REC Silicon is a producer of Silane for use in computer screens, solar panels, and other industrial applications. Several years ago I assisted in a communications program to upgrade their SAP software and install the information technology infrastructure library, or ITIL. We developed visual communications to explain how these changes would benefit employees and branded the program for interest.

There were PowerPoint templates and presentations for local office representatives to use in communicating the change requirements.

Here are a couple of the slides provided by the SAP vendor, for comparison:

We also created a variety of supporting items to give employees, such as poker chips, bandanas, cards, and even a branding iron! We did a lot of preliminary sketching to develop SAP conceptual metaphors.

The SAP adoption program involved a number of behavior changes in the billing and tracking of projects. To facilitate understanding, we also created job aids that explained topics like FICO with a single sheet handout, and on the back detailed the coding changes that would be used in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The employees had the reference card available at their desks and computers to use throughout the change, helping them to become more comfortable with what was required and why. We also created a code generator prototype so they could double check online if there was some doubt. The old saying ‘garbage in, garbage out’ really does apply to SAP software and decision making. If the information isn’t correct, nobody will know what’s really happening.

Our friend the Silane molecule…