Underestimating Staff Time Commitment

Under-estimating the time commitment needed from staff to make the project successful

Risks6a2When implementing a new system, staff are expected to do more than their normal job functions. In addition to the tasks depicted in the diagram, the board and your constituents expect “business as usual.” In most cases, management knows that a new system implementation will push staff to work harder, but how much harder? Are there enough hours in the day to allow staff to do their normal jobs and also do justice to the new system project? Most association executives under-estimate the commitment needed from staff because they do not have the tools to do an accurate projection. They end up being surprised by the amount of time required from staff, and when something has to give, both the quality and timeline of the new system project usually suffer.

How to project the time commitment needed from staff

The Framework includes a state-of-the-art Staff Time Commitment Estimator that provides the guidance you need. After answering some basic questions about the number of people participating in the project from each department, the estimator shows the percentage of total available work hours that each department must devote to each phase of the implementation. The estimator displays assumptions about the number of hours per person required for every task in a system selection and implementation project, and allows the assumptions to be changed so that the calculated time commitment is unique to each association’s situation.

Graphs and charts show the percentage of total available work hours that need to be spent by both the core team and staff at-large. Armed with accurate projections on the time required from staff during different time periods, senior management can plan a budget for additional temporary resources, discuss imposing a temporary moratorium on new initiatives with the board, and provide other support that staff will need at critical junctures during the project. The Framework allows you to go into your project fully aware of the commitment it will take, rather than being blindsided and having to react to an overly stretched staff after it is too late.

The Framework provides the insight management needs to develop an intelligent resource plan

Risks7

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