The Messy Middle Of Change - Part One
Change is hard. Not changing will be harder.
- Kellie parks
::Together With Financial Cents::
Redefining how accounting firms get work done.
I am in the messy middle of a change, of a few changes, actually. I decided to hit myself up with honing my niche and all the required process updates, along with rationalizing two of my workhorse techs. I wanted to start 2024 off fresh, but I may have been a little ambitious. Of course, this too shall pass - my messy middle of change - and my company, Calmwaters Cloud Accounting, will come out the better for it. But it has been a pain in the butt, including a tech automation fail while trying to get through this.
Let’s start with pointers for change management to help you get through the messy middle, just a little less messily.
Framework for change management.
Why do you need/want the change?
What is your desired outcome of the change?
What will success feel like?
What is your plan to implement the change?
What steps, processes and technology need to be laid out?
Who are the stakeholders that need to be involved?
How are you going to communicate and engage them?
How will you measure your success?
ROEFs (return on effort), ROEMs (return on emotions), ROIs and KPIs…
Tips for change management.
The hardest part of going for a run is putting on your shoes.
Start small
Begin with the elements of a change that will cause the least disruption and build from there
Be patient with the messy middle - sometimes really, really patient…
Give yourself grace
Even the best-laid plans can (will) go awry, but your business won’t likely burn to the ground with change failures
Celebrate your change successes!
Let’s pick off the messy middle of my technology rationalization cause I’m sure some (all?) of you may also be considering right-sizing your app stack.
The scourge of app sprawl is real!
Every single one of us has subscriptions that we have outgrown, have overlapping features of other apps, or our business model has changed, and we no longer need particular apps or can do with less robust ones.
Zoom to Google Meet
Reason for change:
I will no longer be self-hosting large group classes, workshops, or webbies, so I don’t need the features of a paid Zoom account, yet a free Zoom is not robust enough
The Zoom desktop and mobile apps had been giving me hella-trouble for a few months
I have Google Workspace and want to use the apps there more, so I have changed to using Google Meet as my virtual meeting app
Messy middle:
I didn’t realize you can’t pause a Google Meeting easily
I only learned this while I was in a meeting
I assumed it would be a simple undertaking and didn’t preplan how to do it
I miss my custom Zoom link
I have worked around this with a Bit.ly link for my Google Meet, but it’s not as succinct as my custom Zoom one
This may sound minor, but it is often the little things that make us love an app
I really liked my Zoom waiting room, and I haven’t dolled up my Google Meet one yet
Change wins:
The way I can see other people in the meeting is nice
I love that it opens in a browser seamlessly from anywhere
No desktop or mobile app is needed
I love that it closes in one click - no fumbling, drawn-out, awkward goodbyes
*The cost savings :-}
Acuity to Tidycal
Reason for change:
I no longer needed all the features of Acuity, as I am doing less consulting, and my Typeforms have taken over some of the form features I used in Acuity
Cost savings
I need two separate scheduler subscriptions to accommodate different currencies and sales tax (I bill in CND and US dollars)
Having two Acuity accounts is a wee bit spendy for what I need from that app
I had already purchased Tidycal lifetime subscriptions a few years back, and now it has developed enough to meet my needs
Tidycal makes it really easy to allow people to invite guests and to allow multiple invitees to book the same time slot
You can poll dates with Tidycal, eliminating the need for another app or spreadsheet (or going back and forth a gazillion times by reply-all email…)
Messy middle:
My booking times, pricing, and questions had to be migrated over
I had someone do the manual work, but I needed to review it and test it
I missed “hiding” one unpaid booking link, and of course, someone used it
Tidycal sends two emails when someone books, one confirmation and one to add to GCal and accept
No one wants even a single extra email!
I’m sure I can fix this, but I haven’t sorted that out yet
I like Tidycal (enough to use it), but I really loved Acuity (not enough to keep paying for it)
Change wins:
The “allowing others to invite guests” has been used seamlessly by people booking
*The cost savings :-}
Unintended consquences:
I had set up text expander links and action shortcuts for both these apps on my Streamdeck, so these needed to be changed. And I am the only person with my Streamdeck access, so that was up to me to do. Not to ruin the ending, but - me hasn’t done it yet - so that’s an unresolved messy middle thing too.
In a few weeks, I am going to chat about the messy middle of changing up a system and automating (or lack of automating it) to accommodate my new niche.
Reason for change:
My niche is something I am passionate about - working with accounting firms to set owners free from the time & pressure of doing their firm’s books - accounting for accountants.
I thought I was pretty schmarmy when setting up my Discovery form and File Review processes before I released my new website into the wild. It was critical to do them first, as I wanted the initial points of contact to be seamless for accounting firm owners interested in my services. We all want our first contact to be great, but because I talk about this very topic to accounting professionals, I wanted it to be extra special - otherwise, I would feel like a hack-talking-head.
My onboarding process for SMBs worked well for many years, but I needed to change it up because accountants and bookkeepers had different needs from SMBs, so my questions and requests had to be revised in my Discovery form. I reworked the form, tested it, had a few friendies test it, then added nice big buttons to my website so folks could access it seamlessly. I did the same with my File Review Request form. Zapier tied the File Review one to a tight process in Financial Cents so everything would be automated and communicated cleanly.
Except it didn’t play out that way.
And I’m sure many of you can relate to the “best-laid plans”!
So at the end of March I’m going to discuss the messy middle and the happy outcome.
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Protect Your Time: Using Technology to Improve Client Communication
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST
Today’s clients crave real-time, personalized and value-rich information that can help them make more informed decisions. Gone are the days when a monthly newsletter or an annual review would suffice. But what do you do when it’s too much? How do you set boundaries in an instant-messaging world?
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Simply yours, Kellie :-}
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*Note to the cost savings - I am big proponent of paying for apps where they boost your business; free or inexpensive are by no means better value.
