The key to delivering ongoing value
Microsoft Dynamics GP (formerly Great Plains) is a great product and when implemented correctly it can transform an SME business.
Unfortunately, what tends to happen in lots of organisations, following go-live, is that everyone just falls into a way of working. A number of people find working with any new system challenging and they generally just learn enough to get by and settle into the processes they have learned. This lack of continual process improvement restricts the benefits Dynamics GP can deliver and reduces your ROI going forward. But it doesn’t have to be this way, you can take a step back and review your processes for maximum impact.
How do I know if I should review my processes?
There are a few key questions we normally ask to establish if an organisation needs a review:
- Are any of your processes feeling overly time consuming?
- Do you or your team feel uncomfortable using GP for anything outside day to day tasks?
- Does it take you a while to find the data/transaction details you are looking for?
- Do you feel that you have to do a lot of things manually that you would have expected the system to handle automatically?
- Has your business or team changed since GP went live?
If you answered yes to any of the above, then you would probably benefit from a review of your processes.
What are the benefits of a review?
A review often leads to significantly improved productivity. By improving your processes and use of Dynamics you inevitably improve the efficiency of the team by cutting out unnecessary steps.
As your organisation changes over time, so do the processes that underpin your business and they need to change. A well designed project will take your future requirements into consideration but it is always worth revisiting this to make sure you are taking full advantage of any changes.
Your staff might change too. With these staff changes can come the dilution of knowledge. Once people move on, your in-house capability reduces. You need to continue to train staff on what the system can do and not just how some people use it right now. This should empower them to use more of GP’s capability.
Improved staff motivation, engaging your users of GP in a review process, can help them feel more comfortable with the application which can increase job satisfaction and reduce friction. This can also lead to wider productivity and cultural benefits by turning your staff into advocates.
How do I undertake a review?
The first step in getting best value from your existing GP application is to appoint an independent and experienced Dynamics partner or consultant. They will have the knowledge of Dynamics GP needed and will have the skills to capture your requirements. They will review your system, immerse themselves in your processes and run workshops with staff to capture your requirements.
They will then work with you to update all your processes in GP to streamline or automate where possible to make a significant impact.
Once you have updated GP and your processes they can also help with training. It is an important step to engage all users of GP to and ensure they are comfortable on how things should work going forward. This will include training of internal Superusers, delivering demonstrations, and creating clear documentation capturing all processes.
Visit our Microsoft Dynamics GP page to learn more about the services we offer.