With more and more schools turning to the latest and greatest of CRMs (Technolutions Slate, obviously), there is an increasing desire for help and advice when implementing (or reimplementing) an instance.
We have our instance. Now what? What should we do? What shouldn’t we do?
With a little inspiration from all the recent implementation conversations I’ve been having with schools (and from one of my favorite classic movies), here are some common potholes to avoid when laying the bricks of your own yellow brick road.
Implementation partners: Start with Phase I and then work your way to Phase III.
I get it. Processing applications and releasing decisions (allowing for students to yield) is the most crucial part of making your class, BUT you can’t process applications without building out materials and checklist items. You can’t admit students without creating the fields and prompts that inform the admission decision.
There’s a reason the roadmap is in phases: implementation should be a planned, phased process. Resist the temptation to set the last brick in the road before laying down the first.
What's the concern every single implementing institution focuses on most? Their Student Information System. It doesn’t matter if it’s Jenzabar or Banner or PeopleSoft…
Slate. Doesn’t. Care.
Regardless of your SIS, Slate can talk to it. No, it won’t be easy, but it’s possible. So forget asking “how is this done in our SIS?" Think outside the system.
If your SIS wasn’t a piece of the puzzle, what would you name that field? What would the new process be? We can always manipulate the data coming out of Slate, so don’t let your SIS affect your ability to be more efficient with your powerful new tool.
It’s hard not to lock your Slate implementation team in a room and start building, but I encourage you to consider a few of your other friends on campus.
Who will be using Slate the most? Who outside the admission office is impacted by having this new instance? Invite them to be a part of the discussion. It will be MUCH easier to have a successful launch if you have those conversations ahead of time, as opposed to once the decisions have been made and the building has been completed.
Make friends during the brainstorming process. It will get you buy-in – and save you time and heartache later – if you build those bridges sooner rather than later.
Make the field. Make the form. Make the rule.
You won’t know how things work until you try building it. Instead of freezing up from fear of building a prompt you’ll have to inactivate or a trip you’ll have to restructure, try it!
Try everything. Think of the Cowardly Lion; without the courage to try, you’ll never know what’s possible.
The man behind the curtain will always be releasing new features that are sure to catch our eye and get added to our (already too long) list of things to “implement." But that’s what keeps it exciting.
The excited one. If you want to geek out over the Slatest and greatest new feature, look no further than Megan. From UTM codes to voyager to student portals, there's nothing that makes her happier than chatting about the endless possibilities of Slate, except for maybe sand volleyball and bike rides. As a former admission counselor and Director of our implementation division, she understands the needs of the higher ed world from both a recruitment and operations perspective.
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