Be deliberate, but act quickly.

These are my words of advice when it comes to selecting and implementing a new AMS.

Be deliberate…make sure you’re putting in the time to figure out what you need from an AMS and which vendors are the best possible fit. And during implementation, make sure you spend the time you need for testing.

….but act quickly. Make sure the actions you need to take during selection and implementation are always top priority. And get them done as quickly as you can. The longer you wait on one decision or one action, the longer the project will take.

A typical AMS selection should take three to four months. For most associations, implementation should take no more than nine months. So the entire project should only last a year. In my experience, if the project runs longer than a year, momentum starts to flag, staff starts to lose focus, and the quality of the project results deteriorates.

So be deliberate but act quickly.