| |JUNE 20239CIOReview· Designate an "orchestrator." Once executive leaders approve the plan, include a role that is outside the "business as usual" project and product owners and managers. Sometimes internal strategist, moderator, or psychologist, this role takes the pressure of contestant coordination off of the day-to-day leaders of individual projects. Even if new hires are being added to staff, with the complexity and scale of an integrated and truly transformational program, a separate individual to pull everything together is a key to success.· Expect mistakes. Expect cost overruns. Expect delays. Just like building a house, going into a program of this scale should come with expectations that issues will arise. The success of a program is not judged by whether or not it goes off without a hitch: the probability of that is zero. The performance of your teams should be judged Many times, a vendor, consultant or implementation partner will make proposals based on an experiences that they had with a company they consider a similar client. Question every assumption and ensure that all relevant SMEs have a part in those discussionson their kind candor and workability with each other and senior leaders; how quickly they pull together that fix issues that arise; and maintaining accountability and a collaborative mindset all the way through those tougher times. · Interrogate your chosen vendor/partners' understanding of your company's maturity in any area they are touching. Many times, a vendor, consultant or implementation partner will make proposals based on an experiences that they had with a company they consider a `similar' client. Question every assumption and ensure that all relevant SMEs have a part in those discussions. · Similarly, encourage your teams to develop an extreme suspicion of the word "assume." If anyone involved in the program says "assume," including leadership, give everyone permission to stop the conversation. "What are we assuming?" "What if it is not correct?" "Who can double-check us?" Encourage all team members to question each other regularly and breed a cultural norm that questioning is healthy, not personal. · Educate business leaders on lanes of ownership and subject matter expertise on the more technical areas of your company. Business leaders have a tendency to misunderstand where responsibilities lie between IT, IS, Compliance, Risk, Audit, and so on. This can lead to misunderstandings, mistakes, slowdowns and the need for rework because the wrong people were invited to meetings and expected to speak on areas outside their realm. By educating first, and including all partners in your various meeting cadences, the right expertise will be in the room to make the most optimized, timely decisions.· You cannot over-communicate. With the oversaturation of information every day, how do you cut through the noise and get your team members and customers the information they need so that they can participate in a successful transformation? However much you're putting out across your regular communication channels, double down. Ask the user audiences how they prefer to be communicated with, and be open to new and different ideas to get the job done. And be sure to establish a regular cadence with training, change, corporate communications, and marketing professionals to achieve this component.By paying attention to these more qualitative areas alongside your technical plans, you'll be setting your company up nicely for success.
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