Switching from an old system to a new one is an important milestone in any transformation. But after spending the past two and a half years supporting a global Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation, I’ve come to appreciate what happens beyond go-live just as much. The journey began in 2023, and since then, we’ve supported rollout after rollout across more than 30 countries, working with teams across regions, functions, and cultures. One thing stands out when I look back: a transformation of this scale is not just about following a plan. It’s about learning along the way and using those lessons to make the next step better.
There Is No One-Size-Fits-All Approach to Change
A global transformation may follow a global template, but each individual experiences change differently. Across regions and rollout waves, we adapted our approach based on audience size, degree of impact, language and cultural context. and even language.
In Latin America, for example, we used a train-the-trainer approach with bilingual subject matter experts who learned the changes and shared them with their teams in Spanish. In Colombia, we took this a step further by planning longer training sessions that allowed for more time for open discussion and active listening, Based on input from local project leadership, we adapted the format to create more space for people to talk though ideas and build a shared understanding before moving forward.
Each rollout helped improve the next. We refined training, engaged stakeholders sooner, built relationships earlier, and adjusted support based on what worked and what did not.
Relationships Make Change Easier to Navigate
One of the biggest lessons this transformation reinforced for me is the importance of relationships. When you establish trust and credibility with someone, it changes how you work together. You can send a quick message, work through an issue, or get an honest perspective without everything having to move through a formal process. And people are more likely to tell you what is really happening, including what is working well and where they are struggling.
That matters in organizational change. As an Organizational Change Management (OCM) practitioner, those relationships have often helped me understand what people were experiencing and identify concerns that might otherwise take longer to surface. They also created opportunities to escalate issues and connect the right people more quickly. Change is not adopted by an organization. It is adopted by individuals within that organization. They need to know what’s changing, why it matters, what it means for their work, and who to ask. Sometimes the most important part of OCM is simply creating the relationships that make those conversations possible.
Sometimes the OCM Role Is to Be the Orchestrator
One example that stands out involved a highly utilized report relied upon by more than 100 users. During the transition, there was a risk that the report would be lost. The solution came through close collaboration and the growing system expertise within the team. Rather than pursuing a custom-built solution, the subject matter experts leveraged existing query functionality within SAP S/4 to recreate the report. The result was more than a technical fix: it showed what business and technical partners can do together.
It also reinforced something I’ve come to appreciate about OCM: we don't always need to be the person with the answer. Sometimes our role is to recognize who has the answer, understand who needs to be involved, and connect the right people at the right time. In that sense, OCM can help create the connections that allow the people with the right knowledge and expertise to come together and move an issue forward.
The People Behind the Transformation
What I’m most grateful for is the people: the business users and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) who shared their expertise, the HR, PMO, and leadership partners who connected the change to the organization, and the technical and system integrator teams who built the system behind the scenes. That includes the project managers who sometimes wore an additional hat as interpreters across languages and regions.
Reflect. Improve. Keep Moving Forward.
A transformation is not successful simply because a system goes live. It is successful when people are able to adopt new ways of working, when teams can solve problems together, and when the organization becomes better equipped to navigate the next change. That requires the willingness to pause and reflect.
This is where I see the value FarWell brings to complex transformations. We help clients navigate change by bringing together the people, processes, and perspectives needed to move forward. But navigating change also means being willing to learn as you go and adapt when the situation calls for it. The real value comes from turning those lessons into action.
I’m grateful for the people who made the journey possible: the clients who partnered with us, the colleagues who challenged and supported one another, and the countless people across the organization who embraced new ways of working and helped others through the change.
The technology may be global. The implementation may span years. The plan may involve dozens of countries and countless workstreams. But transformation happens one person, one conversation, and one relationship at a time. And what we learn along the way can make the next change better.
This is the approach we bring to every client at FarWell: connect with the right people, listen closely, and let each lesson make the next change better.
