A 30-day Roadmap For Transitioning From Spreadsheets To PSA Software

Instances of rounded and dropped hours multiply, leading to declining profitability, and resource management becomes exponentially more difficult, leading to overbooking, gaps and eventually consultant burnout. Not to mention ever-increasing non-billable admin time.

Switching from spreadsheets to dedicated PSA software is the obvious solution, but  how do you implement it without disrupting your organization? The key to successful implementation is using a phased, sequenced approach that enables your firm to operate without distraction. You must test both the software configuration and your new processes in a controlled but live environment so you can spot-correct any issues before they occur across the entire team.

The following is a 30-day roadmap designed to ensure that you avoid common mistakes, maximize adoption, and ultimately have a successful rollout of your new PSA software solution:

Week 1: Audit And Architecture

The critical first step in switching from spreadsheets to PSA software is to clean and prepare your existing spreadsheet data. “Cleaning” your data means removing inactive clients and projects, and any “test” data or unnecessary notes from your spreadsheet files. You’ll also want to standardize data as much as possible; job titles, roles, client industry and client size should all be matched to preset values so they can be filtered and sorted efficiently.

Within each spreadsheet, make sure that each column has one defined data type and range, and only that data type exists in that column. This will ensure that importing your data into the PSA platform goes smoothly; nothing causes more delays in configuration than trying to upload invalid data.

Week 2: The Parallel Pilot

The goal for this stage is to get the PSA software configured and in use with one team, working on one project while the rest of the team continues with the old process. The steps for this stage should be completed in sequence:

1. Configure your PSA software for one project and one team (The “PSA Pilot”).
2. Create a working training document and add the new process steps to it.
3. Train the “PSA Pilot” team on the new platform and process. Add any feedback from this training to the documentation.
4. Kick off the “PSA Pilot” project. Have the “PSA Pilot” team log their time and expenses for the pilot project in the PSA platform. No spreadsheets should be used or available for the PSA Pilot team.
5. While the “PSA Pilot” project is being worked on, monitor the team’s workflow to identify and fix areas of friction in the new process. Add to and update the training documentation as needed.
   

Week 3: Migration and Training

Once the PSA Pilot project is up and running smoothly, and the bugs have been worked out of the new process, you can begin to configure the PSA platform for use across the organization, and introduce the platform to the entire team. Following this part of the process in order is key to ensuring high adoption and little to no disruption in your business:

1. Import your clean spreadsheet data into the PSA platform.
2. Finish configuring the platform for use with all consultants and administrative users. Be sure all information in the training documentation is reflected in the platform. It is critical that the training, training material and platform configuration are all consistent, or you may have trouble getting adoption as the staff will begin to distrust the new platform.
3. Training: Do not schedule a marathon, multi-hour training session. Instead, demo the system and process as if you were selling it to a client. Focus on the benefits of each part of the process: logging time is effortless; no more Friday timesheet scramble, no more over-allocation and burnout.
4. 4Once the team is sold on the new system, do a hands-on demo on the key basics; logging in, setting up and using time tracking, how to log expenses and see schedules, etc.
5. Set and communicate the end date of using spreadsheets - the point where they will be  read-only historical documents. Make that date the end of the month (30 days from start)
   

Week 4: Full Transition and Optimization

The goal for the final week is to get the entire organization on the new platform, and start to see project data flowing into all parts of the system.

1. Be sure everyone on the team is using the new platform for their current projects
2. Remind the staff that spreadsheets for time tracking and expenses will be locked and set to read-only at the end of the week.
3. Monitor usage from inside the platform to ensure consultants are actually using the platform. Better to address the issue now than on billing day when all their data is missing.
4. Review your resource planning dashboard. Now that you have a few weeks of data, you should begin to see an accurate forward-looking view of your capacity for the first time.
5. Note the admin time compared to the old process; if you have set things up correctly, this number should be decreasing already.  
   

Proper change management is crucial to the success of your PSA solution. With well-supported professional services software like Projectworks, your firm can get all the benefits of PSA automation without the risks of poor adoption or misconfiguration. You can get a free trial of Projectworks today, or let us demo Projectworks for you and see for yourself how Projectworks can help your consulting business scale profitably.