Is your software sabotaging you? Depending on your software requirements approach, it may feel that way.
With the wrong software, you may find yourself overwhelmed with excess costs, trapped by limitations, even forced to reconsider how your business operates. It seems natural to blame your software—it’s not doing what you need it to. The problem, however, may lie less in your software and more in the way you chose that specific software.Be sure your software solutions will produce meaningful and valuable results for your business.
All too often, people make the mistake of choosing or designing software solutions based on the processes and systems they currently have in place, or via a list of features from existing solutions in the marketplace. One of the problems with making software decisions this way is that it does not take into account the nuances of your business, leaves little room for your company to grow or adapt, and may put you in a position where you’ll need to adopt new software again all too quickly. Ultimately, this approach often leads to software that won’t improve your business in any substantial way, typically with excess overhead and limitations. Making matters worse, all this may actually slow things down or force you to change how you do business. So, there has to be a better way, right?
Before you do anything else, you have to establish a vision for the area of your company which will be using the software.
Your vision is more important than you may realize.
It will not only guide you in choosing the best software solutions for your company, but it will be your benchmark to measure future success, to gauge whether your software is doing what you need it to, and to know when it’s time to reevaluate what you’re doing (before it’s too late), whether because you simply want to shift directions or because your company has outgrown your software.
That last line should help you realize something: the better you understand where you want to go, the further you think ahead, and the more you plan for changes and curveballs, the less you’ll need to modify or completely rebuild your software in the future.
This is why having a vision is so helpful. You can’t plan for everything, but you can deploy software that is ready for where you want to go.
Already have core systems in place?
Learn more about how to get the most value from existing software systems
How do you start establishing a vision for your software planning?
Instead of just thinking about your company in its current state, I want you to take a moment and consider the bigger picture.- What growth do you have in mind for your company?
- Is the way you’re currently running it conducive to that growth?
- What’s working with your current methods?
- What’s holding you back?
What problem are you trying to solve?
Now that you’ve shifted your mindset, I’d like you to ask yourself: “What is the main problem I am trying to solve?” or “What opportunity do I want to pursue?” You may even want to ask yourself both, as the two often go hand-in-hand. Do you currently have a problem where employees are unhappy with the time it takes to accomplish a simple task? Or maybe the same task is suddenly taking up a lot more time than it used to? Think about the problem your company is facing, your plans for growth, and how it’s affecting both current and future operations. Sit down, get comfortable, really put some thought into it, and write it down! This isn’t a frivolous activity; it demands thorough thought and effort. Consider every milestone you’re hoping your business will achieve and every possible hindrance to that achievement—again, think of both current and foreseeable issues.What does your company’s success look like?
Once you’ve established the main problems you’re trying to solve, you need to determine who understands this the best and can help define it.
Maybe it’s your Operations Manager, or your Sales Manager, or anyone else working directly with the issue at hand.
While you’ll want to keep your whole team involved throughout the process, this should be someone with the company’s best interests in mind, who you can rely on to help you get to the root of the problem without the bias of sticking with the status quo.
Imagine the ideal scenario:
You are able to develop a solution for any current problem without restraints or restrictions.
Forget reality for a moment! Don’t think about what can or can’t be done. Imagine what your perfect solution would be in an ideal world.
We’re not talking “magic” here, we’re talking more about a solution that isn’t encumbered by constraints, a solution that you could see working under the perfect circumstances.
Got it?
Even if your perfect solution seems impossible, it can help guide the way you go about developing an actual solution.
Now consider, what does success look like once the problem is solved?
What “Business Value” does your ideal solution provide?
This is where you really start to think about what matters to you as a business.
In your ideal solution, how is your business running?
Quantify (specifically or estimated) the potential impact of your solution using real measurements that are important to your business.
There are multiple ways to quantify this:
- Time measurements (like work completed in hours or weeks)
- Percentages (like an increase in your business’ productivity)
- Monetary figures (like an increase in revenue or cost savings)
