Professional services
Rollout and change management for Pluss
Our team plans and runs the rollout of Pluss across your communities. We train your staff by role, run the resident sessions on site and report progress to your head office. Metlifecare and GemLife used our team to roll Pluss out across their portfolios.
What our team can run for you
- Rollout plan, governance and reporting
- Change impact and site readiness checks
- Staff training for each role
- Resident and family onboarding sessions
- Letters, posters and launch materials in your brand
- Support after launch and a 90 day review at each site
- Connections to your other systems and custom work
Ways to work with us
Three ways to work with us
We scope each engagement around what you need, how much your own team can take on and how long you want us involved. Some operators have us run the pilot sites, then hand over to their own team. Others have us run the full rollout.
Our team runs each site
Our project lead and trainers run each site, from staff training to the resident sessions and launch day. GemLife used this model for its pilot and its rollout across the portfolio.
Our people work inside your project
Our people join your project team and work to your plan, your tools and your reporting. Metlifecare in New Zealand works with us this way, across a pilot, preparation for scale and a national rollout.
We run the pilot, your team rolls out
We run the pilot sites and train the people who will run the rest of the rollout. They get every training pack and template we use, ready to run in your communities.
How a rollout runs
The five stages at each site
Every site goes through the same five stages, in villages, land lease communities and aged care homes. No site launches until it passes the go-live checklist we agree with you.
Governance and design
We agree with your head office what HQ controls, what each site manager owns and who approves what. This stage produces the roles and permissions, the approval steps and the go-live checklist.
Readiness
Each site works through our decision framework: ten categories and more than thirty operating decisions. We find the gaps in each site's first week. We then set up the site from your baseline, so staff arrive at training with a working app.
Staff training
Training is set by role, for site managers, communications staff, care staff, lifestyle teams and head office admins. Staff work through real tasks from their own day. One to one drop-in sessions follow the group session.
Resident launch
We run small group sessions on site, at different times of day, including evenings. The first 30 minutes goes on logins and devices. Resident committee members get the app first, so they can help their neighbours on launch day. News and events are live before the first session.
Support after launch and review
We track adoption at each site from the first week. At 90 days we review each site against the targets we agreed with you. Where a site falls short, we agree a plan to fix it.
Our plan for a first site allows four weeks for design and preparation, then six weeks for launch and checks.
Change management
We measure how much the work changes for each role before training starts. That way each site's training matches how the site works.
Change impact by role
For each setting, such as a village or an aged care home, we map what changes for every role. We look at the steps of the work, the systems staff use and the shift in how they think about the job. Each role becomes a short profile that you check with us in a workshop.
Readiness checks at each site
Each site manager fills in a readiness questionnaire, followed by one call with us. Sites that match the baseline go straight to setup and training. A site with a real difference, such as a staffing gap or poor wifi, gets a focused conversation about that issue.
Decisions agreed before rollout
Before rollout we agree who decides each type of change: the site manager, your product owner or a business unit lead. Your product owner can settle most site questions without escalation, usually within days.
Features switched on in stages
Where a site has a real constraint in staff or resident capability, we switch features on in stages. A site might start with three features and add a fourth two months later.
Communications pack in your brand
We hand over every communications template in your branding, in a form you can edit:
- Briefing email for site managers to use with their teams
- Letters for residents and for families
- Resident questions and answers on security, devices and getting help
- A printed leaflet with joining steps, and fridge magnets that repeat them
- Noticeboard posters with a QR code to download the app
- Session sign-on sheets and a launch speech template
- A content pack, so the app has news and events before launch
Project management
Project management and reporting
Each rollout runs through three groups, with set meeting times and set escalation rules.
Steering committee
The CEO or executive sponsor from each organisation. It decides scope changes and anything escalated.
Working group
Our programme director, your product owner and our training and change lead. It tracks milestones, site schedules and integration status.
Site team
Our trainer, your site champion and the site manager. They own staff readiness, content and the resident sessions.
Escalation
An issue unresolved at a site for five working days goes to the working group. Any issue that puts a milestone at risk goes to the steering committee within 48 hours. Anything that affects resident safety, data security or compliance goes to both executive sponsors straight away.
Reports
You get a programme status report every fortnight. A monthly community report shows adoption at each site, written for site and regional managers. We keep the risk register and issue log with you, and you can see both at any time.
If you have your own project method and tools, we work to them and match your reports and sign-off points.
Many communities
Rolling out across many communities
Waves of nearby sites
One trainer covers up to four nearby sites in a four week wave. Two trainers working in parallel cover up to eight. A large village needs more trainer days, so its wave holds fewer sites.
Region by region
Where a village and an aged care home share a campus, they can launch together. Staff who work across both, and families with someone in each, then see one launch.
Sites set up for you
We set up each site from the baseline agreed in the first stage, then adjust it for local needs. Site staff never build their own setup.
Aged care homes
In aged care, most onboarding is with families. Families get a digital information pack and a session at each home. Residents who want to use the app themselves get smaller, slower sessions.
After the rollout
A training pack for every site
Each site keeps its full training pack. Site managers use it to train new staff without us.
Pluss in staff induction
We work with your people and culture team to add Pluss training to new staff induction.
Your own Pluss roles
We help you define the roles that run Pluss inside your organisation. Planning for that handover starts during the rollout.
Integrations
Integrations and custom work
We scope and quote connections to your other systems, and any custom work, as separate projects. Our development team is in Australia.
- Each integration is tested in a separate test environment with sample data that identifies no one.
- Your IT lead and our integration lead both sign off before it goes live.
- Your team tests against acceptance criteria agreed with you at the start. Passing those tests is a condition of launch.
- API documentation is available for your developers.
Pricing
How professional services are charged
Professional services sit outside the per property fee for Pluss. Every operator pays a one-off fee for setup, onboarding and training. We scope and quote larger rollouts, change management and integrations for each project before work starts. The scope depends on what you need, your own team's capacity and how long you want us involved.
Questions
Questions about professional services
Do we have to buy professional services?
Every operator pays the one-off fee for setup, onboarding and training. Anything beyond that is your choice. Some operators have us run the pilot sites only, then their own team runs the rest of the rollout with our training packs and templates.
How long does a rollout take?
It depends on how many sites you have and how close together they are. One trainer covers up to four nearby sites every four weeks, and two trainers cover up to eight. We set the schedule with you in the first stage.
Can you work with our project method and tools?
Yes. We match our reports, documents and sign-off points to your method, and we can work inside your project tools.
Do you run rollouts in aged care homes?
Yes. In aged care, most onboarding is with families, through a digital information pack and a session at each home. Residents who want to use the app themselves get smaller sessions.
Do you work in New Zealand?
Yes. Metlifecare's rollout across New Zealand uses our team.
Are integrations part of professional services?
Yes. Connections to your other systems, and any custom work, are scoped and quoted as separate projects. See the systems Pluss connects to.
Next step
Talk to us about your rollout
Tell us how many communities you have and when you want to start. We'll come back with a plan and a quote.