SHIS Bostäder, the social housing resource in the City of Stockholm, offers secure transitional housing for established and newly arrived Stockholmers who, for social or economic reasons, have found themselves outside the regular housing market. When discussions with us at Pythagoras began, SHIS’s had high expectations that they would be quickly up and running in the property system, and already at an early stage we noticed there was a good chance of success. It is also worth mentioning that during this period, SHIS introduced three new systems, one of which was Pythagoras, meaning that this implementation project was part of a larger digitalisation journey.
In this article, Joen Rey, Property Manager, and Camilla Sandholm, External Project and Change Manager for the introduction of the property system at SHIS Bostäder, share their best tips for those of you who are about to introduce a new system.
Camilla Sandholm och Joen Rey
Start preparations well in advance
“We started preparing the organisation early on, even before we went out to tender. It was important for us to get everyone on board, which made it easier when we had to set requirements in the negotiations”, says Joen Rey.
– Vi började arbeta i projektet innan vi hade av avtal med en leverantör för att säkerställa att vi var väl förberedda och snabbt kunde komma igång, säger Camilla Sandholm. Det var framförallt kring intressent- och riskanalys vi la fokus.
Invest in change management
“Implementing a system is not about IT. It’s about people.”
“We have always viewed the implementation as a business project and change management was on the agenda right from the start. Change management is important for creating a smooth machinery where everyone is heading in the same direction and wants to do so, to be able to reap the benefits of the large investment as quickly as possible,” says Camilla Sandholm.
Even though we humans understand that we need to change and want to do so, it is a transition and a demanding process. If users have previously been accustomed to working in a certain way, they need to understand why they must change.
Find ambassadors
“Before we started, and ongoing in the project, we engage in dialogues and inform our managers, whom we see as ambassadors for the project. It is important for us to generate enthusiasm for both the project and the system. Managers also need to be prepared for, and understand, that their employees are needed in the project and therefore need to be relieved of their regular duties” says Joen Rey. “The project team composition is important, and we have engaged competent and committed people from the organisation, who are also strong and positive ambassadors for the project.”
Form a strategy and communication plan
“At an early stage, we made a joint communication strategy for our three implementation projects and were able to use it to create communication plans with clear activities. We felt confident throughout the project as we could lean on our strategy and remind each other why we are doing and what we are doing. The communication plan was valuable as it kept us all updated and engaged”, says Camilla Sandholm. “Those who do not understand why, will find it difficult to prioritise the project.”
Conduct a stakeholder analysis
“Our initial stakeholder analysis was very useful for us when we entered the project,” says Camilla Sandholm. “It´s important to understand our stakeholders’ needs and prioritise them in order to identify risks, and plan training and communication initiatives. This became an important component in the project and enabled us to reach decisions more quickly. For example, we analysed user needs, IT maturity, previous experiences, etc. This is a task that we as customers need to do ourselves, and it has facilitated our dialogue and decision-making together with Pythagoras.”
Create a structure for good and quick decisions
“When the implementation project started, we had appointed an internal project group and a steering group. We wanted the project group to involve people from the line who would be using the system in the end. We chose competent and driven people who thought this was exciting and who could gain the trust of management so they could take own decisions to a certain extent”, says Joen Rey.
The project group also included project managers from Pythagoras.
“The steering group included individuals who were responsible for making decisions but also for delegating authority to others. Both the steering group and the project group meet weekly. We have a joint steering group for our digital projects, and the project managers act as rapporteurs. This means that the project team never had to wait more than five days for a decision. In the steering group, we check how things are proceeding, risks, how employees are doing, what we can do to support them, etc.”, says Joen Rey.
The structure of a project and a steering group has been particularly vital with several implementation projects as part of a larger digitalisation journey.
Management owns the change
“The company´s management has taken explicit responsibility for the change and ensures that it permeates the organisation from top to bottom. All managers need to be ambassadors for the project and support it. We created a psychological secure environment for the project team to make certain decisions”, says Joen Rey.
“SHIS has worked extensively with change management, and it has been a recurring theme at the management meetings during the project. This has been a success factor for us to quickly identify if any actions are needed and engage in dialogue with the managers about specific needs of their employees and support them through the changes,” says Camilla Sandholm.
Celebrate successes
“When major changes are made, it takes a long time, and it is easy to get stuck on what is not working or only focus on what remains to be done. This causes you to lose momentum. To reach your goal, you need to maintain a positive energy, create psychological security within the group, and foster good relationships internally and with the supplier. We should be able to talk about everything, even the difficult things, says Camilla Sandholm. We are always recognising the progress we are making all the time, and we celebrate the milestones along the way.
