The Soft Skills that Sustain Digital Transformation Lessons from Global ERP Rollouts

Introduction

When organizations embark on a global ERP transformation, success is often defined by milestones: a system goes live, transactions post, and reports reconcile. Yet many projects that look successful on paper struggle to deliver their full potential in practice. Shadow spreadsheets persist, users revert to old habits, and confidence in the new system erodes.

The difference between a rollout that merely “goes live” and one that truly transforms often lies not in the technology itself, but in the soft skills that sustain adoption across cultures.

At ASDM Solution, we have supported multinational Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations programs across Brazil and beyond. Again and again, we see that the real inflection points come from human factors: how leaders listen, how teams align, and how organizations build trust across geographies.

Below are five lessons from our field experience that can help ensure ERP adoption endures even in the most complex, multicultural environments.

1. Diagnostic Listening: Start by Understanding, Not Advising

Adoption rarely begins with “what to click.” It begins when people feel their daily work is understood. Too often, project teams jump straight into system demonstrations without appreciating the local context. Conducting short interviews in the users’ native language capturing their workarounds, frustrations, and “success shortcuts” surfaces insights global templates often overlook and builds immediate trust.

2. Define Adoption Beyond “Go-Live”

Cutovers and defect counts are important, but they don’t reflect whether the new system is truly part of daily operations. Real adoption means users have abandoned shadow processes, cycle times have shortened, and teams are confident navigating the system without constant support.

Defining human-centered adoption outcomes early changes the trajectory of a project. For each workflow, clarify what manual work is eliminated, how quickly users can reach confidence, and when the first visible moments of value will occur. These measures provide a more accurate picture of adoption than traditional KPIs.

3. Align Work Styles Across Cultures

Multicultural programs often underestimate how different work styles impact collaboration. Fast decision-making versus context-driven deliberation, for example, can lead to friction that feels like resistance when in fact it is a cultural difference.

Establishing explicit communication norms helps prevent misalignment. Agreeing on how decisions are framed, setting clear response times, and pairing global leaders with Brazilian super-users ensures accountability is shared and that local realities are factored into decision-making.

4. Make Consistency Your Competitive Advantage

In large-scale transformations, consistency beats intensity. Trust is not built through one-off workshops or celebratory events; it comes from small, predictable actions repeated over time.

Short, recurring adoption sessions rather than sporadic all-hands drive better results. Regular “re-learning” workshops, where users demonstrate their mastery, reinforce adoption and create a culture of accountability. Over time, these habits build a foundation of trust that sustains transformation.

5. Build Trust with Purpose

No transformation endures without trust in the system, in the leadership team, and in the project governance. Without it, adoption stalls.

Trust is earned by giving regional leaders a visible voice in governance, celebrating milestones locally such as the first error-free month-end close and, most importantly, closing the feedback loop. Demonstrating how user concerns are addressed, not just acknowledged, turns engagement into commitment.

The Human Side of Global ERP Success

Global ERP implementations multiply complexity spanning time zones, languages, and regulations. But they also multiply strengths, if organizations align on the right behaviors.

From our experience, the most successful Dynamics 365 rollouts are not those that focus only on technology, but those that invest in the soft skills that bridge cultures and sustain adoption.

At ASDM Solution, we help organizations navigate this human side of transformation building trust, driving adoption, and ensuring that global ERP programs deliver their intended value.

If your organization is planning a Dynamics 365 rollout in Brazil, our team can help you bridge cultural barriers and accelerate user adoption.