By Holly T. Kutil 01/16/19
I think it would be ridiculously entertaining to have a business card that read…Holly T. Kutil, Gatekeeper, don’t you? At first thought you may not think being the ERP Administrator and the Gatekeeper have anything to do with one another, but I am here to share my thoughts on just how this role relates to you as the ERP Administrator, your company and your partner. The Gatekeeper, a person in charge of a gate, usually to identify, count, supervise, etc., the traffic or flow through it, a guardian, a monitor, a person who controls access. Is it starting to sound like part of the role of an ERP Administrator?
In our case the “gate” we keep is to the ERP and we are responsible for the integrity of the system and the data as administrators, therefore it is critical that we indeed become the Gatekeepers of what and who are allowed to access the ERP and with so many different people, duties, modules, workflows, securities, and add-ons the responsibility becomes much more than who goes there? Or who is tall enough to ride the coaster!
In the past the gatekeeper may have been much like a warden, but in today’s business world that could not be farther from the truth. The new “Gatekeeper” must learn to use diplomacy and tact. To be successful as the Admin/Gatekeeper you must become a team builder, trainer and coach. Daily honing your skill sets and continuous improvement in these areas are a must for the ERP Administrator. Below are some habits and hacks to build some gatekeeper muscle from my CIO toolbox.
- Record Training. Make life easy for yourself, every time there is a new workflow or training session with your partner, record it. This will build a library of training materials for new hires, change in job delegation and even corrective action retraining.
- Record and Document Workflows. There is a handy tool on your windows computers called the PSR (Problems Steps Recorder) just type “PSR” into your search and up it will pop! Great little tool. You can also use this tool for documenting errors in your ERP to send off to your partner to review and correct.
- Microsoft Teams. Another great tool from Microsoft and also part of the “stack” I am sure we will be seeing it integrated with our Dynamics ERP’s in the future. Training available from your CSP’s (cloud service providers) and also at a cost through linkedin.com/learning. (Side note: I would take advantage of all the learning about the Microsoft office products if you are using Business Central “NAV” or any Microsoft Dynamic ERP’s)
- Read-Read-Read. Read Leadership/Teambuilding books, Read Leadership/Teambuilding blogs, Read Leadership/Teambuilding articles on LinkedIn, and when your eyes are tired, watch videos, and listen to podcasts.
- 60 Minutes a Day. Commit to spending 60 minutes each day (yes even on the weekends – (hey it’s your life and career – go big or go home) to continuous improvement and skill building around the duties and activities of the ERP Administrator and a substantial portion of that time on this area of team builder, trainer, and coach.
Keep in mind that knowing your role as the administrator is half the battle…you are on your way to becoming a ridiculously successful ERP Administrator!
Will you choose to spend some time building your Admin muscle? I expect to hear about your amazing adventures and accomplishments in 2019.
I am committed to writing “Success & The Admin” Holly’s Habits, Hacks & Helpful Hints in 2019! I hope you will enjoy it and continue our journey together in 2019.
Holly
