Switching to new association management software (AMS) is an exciting time for your organization. You now can embrace a software solution that evolves to meet your association’s needs, fully supports your staff, and offers a superior member experience.
After you’ve chosen your new AMS, it’s time to implement it. Implementation is a vital phase for your association as your AMS can elevate your entire organization. To ensure your new technology hits the mark, follow our guide for helpful tips.
How to set goals for your AMS implementation
After purchasing your new AMS, here are five areas you’ll want to consider before beginning implementation:
- Goals for implementation. Understanding your organizational priorities for adopting your new AMS will help you achieve success faster. Start by considering your top technological priority. Do you want to offer a superior member experience, or fully support staff needs? Set specific goals to better guide your AMS implementation process.
- Set a timeline. Do you have a specific deadline in mind for when you want to implement your new AMS? Setting a realistic implementation schedule will help your organization hit its goal sooner.
- Implementation team. Who is on your AMS implementation team, and will they be working during specific stages of the software adoption? Ironing out these details will help facilitate cross-team communication, easing the AMS implementation at your organization.
- Keep communication open. Aligning your internal team with your tech provider is crucial to a successful AMS implementation. When you keep communication open between your implementation team and your tech provider, you work to prevent any unnecessary roadblocks.
- Be ready to problem solve. Good problem solving is vital to a successful implementation. Is your vendor ready to challenge you as you implement new software? Elevate your entire organization with trailblazing software to support your staff needs and offer a superior member experience.
Choosing an AMS vendor that offers decades of experience with associations and a thoughtful approach to implementation will make a huge difference to the success of your new system. Finding the right tech vendor can help you build best practices into the implementation process, ensuring you get the most out of your new system immediately.
The secret to a successful AMS implementation
Without setting specific goals for your AMS implementation, your organization runs the risk of conflicting aims that make the implementation process more difficult. Here’s a real-world example:
During an association’s AMS implementation, the CFO had an aggressive deadline to end contracts with its old systems to save money. But business users were comfortable with the older systems and processes and had a hard time moving forward. As a result, the business users tried to replicate the “old way,” despite the intention to operate more efficiently by moving to the new system.
The IT team was stuck in the middle – balancing the needs of fast-paced leaders and business users who wanted to slow down. The AMS implementation team took charge, tasking key stakeholders to align under a common goal, and the association soon rolled out change management programs to progress its AMS implementation. After the project team aligned on key priorities, adopting a new AMS was a success.
Learn more tips for a successful AMS implementation
Ensure key stakeholders in your organization are aligned and focused on one goal will help your AMS implementation project succeed. If necessary, ask your AMS vendor to help align your implementation team or create programs to improve satisfaction with the new technology.
