Our team of consultants have extensive experience in effecting change across organisations, nationally and internationally, involving hundreds of stakeholders and upwards of a hundred sites. The tools and applications we deploy are a means to an end, not an end in their own right. We identify the uptake issues and risks upfront and ensure the appropriate mitigation strategies are embedded. Common issues include:
- Unavailability of "clean" data for initial upload or continuous refresh
- Confusion around ownership and version control
- The tool not being in a key stakeholder's interest or not providing sufficient benefit for uptake
- The end users being technology adverse or not have the time to learn how to use complex systems
Mitigations to these are all about the effectiveness of execution and the experience
of having done it many times before:
- We have a team of data specialists, who make use of sophisticated data cleansing tools for expedient data processing; however, getting the data is only the first stage - calibration to known facts is the goal for validity and repeatability
- Our approach is to achieve scalability, usability and reliability through the use of centrally hosted web-based tools
- It is key to understand the key stakeholders' motivations and needs - based on this, tough questions may need to be addressed
- Use of user led testing labs early in the project gives us timely information on how to make our tools intuitive for a range of users, including those who have never used a computer before
On an ongoing basis, targeted training is provided with accreditation to user and master levels as required, so that skills are transferred and solutions are fully deployed and embedded. A national team of facilitators, typically consisting of stakeholders from both the client and Concentra, is centrally coordinated. To aid this process a SharePoint site is hosted by Concentra, that contains sophisticated tracking and programme management tools as well as supportive information that is accessible as appropriate for each level of use. In order that any such initiative has full visibility, and the buy-in that is required to deliver full benefits for the client, Concentra also creates websites and a range of publications that are targeted at all levels of hierarchy as well as the national press.
