permanent item on any executive meeting agendas to update stakeholders
on project progress and answer any questions. This enhances visibility and
awareness of the project for stakeholders, and will also give project sponsors an
opportunity to remind senior staff of the importance of the project and
commitment to its success

Allow focus group participants to attend the software training that Tyler will
provide to the project team. This will act as a de facto demonstration for the
numerous staff who have yet to see the system, and will be another user
engagement point for impacted staff.

Create a project web page or collaboration site. Some respondents (typically
those with a less-direct stake in the project outcome) did not feel the need for
regular communication, but would like to be able to get a schedule of events,
contact information, or other static data about the project. By creating an online
vehicle for this, District staff from any area could be reminded of business drivers
and goals, see project status summaries and calendars, and generally be updated
on the project on their own schedule.
Outside of meetings, the communications plan must also reflect two-way communication
informally. Receiving feedback and answering questions is equally critical, if not more
so, than communicating project status. Such communication typically takes place on an
ad hoc basis, with staff encouraged to email or call a member of the project team with
any questions or concerns, although project team members should be available for
meetings as well. The project team must collect and summarize this information for the
project manager, and if necessary, the implementation, communications or training plans
should be modified based on that input.
Strategy #2- Increase executive and managerial support. – Many of the issues from
the focus group discussions touch on items that District executives can respond to
immediately and often:





Is the District just trying to find a way to eliminate my job?
Will the District provide me with enough training to learn the new system?
Will they help me balance my workload or provide backfill so I can help with
design or testing, or at least be able to go to the training classes?
Are their expectations reasonable? What if I have trouble with new processes for
the first few months?
Will the District invest in support? Will there be a help desk? Can I call
somebody for assistance?
All of these questions were asked at several of the focus group meetings, and they are all
perfectly reasonable. Also, they can all be addressed by ensuring that the Superintendent,
Assistant Superintendents, Steering Committee members, and other stakeholders
understand their role in change management and actively support the project and the
people impacted by it.
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Some communications, such as an answer to the first question posed above, simply must
come from an executive in order to be credible. Therefore, the communications plan
discussed in Strategy #1 must include vehicles for executive communication and
feedback.
Also, executive stakeholders need to be apprised of project status and key issues and
milestones. GFOA recommends that executive meeting agendas include a short item for
project updates, so that this communication can happen within existing constructs.
Finally, it is imperative that stakeholders understand their role in the project, the impact
that they can have on project goals and objectives, and ways that they can provide the
support and direction that the project team will need. To accomplish this, GFOA will
conduct a stakeholder seminar that covers these topics. We recommend that this seminar
be mandatory for stakeholders, as that sends a strong message that active and visible
support for the project is expected.
Strategy #3- Set expectations on process change. – Although this will be addressed in
the communications plan, we believe that this is a large and important enough issue to be
called out on its own.
Process change in this strategy focuses on the day-to-day transactions that every
department and school executes. Users and stakeholders will need to understand and
accept that the system will be configured to trap errors at data entry time, that other
functions within the District may have access to the same data, and that they will need to
take responsibility for the quality of the data that is moving through the organization.
This represents a significant cultural shift for the District. Currently, there is little
workflow or data sharing, and departments and schools typically hand off a process with
little regard as to what came before or what happens next. The integration and
standardization that comes with the Tyler MUNIS system will require a much tighter
working relationship between the District and schools. It will no longer be feasible for a
school or administrative department to say that “my part of this process ends here, and I
don’t know what happens after that”.
Below are several options to help various stakeholder departments prepare for these
process changes. Timing for these types of activities should be discussed ahead of time
to ensure that they are fully integrated with other implementation activities, and provide
the highest possible value to users.
In some organizations, these types of
communications have occurred before implementation begins, while in others they occur
as part of the implementation kickoff. Regardless of when they occur, the intent of these
tasks is to prepare staff for the standardization, transparency and accountability that will
accompany process efficiency from ERP:
o The project team can facilitate process review meetings with affected users to
analyze processes that are good candidates for change. This can be a follow up
to the job shadowing that the project team has already started.
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o The project team can prioritize and highlight processes that it expects to change
or otherwise be significantly impacted by the new system, and present those to
stakeholder departments and schools.
Within the communication plan, it will be important to set expectations for process
change in two ways. First, expectations can be set through communication channels such
as a project web page, department meetings, and informal communications. Secondly,
expectation setting can occur through user engagement and involvement.
There is ample opportunity within upcoming implementation activities to increase
involvement of users and stakeholders. Increased involvement is perhaps the best method
of increasing overall acceptance of a new way of thinking, and building a level of trust in
new processes as well.
In implementation, subject matter experts and department and school representatives will
need to assist with product configuration, testing, documentation, and ultimately training.
It will be vitally important that the process changes resulting from these activities be
communicated back to stakeholders, and that feedback from those stakeholders be
captured, assessed, and used to improve the overall implementation. This is a significant
effort, and may require a dedicated resource.
Strategy #4 - Begin developing a training and post-implementation support plan –
As discussed earlier, there was universal agreement that these two areas are of particular
concern for the District. The concern regarding training reflects the end-user view, not
the project team training that will need to take place to allow them to assist with package
configuration.
Tyler’s implementation plan should include a training approach and plan, and there
should be assumptions or recommendations regarding post-implementation support as
well. In order to evaluate those, the project team will need to have a going-in position on
training and post-implementation support.
The District needs to determine its training and support needs and resources, then develop
a baseline that it can refine later in the project. Will the District adhere to a train-thetrainer approach? Will the District allow project team members to stay on the project
after implementation for a period of time to provide post-implementation support? Will a
help desk be deployed? These are the types of questions that can be addressed early in
the implementation to allow for time to think through and implement solutions.
Resource allocation is another benefit of a longer planning horizon. Should there be
recognition and acceptance of the need for increased staffing for support, or a need for
reorganization of certain positions, the steering committee and other executive
stakeholders will need time to review and budget for those recommendations.
Finally, using feedback from execution of the communications plan, the project team
should continually refine the baseline training and post-implementation support plans to
reflect project progress and user feedback.
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CHAPTER 4- THE DISTRICT’S CHANGE CHARACTERISTICS
An organization’s cultural and business characteristics suggest the magnitude of the
change that will be occurring and, as a result, the magnitude of the needed change
management effort. To understand the level of change that is required, it is important to
first understand how technology and business improvement projects can impact
organizations. Most impacts from business improvement projects fall within four
categories: wide, narrow, shallow and deep. The following table illustrates examples of
business improvement activities and the range of impacts that they can have within an
organization.
Scope of Change
Range of Organizational Impacts
District-wide email
Wide system
ERP Projects
Dept. upgrade to
Microsoft Office
Narrow 2010
Shallow
New Bus Maintenance
System
Deep
Depth of Change
As illustrated above, ERP projects often have wide and deep functional impacts to an
organization, as many members of the organization are required to make significant
changes to their business environment to accommodate the new system. This is in
contrast to the implementation of, for example, a new work order system for bus
maintenance, which may have significant functional impacts to a specific business
environment, or a new email system, which may have minor functional impacts to many
users throughout the organization. Because ERP systems have functionality that impacts
many if not most departments (i.e. - every department has HR and Payroll business
activities), it is likely that an ERP project will require significant organizational change
throughout the District.
Change Characteristics
There are four essential change characteristics that are considered when determining the
level of change that is required for an organization: 1) scope of the change; 2) the number
of individuals impacted by the change; 3) the type of change (i.e., what is being
changed); and 4) the amount of change to occur. This section will describe the District
along these four characteristics, and then will conclude with analysis of the magnitude of
the change facing the District.
Scope of the Change
The scope of the change describes the areas of the organization that will be impacted by
the change. Scope is important because, as project scope increases, the requirements to
manage the organizational impacts of such change can become more complex, and the
need for further change management resources and strategies can be required.
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The Project Charter includes a section on functional scope and each of the
implementation phases. Readers are encouraged to review that document as a companion
to this report.
The changes that the District will experience will not be limited to those of a functional
nature. The District will also be required to absorb changes in its policies and its
administrative activities. As the District considers reengineering some of its business
processes in the future, it will need to accommodate changes in how business processes
are managed, and how processes are either centralized or decentralized to maximize
efficiency or effectiveness. This scope of change can have significant impacts, which
must be accounted for in change management activities during implementation.
Number of Individuals Impacted by the Change
As change management is primarily about people, the number of individuals being
impacted by the change is a clear indicator of the amount of change management needed.
Increasing numbers of individuals impacted has the following implications relative to the
change strategy:
Depending on design and configuration decisions, deployment of the Tyler MUNIS
system has the potential to impact nearly every employee, if for no other reason than the
system that captures time records and produces paychecks is changing. Direct impact
departments include Finance (all divisions and work groups), Facilities, HR, Payroll, and
Information Services. Outside of these core departments, virtually every position that
performs Finance or HR related services (e.g. bookkeepers) within departments and
schools will be directly impacted. Any manager who typically receives or requests ERP
related reports will also be impacted, as the new system will likely provide tools for
managers to develop their own reports.
Given that all departments are impacted by these business services in some way, there
will be wide-ranging impacts on both central business functions and department-based
business activities as well. The District should treat this project as an enterprise-wide
effort with some impact to virtually every employee.
Type of Change
The degree of change that an organization experiences can impact the degree of change
management that is required. For example, while a simple technological change, such as
upgrading from one version of a word processing application to another, may only
require basic training for employees, a large number of employees are still impacted by
the change. To be sure, in this situation, no formal training program may be required if
the differences in versions are not substantial – employees may be able to learn on their
own, based upon their experiences with the prior version. However, if an organization
were required to move away from one type of application environment to a completely
different business environment, as will be the case at the District, this change may require
a more sophisticated change management approach, as people go through the
uncomfortable process of learning the new system.
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Clearly, the most visible type of change will be in the technology itself. In many cases,
previously manual processes will become automated. The current systems are several
generations older than the Tyler MUNIS system, and the look and feel, degree of userfriendliness, navigation, flexibility, and scalability will all be significantly different.
Those departments and staff that are unfamiliar with the latest desktop applications may
need to be given support in basic navigation skills on the new platform. The District
should account for this type of change as implementation moves forward (again, the
communications plan should address this area).
ERP projects entail significant changes to business processes, policies, job
responsibilities, as well as the enabling technology discussed earlier. This requires not
only training on the changes to these elements but also more general support and
counseling, especially for elements such as changes in job roles, changes in procedures,
changes in business rules, and changes in authority. The findings and strategies
discussed earlier are aimed at these less discrete and more difficult types of changes.
Amount of Change
The amount of change entailed by a project is typically expressed in terms of an
incremental versus a radical change. Radical change is more difficult to adapt to than a
change that is phased in incrementally.
Although this project will take place over two years or more, it is still associated with
more radical change. Currently, the District’s plans call for implementing core financial
applications first, followed by employee records, payroll, benefits and time entry
functions. Employee self-service, work orders, and staff development follows that. It is
entirely possible that circumstances arising during implementation may alter that
schedule. Our only point here is that how the District has chosen to deploy these
functions has a direct bearing on the change management activities that need to take
place.
While phasing clearly helps mitigate change concerns (as well as overall risk), the
changes are still significant enough to be called radical change. This is primarily due to
the likely introduction of a new chart of accounts, data and process integration, workflow,
and new analysis and reporting tools. Additional factors will include reengineered
processes, elimination of some paper forms, and elimination of department-level desktop
applications. These are major changes that suggest this is more than an incremental
improvement in operations.
Change management will be needed to help staff members understand the benefits and
opportunities of business process improvements; to promote the understanding of how
changes may improve businesses processes; to facilitate the resolution of issues that may
result in resistance among stakeholders who are adversely impacted by the business
changes; and to support stakeholders through the training and support process.
As with most ERP projects, making quick and significant functional improvements in a
collaborative manner will require significant change management activities, which
encourage stakeholders to work together for common interests, rather than for the
interests of their respective departments. This effort will also require continued executive
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leadership to encourage departments to work together in a substantive manner. This area
is critical to realizing the benefits of an ERP solution, and the area in which much of the
change management effort should be focused.
CHAPTER 5 - ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT ROLES
There are four key organizational roles to consider as the project moves into
implementation. The first is overall change management and communications, which is
the primary subject of this report. The second is training, an important component of the
change management effort. The third is organizational impact analysis, and the final role
is supplemental support, recognizing the important role that informal support structures
and external professionals can play.
This chapter presents a summary of these four functions. In terms of project team
structure, some governments combine these areas and give responsibility for all to a
single individual. In others, particularly larger organizations such as the District, the
scope or logistics of the implementation may dictate that the training role be filled
separately from the change management role, or that the impact analysis role be filled
from one of the core departments. In those situations, GFOA recommends that the
training lead or training coordinator, and the impact analyst report directly to the change
manager, to ensure that District-wide communications are seamless.
Change Management and Communications
The Change Management and Communications function requires leadership from project
management. Many project managers develop specific leadership roles for each of the
team leads in the implementation organizational structure, and taken together, the project
manager and team leads become the Project Management Team. While responsibility for
the execution of change management activities can be delegated as appropriate, it is
important that the Change Manager or other member of this Project Management Team
have the following responsibilities:
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Develop, manage and coordinate change management activities and strategies
Schedule and coordinate the frequency and logistics of communication activities
Develop and manage the Communication Plan
Review all project-related communication activities and products for quality
assurance
Ensure the development of all communications for the project
Develop and deploy “Resistance Mitigation” strategies
Facilitate the acquisition of resources for all change management activities
When requested by the project manager, report to Project Steering Committee on
progress and issues related to change management
Ensure that change management activities, including training activities, coincide
with other project-related activities
Ensure the success of specific change management activities and strategies
Serve as “spokesperson” and “cheerleader” for the change management effort,
coordinating with project team members to present information to stakeholders.
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Collaborate with other project team members to understand the issues that should
be communicated across the District
Support the change management leadership in managing the change strategy
GFOA understands that the District is experiencing some difficulty identifying a single
individual to serve as Change Manager. Until such a person is found, GFOA can assist
with planning, training and initial communications activities. It would be beneficial to
the District to find a small group of change agents to assist with these activities to allow
for knowledge transfer and to provide credibility to the end user community.
Qualities and Attributes that the Change Manager should exhibit:
 Well regarded by other management staff.
 Should be a proven project manager with a successful track record on past
projects and activities.
 Should be a member of in-house staff (i.e.- to the degree possible, the Change
Manager should not be an outside consultant; however, as discussed above,
pairing a knowledgeable outside change management consultant with an internal
staff member who understands the culture of the District can provide an effective
solution).
 Should have experience in contract management
 Proven experience in developing messages for various targeted audiences within
the public sector environment
 Excellent communication, presentation and facilitation skills
During ERP implementations, it is common (and encouraged) for the implementation
consultant to provide change management support for the project. This support person (or
persons) brings change management expertise and experience that the District employee
may not initially possess. Tyler’s Change Management support staff may provide the
District with assistance in best practice implementation, functional process changes, and
the ability to challenge the status quo with software-based process improvements.
Yet, while it is appropriate for both GFOA and Tyler to provide direction and expertise, it
is important that the change management effort eventually be led by District “insiders,”
with the organizational capital to get things done within the organization.
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Training
The Training function is responsible for ensuring that all impacted stakeholders receive
adequate training and support to successfully perform their roles within the new business
environment. The specific responsibilities of the training function include the following:
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Develop and manage the Project Training Plan
Work with implementation consulting staff and other project team members to
map legacy job roles and responsibilities to new roles within the new business
environment
Work with implementation consultants and other project team staff to develop
training plans for each impacted business role
Manage and/or coordinate all training activities (pre-requisite, project related and
on-going)
Schedule all project-related training activities
Manage the logistical coordination of all equipment and resources for project
training
Support the change management leadership in managing the change strategy
Qualities and Attributes of those serving in the Training role
 Extensive background in training assessment, curriculum development, training
coordination, and scheduling
 Experience in logistical planning and contract management
 Excellent communication skills
Organizational Impact Analysis
The Organizational Impact function is responsible for assessing the organizational
impacts (labor impacts, policy and procedural impacts) of the ERP system and
developing strategies that successfully address these impacts. For example, the transition
from the legacy environment to an organization-wide enterprise environment may result
in the need for further skill set training for certain job classes. Such a change to the
business environment may require the District to develop new policies and procedures
related to these changes. The Organizational Impact function ensures that the District
addresses these issues. The specific responsibilities of the Organizational Impact function
include the following:
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Work with Human Resources staff and project team staff to assess role-based
work impacts of working within the new business environment
Develop role-based job description “crosswalks”, which map legacy job
descriptions and responsibilities to new job descriptions and responsibilities
Work in collaboration with the project team and Tyler to ensure that training is
provided for new role-based responsibilities
Research labor-related administrative policies to assess the implications of the
new business environment on labor relations and activities
Confer with impacted stakeholders to discuss job impacts
Work with Human Resources staff and other stakeholders to develop policies and
strategies related to organizational impacts
Support the overall change management strategy.
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Qualities and Attributes of those serving in the Organizational Impact Function
 Extensive background in human resources management and labor relations
 Typically a member of Human Resources upper management staff
 Excellent communication, facilitation and negotiation skills
 Detailed understanding of
o State of Florida and District human resources policies and procedures
o District labor agreements
 Well-respected among executive management and bargaining units
Supplemental Change Management Support
In addition to core project team staff, the District may consider employing other
resources to the Change management effort, to enhance and supplement their change
management activities. The following is a summary of such resources:
Department Liaisons- While not necessarily direct members of the project team, this
group is often critical in the change management effort. Department Liaisons are
typically mid-management department staff members that are well respected throughout
their departments, which have been designated as the project representatives from their
departments. They serve as the primary communication conduit for the project, regularly
attending project informational meetings and communicating project-related issues to
their department staff. The Project Team will regularly schedule meetings with this group
to provide status updates and to make them aware of anticipated changes. With this
information, the Department Liaisons ensure adequate department-wide communication
of project activities, and serve as the project champions within their departments,
regularly notifying staff of core project milestones, as well as anticipated process and
policy changes.
Training Professionals- Should the District lack the expertise or staffing availability to
develop an adequate training solution, it may consider employing the services of an
experienced training vendor. These vendors are well-trained in adult-learning techniques
and often have experience with training end-users in the use of a particular software
solution. This may result in better knowledge transfer to end-users as they learn to use the
new system. Such training services that are provided by training vendors include the
following:
 Curriculum Development
 Instructor-led training
 Training Deployment
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CHAPTER 6 - NEXT STEPS
While this report provides feedback through which the District may develop effective
change management activities, GFOA is also supporting the District in other activities:
Preparing the Change Management Team: As mentioned earlier, GFOA understands
that there have been difficulties at the District in identifying a change manager and
change management team. GFOA will assist by filling that role initially, and preparing
and conducting a half-day planning and training session for District staff identified to
assist with change management during the implementation.
Development of a Communication Plan: GFOA will assist in development of a
Communication Plan as described in Strategy #1 above.
Stakeholder Seminar: The long-term success of a project of this magnitude requires the
regular and open support of the Project Sponsors, the Project Steering Committee, and
other stakeholders. However, in GFOA’s experience, these executive staff members may
not fully appreciate their role in change management, and may not be as effective as they
would like at communicating their support of the project. The Stakeholder Seminar
identifies the recommended activities and strategies that Project Stakeholders should
apply to adequately express their support, and thus promote the long-term District-wide
support of the project.
Other Tools: In addition to the items mentioned above, GFOA will assist in developing
the following as part of the overall change management effort:
 Resistance Mitigation Plan: As the District proceeds with implementation, it may
experience unexpected resistance to process change. The Resistance Mitigation
Plan summarizes many of these common resistance strategies, and provides
counter-strategies that the change manager can use to reduce the impact of
organizational resistance.
 Coaching Plan: During periods of transition, managers often need support in how
best to support their staff through the transition to a new business environment.
The Coaching Plan will provide department management with recommended
approaches for supporting staff through the change process.
Altogether, the change management deliverables and strategies will help the District to
develop a strong foundation for success, along with effective plans of action to address
the findings described earlier, and to maximize its improvement efforts.
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