Voices: Max Williams

Meet Empowering UF Change Agent Max Williams, Director of Research Administration, College of Journalism and Communications

Max Williams remembers UF’s PeopleSoft implementation more than two decades ago and looks forward to Empowering UF’s change management focus on readiness, communication and training to provide a smooth transition to Workday.

What do you do for the College of Journalism and Communications? How will Workday impact you and your team?
I am the Director of Research Administration for the college, and responsible for financial and administrative oversight of the Division of Research and the Division of Graduate Studies for CJC. Among the myriad benefits, Workday will provide more transparent accounting of faculty discretionary accounts. Combined with Workday’s real-time expense posting, our stakeholders will be able to get up-to-the-minute information for all their research and instructional activities.

What are some Workday benefits for you and your colleagues?
We look forward to the friendlier user interface and, as I mentioned previously, the real-time updates of accounts. Waiting for the data warehouse to update overnight presented repeated challenges for financial forecasting and expense monitoring.

Have you had prior experience with Workday or a major software implementation? What advice do you have for others going through this for the first time?
Yes, I started at UF a few months prior to the PeopleSoft implementation 22 years ago. There was virtually no hands-on training with the system for end-users and a dearth of organizational change management. Anxiety levels were off the charts, and I watched long-time employees leave UF due to their fear of the new system.

My advice is to take advantage of the panoply of resources that Empowering UF has made available to all employees. I will share the advice I received from a more experienced colleague long ago: “Change is like the ocean. You can either let the waves crash over you and knock you down, or you can prepare and surf it smoothly into shore.” Be flexible, keep in good humor, and enjoy the opportunity to learn new skills.

We are glad you are part of the Change Agent Network! How will this group help ease UF’s transition to Workday?
Change Agents serve an integral role in preparing the UF community for the transition. Having a trusted colleague embedded in the unit allows workers to share honest feedback with Change Agents that they may not feel comfortable sharing in a large, open forum. One-on-one opportunities to discuss the change with other staff and faculty in the hallway or at social events help faculty and staff stay aware without being anxious. Empowering UF is a real gift for the faculty and staff. As a change agent, I can customize the amount of information about the upcoming switch to the intended audience member, whether it is the casual user who only uses it for time input, to veteran finance and HR administrators who use it all day every day.