Success with your new project - how well prepared are you?
Part 1 of the "Project planning" series
Nowadays, companies are forced to improve the information technologies they use if they also want to benefit from new purchasing behaviour and global market opportunities. Unfortunately, the preparation for these projects is often still focussed exclusively on technology aspects. Other important success factors are often simply ignored. Is the preparation of your new projects promising?
In practice, there is a consensus that the choice of software solution ultimately accounts for less than 50 per cent of the defined success of CRM/ERP projects or digital transformation initiatives. Nevertheless, market research still focuses mainly on the technology component of such projects. It is not uncommon for more than ninety per cent of all questions on RFI/RFP documents to relate exclusively to the product side. With the implicit risk that other important success factors are underestimated. This ultimately leads to additional project risks.
Success factors
If you want your project to develop successfully, there are a number of crucial elements of success that also require your full attention:
- Clear business objectives. What do you want to achieve with the new implementation? And how do these goals relate to your company's overall strategy? Ideally, these goals should be defined using the SMART method.
- Good communication. Definitely about the "why" of the initiative. And also about the company's goals. Ideally, these goals are defined in such a way that each individual employee not only understands them completely, but can also explain them at home.
- Modernised business processes. Today's customers want to be at the centre of everything you do. If you are not prepared to create a customer-centric organisation, they will simply spend their budgets elsewhere. Modernising your business processes is a crucial factor in your future success.
- Active management involvement. Hopefully you don't expect your IT department to change your organisation's business processes and mindset? That was and still is a management task. Active management involvement in a project is an essential ingredient for success.
- Well-trained end users. If you put your customers at the centre of everything you do, you need well-trained and motivated end users. In the past, end users were only trained on one application. In today's reality, it is imperative that they understand and have an overview of the entire IT platform.
- And finally, considerable organisational change management must also be incorporated. And that's not new either - people tend to be averse to change. And if your projects are now focussing less on the technology aspect alone, you need to focus on and promote change management more than ever before.
If your requests for information are still mainly focussed on functions and features, it's time to change your project preparation strategy. Focusing on these non-technology aspects will increase the likelihood of success for your project.
Our conclusion
Preparing for a successful project requires more than just technological considerations; other success factors must also be taken into account.
Don't just base your planning on technological aspects, but also take non-technological aspects into account. Then nothing will stand in the way of your success!
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