As we start a new project we do a number of business consultations with the client/company decision makers. During this period, one of the questions that comes up often – “How do we improve our IT systems?”.
It is a great question; one often triggered by the users’ dissatisfaction with their current software and/or equipment. The people who build these IT systems (engineers) are likely to have more technical knowledge than the end user. The same applies in reverse, the end user will have a level of operations and business knowledge than the IT systems engineers, which is regularly where problems originate.
Many times we see a large gap between software designed by software engineers and the users who use it on a daily basis.
So, how can the average end user report suggestions for improving their systems?
The answer is in helping users describe the current situation and raising a business case with their ICT manager or software vendor. Part of the Fortix Consulting Framework is the Business Case Model that navigates users through the process of describing gaps in the current systems, and then suggesting improvements, without the need for technical experience or knowledge.
The steps of the model are:
- Describe the current situation:
- What is not working well and why?
- What is the outcome of the current situation? e.g. costs, loss of time, high effort, customer dissatisfaction
- Who is affected?
- What is its priority?
- Do you have a possible solution?
- If you could solve this problem, please describe it?
- How would you know that the problem is solved? What are the objectives?
- How does this benefit our stakeholders?
These two steps have been proven to assist people with limited technical knowledge to suggest improvements and be involved in developing positive business changes. Business owners and managers will find that change management becomes easier when users are included in helping them identify and improve efficiencies in their operations.
For many years Fortix have been implementing automated business systems, and during this time we have continuously revised this model, making it a significant component of our business consulting framework.
If you are seeking to increase user engagement in your business, we recommend you consider this model. We have a complimentary business case template available for our readers. If you are interested please request one via [email protected] and we will send it to you.
