Communication is one of the most important pieces of a successful implementation. Throughout our E-Gov Travel System (ETS) implementation we had to communicate with various stakeholders such as:
- Executives
- Customer contacts
- Approving Officials
- Travelers / Document Preparers
Each group of stakeholders was interested in a very different aspect of the ETS implementation. We were very fortunate to have executives that had a positive attitude from the beginning of the ETS migration. The executives mainly wanted to be updated on the overall status of the implementation.
The information that we distributed to our customers was focused more on the details of ETS. The customer contacts need to know the overall effect for their agency but many of the approving officials only wanted to know exactly what they “needed” to do. Communication with the traveler was very different. The travelers needed to know the intricate details. They wanted to know step by step how the system was going to work.
In order to accommodate both the approving officials and travelers, we developed separate training classes. In the class that was customized for the approving officials, we did an overview of the system and then we focused primarily on their role and what they need to look for when approving a document. This was a much shorter class than we designed for the document preparers and travelers. The traveler class contained hands on step by step instructions on creating authorizations, making reservations, and creating vouchers within the new ETS.
Customizing the communication for each group of stakeholders was a key factor in keeping all of them involved and updated.
By Kim Fordyce
Disclaimer: The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency. Use of this equipment is consistent with the agency’s policy governing limited personal use.