The ERP Bad Guys: The Insatiable ERP User

There will be at least one in any business working on an ERP project. Some ERP users will never have enough.

More reports, please. Thanks for the seven custom ERP reports you gave me last week. But could you please work on a slightly different version? We really do need to look at the situation from every angle.

Can you help with this sales order entry screen? I would like this field to be over on the side. How about adding this cool graphic in that position on the side? I would like my screen to be red. Can you change it for me?

It takes too long to update when I save my transaction. Look. That time it took almost a minute! My computer runs too slow with this new ERP. It used to run a lot faster and I already understood the old forms; these are too hard to use. What can you do?

Patience and Perseverance

I suspect there are some in any organization like the cannibal chief out in the jungle. The chief with the most skulls in front of his hut had the most prestige. The same person dressed as an ERP user wants the most reports and enhancements to upgrade their prestige.

You aren’t going to change these ERP users. Don’t even try. This will take patience and perseverance on your part. There is a good chance they don’t even know themselves what they really want.

Spend time listening. Really listen with both ears and your mouth shut. Then, patiently feedback what you think you heard. Test a small version of the enhancement you thought they wanted and be ready to learn you only got half way there. Test some more on a small scale. Find the kernel of what they really want. There is a good chance whatever it is there are others that want the same thing too.

If they seem like an insatiable user, pay attention. Really, they are an ERP user that you haven’t yet found a true communication channel with - they are important, so work hard on rectifying that.