When you think data migration it’s probably all the technical aspects that come to mind. But what about the people? Stakeholders play a key part in any project, so we’ve made a list of stakeholder management tips for your data migration.
- Identify stakeholders early: Map out who’s impacted by the data migration. End-users, IT teams, sponsors, management plus externals like vendors, agencies and partners. Each plays a vital role, so get to know them and understand their needs, expectations and which parts they need to be involved in.
- Keep everyone in the loop: Communication can make or break a project. Regularly share updates on the data migration progress, challenges faced, and milestones achieved. Be open to questions and keep things visible.
- Define clear goals: It’s essential to know where you’re headed. As a project team agree a set of measurable objectives that align the business goals with the technical requirements and make sure everyone knows what these are.
- Manage expectations: Set realistic expectations for the data migration timeline and outcomes. Involve stakeholders in planning to avoid unrealistic demands, align expectations and avoid scope creep.
- Identify risks: Collaborate with Stakeholders to brainstorm potential risks and have backup plans worked through. Ask them to identify critical data and deciding with them what should be prioritised during the migration.
- Provide training and support: Ask stakeholders what their training needs are and provide ongoing support during and after the migration. Offer training sessions to users, helping them understand the benefits so that they adapt to the new data environment seamlessly.
- Embrace change: We all react to change differently, so keeping a positive culture throughout the transition can be challenging. Have ongoing conversations with stakeholders to understand their concerns and help them see the benefits that change will bring to the business.
- Test, test, test: Involve stakeholders in the testing process to ensure data accuracy and system functionality. Encourage them to participate in test scenarios, report issues, and validate outcomes.
- Celebrate wins: Acknowledge the efforts of the team and celebrate milestones throughout the journey. Recognising their contributions will keep them motivated and promote a sense of ownership in the project’s success.
- Learn and Improve: Post-migration, conduct a comprehensive review with stakeholders to gather insights and lessons learned. Use this feedback to refine future migration projects and continually improve stakeholder engagement.
Remember, successful data migration is not just about the technical aspects but also about involving and empowering your people throughout the project. By working together your data migration project will likely achieve its goals while fostering positive relationships across the business. We’ve worked with all sorts of teams before and would love to help yours, so get in touch.