Where do I begin?? Perhaps I should begin with an overview. My first tasks as the IT Director was to replace our ChMS (Church Management System). We were on an old proprietary system that we developed in the mid 90s. It was our 2nd custom ChMS from scratch. It was a Powerbuilder/SQL 6.5 app. OUCH! We looked at several options and decided that the best choice for Second Baptist was a Buy/Build solution. Buy the basics and Build the specifics. In other words, let’s not invest money in recreating the wheel, but build those things that can’t be bought. So we bought a solution called iMIS (a very extendable product) and built. the gap. The project proceeded through 5 phases for more than 18 months:

Phase 1: Requirements Gathering
Phase 2: System Setup
Phase 3: Testing
Phase 4: Reports and Training
Phase 5: Go Live and Post Go Live Troubleshooting

So here is what we learned:

1. Planning is the most important! Our planning included 99 hours of meetings in 30 days with 150+ staff representing 98 departments. We met with every department with representatives from every campus. We had 3 note takers, one of which compiled the final requirements doc (725+ pages) that detailed (1) our processes, (2) how iMIS would handle these processes, and (3) the gap items…processes that iMIS could not handle. This gave us a clear picture of what we were  buying and what we needed to build. In the end, we learned ALOT!! We identified many places where the same department was doing different things on each campus to accomplish the same goal. So right away we made a list of processes that needed to be reengineered and standardized across all campuses. We also learned a lot of what our staff was doing outside of our existing ChMS in Excel or Access. Most importantly, we had them bring copies of every report, letter, etc. that they were currently using along with screen shots of what was good and what wasn’t from the current system. By the end of the first phase, we had the following running lists: (1) List of Decisions Needed by our Executive Staff, (2) List of Gap Items, (3) List of Processes that Needed Reengineering, (4) List of Changes and New Processes to Communicate in Training, (5) List of Reports Needed. We had more lists than we could count…but it proved invaluable. Our goal was to let nothing fall through the cracks.

2. Training is 2nd Most Important and it Never Ends! Our pastor taught me a very important lesson 3/4 through our training initiatives….communicating and teaching are two different things. Our training program must teach our staff how to use the technology….not just communicate changes. It was imperative that our staff learned it and could in turn explain it to someone else. By the end of this phase, we employed the following tools to help accomplish this goal: (1) hands on training classes with live instructor (with quizzes), (2) laminated ‘smart cards’ or quick reference guides for each user, (3) 1 page how to guides published on our Intranet, (4) 2 minute video tutorials on common tasks published on our Intranet (used Camtasia for this), (5) one on one training sessions with the more computer challenged staff, and (6) onsite departmental based training. To encourage accountability, we provided our executive staff with regular reports on number of classes, number trained, and name and date of last login for our user base. This told us right away who wasn’t applying what they learned and we could then assist them.

3. Plan Before You Sign! Most software companies want you to start the planning phase after you have signed the contracts. Don’t do it!!! Negotiate the planning phase apart from the software license agreement. If at the end of the first phase you determine that there are too many gaps, then you are not contractually obligated to move forward (much less have already committed the money). If you don’t think the software is a good fit, then you already have the deliverables of a requirements doc to take to the next vendor….or for engaging in your own development if needed.

4.  Document! Document, Document, Document. Did I say document? Make sure you write down the decisions you make along the way and WHY! I can’t tell you how many times we said "what did we decide about that? Why did we decide that?" Rehashing decisions sometimes can be good, but they are counterproductive if you don’t remember what you decided and why. Make a list of all decisions you face, who made the decision, and why. Save all your documentation and use DT Search of Desktop Search to index your documentation….makes things easy to find later down the road. On a side note, create an offline pst folder in Outlook and keep every email you send and receive from your vendors. Make sure you save the pst file on the network for backup. Be careful though, my pst file has now exceeded 1.5 GB.

5. Don’t Publicly Commit to a Deadline! until you are mid way through the 4th phase (especially if you are doing any of your own development). Software implementation projects change like I change my underwear….daily (if not more often)! Managing expectations is a challenge and if you overcommit and underdeliver, you lose integrity and project risk goes up….because perceptions and expectations go down.

6. MOST IMPORTANTLY, don’t sacrifice your time with God and your family. You must keep this first and foremost. I failed on this many times during our project and it caught up with me. In fact, the final stretch of the project exhausted me and my whole team. I was actually laying on the floor ill on the day of go-live with chills and a fever. I left early, missed the go-live party, and didn’t return for 5 days. I had never felt that bad in years (had flu complicated with a sinus infection).

So there you have it….just a few lessons from the school of hard knocks. Hope this helps you in your next ChMS implementation. I certainly don’t want to do this again…for a llllooooonnnggg time, but the rewards have been plentiful to say the least. Nothing feels better than giving 300 users the tools they need to do the ministry that God has called them to do.

Serving those who serve…