Welcome back to Elevated. I'm Brandy Lawson, and today we're talking about something that separates the software winners from the software victims in the kitchen and bath industry implementation planning. You know, that thing that most people just skip entirely when they're excited about their new shiny software. I've seen this story play out across time and industries. A business invests in amazing new project management software, gets super excited during the demo, signs the contract, and six months later it's barely being used. The team has reverted to their old habits and the owner is frustrated about wasted money and everyone's blaming the software when the real culprit was the lack of implementation. It is like ordering all the materials for a kitchen renovation, but not having a construction schedule. You end up with boxes of beautiful fixtures sitting in the garage while everyone uses the old broken kitchen because no one mapped out the steps to actually complete the project. Today we're fixing that by creating your implementation roadmap, the step-by-step plan that transform software from an expense into an asset. Implementation success comes down to planning across five critical dimensions. Let's walk through them. First. There's the technical setup. This includes the nuts and bolts of getting your software configured correctly from day one. If a design firm skips mapping out their existing data structure to a new system, they might potentially end up with disorganized client records. That could take considerable time to sort through your roadmap might benefit from considering specific action steps. For initial setup, data migration and system configuration. And don't just write set up software, break it down to the concrete tasks. Export client database format according to import template. Validate data integrity, import to new system, verify successful transfer. Being this specific prevents the, I thought you were handling that syndrome that derails so many implementations. Second, integration planning. How will this new software connect with your existing tools? You don't wanna discover that the new rendering software can't easily share data with the specification system. Your roadmap could potentially benefit from mapping out what systems need to communicate with each other, who might be responsible for establishing those connections and how you might validate that data flows correctly between systems. Third training, sequencing. Not everyone needs to learn everything at once. The most successful implementations I've seen use a phased approach. Start with your power users who will champion the system, then expand to the core team, and finally bring in occasional users. Your roadmap should specify who learns what features and when. To prevent overwhelm, try a phased training approach. Perhaps designers could learn client presentation features first, then specification tools the following week, and potentially master advanced rendering capabilities a couple weeks later. A gradual approach eases the information fire hose that can sometimes cause people to resist adopting new systems. Fourth process adaptation. Your existing workflows will need to change to leverage the new software document, both your current processes and your target future state. Your roadmap must include specific transition steps for each workflow that's changing. For example, if you're moving from email approvals to an in-app approval system, your roadmap might include week one through two. Both systems run in parallel. Week three, new clients use only the new system. Week four, all approvals transition to new system. This clear staging prevents the chaos of a abrupt cutover. Finally, success measurement. How will you know if the implementation is working? Define specific metrics tied to your original reason for purchasing the software. If you bought it to speed up design time, measure that if it was to reduce errors. Track those. Your roadmap should include checkpoints for measuring adoption and impact. Let's imagine how a kitchen design firm might approach adopting new project management software. Here's what a potential 90 day implementation plan could look like. Preparation phase, this is weeks one and two, you're gonna designate an implementation owner, perhaps operations manager, then map out existing workflows and identify pain points. Next sketch, potential new workflow diagrams and plan for a data export and cleanup. Finally, start brainstorming custom fields and templates. Next step is the setup phase. So this could be weeks three through four. You're gonna work through system settings and user permission structures, then begin your data import process. You wanna consider accounting software integration options. And design role specific dashboards. Finally, test projects, run them through the system. Next up is the training phase. So weeks five through eight. Think about dedicating two days for core team training, then letting power users test drive real projects with support. Also create quick reference materials. Next, set up regular check-in rhythms. And record training content for future team members. All right, then we get into the transition phase, weeks nine through 12. So in week nine you can launch the new projects in new, the new system. Week 10, you'll start moving over active projects from the old system. Week 11, aim to complete the active project migration. And then week 12, you keep the old system accessible, but it's archived. Then let's talk about a potential measurement plan. So weekly you're gonna be looking at percentage of projects in the new system, monthly look at efficiency comparisons against the old baseline, and then quarterly your team and client satisfaction levels. With this kind of structured approach, a team could potentially achieve strong adoption within 90 days. They might even see significant improvements like reducing project coordination time by 30% by the end of their transition phase. Remember, this is just one possible way to tackle this kind of change. Every firm's journey will look different based on their specific needs and challenges. This week, you can start to build your own implementation roadmap. Head to fiery effects.com/choose and download the worksheet. Pick your next software project and fill it out. Focus on these key elements. Who owns the implementation? Name, a specific person. What are the distinct phases with clear timeframes? Who needs trading on what and when? How will workflows change and how will you transition them? What metrics will indicate success? Remember, the best software in the world will fail without a solid implementation plan, but even average software can transform your business when implemented With intention and clarity, next week we'll tackle one of the most challenging aspects of software implementation. Getting your team on board without triggering a mutiny. We'll discuss change management strategies that actually work in a creative environment like kitchen and bath design. If this episode helps clarify your implementation approach, share it with another design professional who's experiencing a software transition.