If you want to be a team player during an ERP upgrade, you need to be collaborative with your teammates. But what does collaboration actually look like in the middle of a complex system implementation?
Collaboration is not a mindset or an attitude. It is action. It is the way you behave with others on your team, especially when the organization is changing processes, roles, and technology at the same time.
Here are eight behaviors your teammates should see from you if you want to be known as collaborative during an ERP project.
Share information
ERP implementations fall apart when people keep information to themselves. Transparency helps others anticipate issues, coordinate work, and offer support. Your teammates cannot help you if they do not know what you are working on.
Consider sharing information about your availability, goals, current priorities, project progress, ideas for improving processes, concerns, questions, and reactions.
If openness is not your normal approach, it may feel risky. Work through the discomfort. ERP projects require visibility, alignment, and shared understanding.
Openness is the foundation for effective collaboration.
Ask for feedback
ERP success depends on continuous improvement. No one has the full picture, and everyone sees different risks and opportunities.
Invite feedback from others. Ask for input after you run a meeting. Share a draft communication before sending it. When you have a big idea, ask your team what you might be missing.
Collaborative team members seek feedback because they want better outcomes, not because they want praise.
Provide feedback
Some teammates may not ask for feedback. Offer it anyway when you believe it will help them succeed.
There are two reasons to provide feedback. First, you want your teammate to understand what they did well so they can repeat it. Second, you want them to understand where a different approach might be more effective.
Make your feedback timely, specific, and supportive. ERP projects move quickly, and people need real-time guidance to stay aligned.
Receive feedback well
This is the behavior that makes a feedback culture possible.
Show people that you appreciate their willingness to share their thoughts. If the feedback is helpful, say so. If you disagree, thank them anyway. A simple response like, “Thanks for sharing your perspective. You’ve given me something to think about,” keeps the door open.
ERP projects require trust. How you receive feedback determines whether people will speak up again.
Problem-solve with others
You do not need to solve every ERP-related problem on your own. Collaboration means bringing other brains into the process.
This might involve a formal problem-solving session or a quick one-on-one conversation to explore ideas. ERP work is interconnected. Solving problems together leads to better decisions and fewer unintended consequences.
Look out for stakeholders
Collaborative people think beyond their own tasks. ERP changes affect many groups, and a decision that helps one team may create problems for another.
Identify stakeholders who might be affected by your actions. Talk to them. Adjust your approach if the impact on others is too great.
ERP success depends on cross-functional awareness. Silos are the enemy of adoption.
Offer support whenever you see an opportunity
Collaboration means recognizing that you and your teammates share a common goal. Even if someone else owns a task, they do not need to carry it alone.
Offer emotional support when the work gets stressful. Offer practical support when workloads spike. ERP projects are demanding, and small acts of help make a big difference.
Engage in healthy debate
ERP decisions are complex. People see issues differently. Healthy debate helps teams vet ideas and choose the best path forward.
This is not fighting. It is working together to find the strongest solution. Engage fully. Be kind. Stay focused on the problem, not the person.
Healthy debate is a hallmark of collaborative teams.
Are you collaborative?
Collaboration is about better ideas and mutual support. It is expressed through specific behaviors. Now that you have seen what they are, your next step is to determine whether you are behaving in these ways.
If not, choose one behavior to strengthen. Make a plan. Practice. Ask for feedback. When you have mastered it, choose another.
ERP upgrades succeed when teams collaborate well. Strengthening these behaviors will help you contribute to a highly collaborative, highly successful implementation.
