 |
|
Article
 Tips to Manage and Improve
systems-related projects
By
Rod Travers
Senior Vice President, Technology
Some years ago, around the time when so-called
open systems came on the scene, the notion that IT systems would be
“easier to implement” began to take hold.
Words like “reuse,” “plug-and-play” and
“industry standard” created a false sense of simplicity regarding IT
projects. In reality, the exact opposite has happened: Systems are far
more complicated, risky and expensive to implement than ever before.
Why?
Today’s feature-rich systems cross
organizational and informational domains both inside and outside an
enterprise. This means IT projects have more people involved,
competing interests, shared funding and functionality overlaps that
blur requirements and accountability for results. As I’ve said many
times, these aren’t IT projects any more—they are business improvement
projects. They will only reach their potential if we manage them
accordingly.
Here are some key issues that we help our
clients manage and improve as they undertake systems-related projects:
 | Prioritization. Which projects
should be approved, and which ones should be done first? These are
vexing problems for most companies. Use these questions as a guide:
Is the project aligned with corporate strategy (e.g., growth,
top-tier service, low-cost leader, etc.)? Does it improve the
customer experience? Are there measurable benefits, and is there
broad consensus on the success criteria? |
| Business Engagement. Eliminate
rubber-stamp approvals and perfunctory project participation by the
business stakeholders and senior management. These projects must be
business-driven, with detailed functionality requirements, funding and
success accountability coming from the business side. In return,
these projects deliver business benefits to those stakeholders. |
| Execution. Recently I was in a
steering committee meeting where a “three-year” IT project was being
discussed. Such long-term projects are doomed to under-whelm or fail.
Big projects are, in fact, a series of small ones and should be
managed with phased implementations, interim go-live dates and
business-driven release management. Self-contained small projects
should be managed on a fast-track basis with quick-hit deliverables
and obvious results. How? For projects big or small, assign a point
person from IT and the business unit, and compensate them on the
project’s success (on time, on budget, results delivered). |
| Results Assessment. Remarkably, this is the step most companies
skip. Yet this is the critical step that changes behavior and sets the
tone for results-orientation versus activity-orientation. In other
words, if you don’t get the business results then it doesn’t matter if
you followed all the steps and finished on time. As a project is
underway, the expected impacts and benefits must be repeatedly
validated by the business stakeholders. Things change (e.g.,
regulations, competition, staff, costs, technology itself) and the
project must adjust accordingly. One way to make this happen is to
apply expected cost improvements to the budgets of the affected
business units. If a project is slated to save the business $1
million, then cut $1 million from the business budget. If the project
is projected to save five FTEs, build that into the staffing model.
And publicly recognize and reward successes. |
The
phrase “get it done” is deceptively simple, but it applies to the
environment in which we all operate today. IT systems and projects are
indeed complex, but managing them effectively is a critical competency
for successful companies. Simplify your efforts by focusing on the
fundamentals and “get it done"!
|
|
