Home » Projects
Projects
Whenever we take on new work, we will always work through the issues in this section in the framing and initiation of projects. Call it our Project Manifesto, it represents the difference between success and failure...
» Do your people have the right skills?
Before you begin any project...
A few good questions are:- Why are we doing this?
- What's our strategy for putting customers in the center of our business circle?
- How will our new strategy affect functional roles and responsibilities?
- How will new roles and responsibilities change work processes?
- How will we support new work processes with technology?
Why some projects succeed, others fail
Project Failure Reasons
Projects fail for many reasons, including:- ill-defined scope and aims
- lack of priority
- unclear ownership and accountability of both IT and business
- availability, quality and focus of resources
- organisational politics
- changes being made throughout the project
- blame culture
- lack of support for the project manager
- poor communication.
Project Success Reasons
By contrast with projects destined to fail, successful projects are marked by:
- a clear priority in their organisation
- good positioning in the time/cost/quality triangle
- clear ownership by senior business and IT leaders, who together champion the project
- an IT project management process
- an agreed business case, clearly stating the business benefits and how they will be measured
- a clear, detailed and signed-off statement of requirements
- agreed change control procedure for changes to requirements
- completion of risk analyses
- proper vetting and approval of all suppliers and sub-contractors
- clear milestones that are effectively tracked
- the right resources for the project, particularly in testing and acceptance
- frequent support for project managers
Things you need to do first
- Correct any business process issues before even thinking about technology or applying automation.
- Develop a vision using the customer as the key focus. Can you put the customer in charge of your business? If you say no, why not?
- Identify the critical success factors for the solution and address them first.
- Identify the operations that will benefit the most - back from the customer.
- Clearly define what you want to automate.
- Figure out what you have to re-engineer.
- Set-up cross functional teams to address integration.
- Select the right software solution (internet or CRM technology).
Some of the pitfalls you need to consider
- Lack of vision and direction - focused on the customer
- Not understanding the problem(s) you're trying to solve
- Thinking that software technology is the solution
- Not getting input and help from the right people
- Weak leadership - not willing to invest in the process and lack of commitment to change
- Trying to do everything at once Lack of long-term support - technology is not a quick fix or a silver bullet!
- Not redesigning the business processes that impact the customer
- Thinking this is solely an IT project
Do your people have the right skills?
- Integration experience - integrating technology and workflow across your enterprise?
- Strong project management background?
- Knowledge of the technology infrastructure challenges you will encounter?
- Strong consulting and coaching experience?
- Change management experience with implementing new technology?
