Back in September, we hosted a live webinar, How to Select the Right Technology for Your RIA. Our live webinar yesterday expanded on that. Now that you've selected your next technology solution, how do you successfully implement it? Jo Day, Co-Founder of Trumpet, Inc., went into depth about the 6 steps to successfully implement a new technology into your RIA firm.
Below are the first 3 steps. Next week we will present the next three. If you don't want to wait for part 2, feel free to watch the full webinar here.
Step 1: Select the Technology
Selecting the right technology for your needs is half the battle in getting your new project up an running.
We've written and spoken extensively on this topic. Choosing the right priorities, getting the right people on your team at the very beginning, and using the tools for success are all critical to achieving your project goals and hopefully becoming more effective and/or efficient because of it.
Step 2: Build Your Team
Once you've chosen the best solution, you'll need to gather a team to implement it. (Hopefully, some of the members on your selection team will transfer to your implementation team.) You'll actually end up having two teams during implementation – a design team and an implementation team.
At the head of both teams is the project manager.
In the design team, you want a visionary and someone who is good at playing devil's advocate. Having people on both sides of the spectrum can help get a complete picture of the project.
In the implementation team, you want to focus more on tech-savvy individuals (such as an IT manager or assistant) and operational people to help figure out the logistics. In both teams you want to have detail-oriented folks (often found in operations).
Step 3: Plan a Phased Approach
Implementing a large-scale technology project can be overwhelming and can be completely disruptive. In fact, Trumpet is in the process of moving to a new CRM now and most team members have already put in many hours to ensure their individual data is moved correctly and securely.
The best way to implement a big project is to use a phased approach. Putting the project into smaller chunks or mini-projects helps to keep everything in perspective, creates realistic expectations, and ensures achievable goals. A great side-effect is that it creates greater enthusiasm for completing each section or phase and an eagerness to begin the next phase.
For our CRM move, the first phase is to move everyone's email and calendar into the new system. There is already a lot of nuance and irregularities that our IT manager is dealing with, with only those two pieces. However, he has the capacity to stay focused and get everyone's email behaving before moving on to the next phase.
Next Tuesday we will share the rest of the steps for a successful technology implementation.
If you would like to learn more about each of these steps in detail and learn all the steps, click below to watch the recorded webinar.