Some company owners put way too much pressure on people when they are doing a system conversion. They berate their employees for not doing things right in the new system. They set unrealistic deadlines and they don’t give the employees time to really learn the new system.  During consulting engagements when I was called in to examine software implementations (not ours),  I have actually seen employees reduced to tears by the pressure.

This is no way to get people to change. When you are implementing a new system, you need to be as supportive and as encouraging as you possibly can. Change isn’t easy and there is no reason to arbitrarily add to the stress. Each employee needs to be trained on their job functions using the new system. They need time to practice so that they can fully understand what they learned. They need to be complimented on their successes and helped through their failures.

Using  Sample Company for all our training and practice is a very good way to avoid the highly charged stressed out behavior that causes people all this grief. The “go live” date should be a realistic goal and if the employees aren’t ready, they should be given a little more time if needed. If you choose a good system, you will have it for 20 years or more. Waiting one more month to go live won’t hurt you in the big picture.