When you're ready to embark on your next software implementation - here are 11 tips from the trenches that will help you build a framework to help you keep your project on track.

“Don’t tell people what you do…tell them why you do it” 

(Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action, TED Talks)

Mission-driven companies are forces to be reckoned with. Usually born out of a strong founder-led culture, mission-driven companies consistently outperform the competition. True passion for a mission is not something leaders can fake.

Often times because someone uses the word “software” to title a project it is easily assumed the IT department will be managing this effort.  If that person from IT does not understand the agency  from front to back and has plenty of subject matter expertise,  it’s a mistake to make them the project manager.

About a year ago, we started the process of implementing a management system named the Entrepreneurial Operating System/EOS.  We decided we needed to make changes after we grew our company to a point and realized it had become such a challenge to manage the workloads and the personalities.

Set your data free!

FAMCare alone can solve the vast majority of your organization’s data needs, but in some cases it’s necessary for other systems to exchange data with FAMCare.

How can a world-class case management system be built without breaking the bank?

When a large private or government agency implements an enterprise case management system, often they engage with a company that brings in full time project managers, developers, testers/trainers and others who are dedicated to the entire project for the entire time of implementation.  The agency generally provides office space and the project team becomes de-facto employees of the organization for months (or even years) until the system goes live.  In some implementations, the process is similar but the “de-facto” employees are at the vendor site, but at the beckon call of the customer.

A software plan is the overall guiding plan that takes into account the major parts to any custom development project.

How do you eat an elephant?

…the old quip goes.

One bite at a time

…pipes the punchline.

In the world of nonprofit, the mission statement is the elephant that can't be digested in one bite. A great mission statement sums up the work and purpose of a nonprofit. It communicates to donors and employees alike what the nonprofit agency is all about.

In the nonprofit world, it’s all about the mission, not the money.  While money drives outcomes, it isn’t the reason for what or why they do the work. When you can align the work to the mission, magical things happen.