Over the
course of the past 20 years, we have seen a number of global transformation
projects. Some went well, some not so
much. Here are a few tips we picked up
along the way and tips we use to help guide our clients to be successful in their
transformation.
Understand the culture
Culture
is incredibly important in any change.
The team that proceeds with the transformation may have an executive
order to complete their mission but that doesn’t mean that the rest of the
business lines will just fall into place.
Many implementations and transformations forget about this and fail to
meet the needs of all the business lines and groups in different countries.
Strive to
know the culture of the people you are transforming. Does the transformation
fit their culture?
Remember the project team and the ongoing
business team have separate functions
After the
project is live, who will be the "run" team? Are they the same? If so, will the pains of the transformation
follow the team? During the
transformation, hard choices need to be made.
The transformation team may have some lingering issues (professionally)
if those decisions were made and not everyone was happy. There is still work to do after the "we
are live!" email goes out. The team
that continues on may have some wounds to tend, but they will be expected to
carry on and sometimes rehash decisions made.
The run team needs to move on (fairly quickly) to the business of
running the system and ensuring the processes are continuing efficiently,
making adjustments where needed.
The
project team will have a target on their back throughout the project. What is your plan to help the project team
rise above and become reinvigorated after the go live?
Allow consultants to help through the
organizational change management
This may
sound counter intuitive, but it is sometimes easier for a third-party
consultant to create, manage, and execute the change process. An internal employee will be biased to make
everyone happy for fear of losing their position or receiving a bad review.
Consultants can sometimes have the critical conversations necessary to ensure
the transformation, without fear of reprisal later.
The more
you can assure your internal employees that they don’t need to fear reprisal
after the "go live," the more they can be effective during the
project.
Stick with the original mission and
requirements and only change if absolutely necessary
Something
is always lost or forgotten from the time you select the system and Systems Integrator
to the "we are live" email. We
often advise our clients to have a monthly (or more often) review of the
original requirements and mission. This
helps to keep everyone on the same path and correct some decisions, if
necessary. Additionally, if things have
changed since the initial mission, then it may be necessary to rewrite the
original requirements. Either way is
fine, as long as it is a collective decision to make the changes or
correction. There should also be a
process to follow to manage the scope and change process to reduce the number
of surprises along the way.
Constant
communication (good news and bad) with the project team, stakeholders, and
business lines will help to make sure your global transformation is a success.
It will be harder than you think
We all
see the advertising, Twitter feeds, and LinkedIn articles that profess how
awesome the projects and the results were.
I have told clients some things are easy and some things aren't
– but they are still work. The easy part
is that the process is known, and you are not creating things from scratch….the
hard part is the work itself and the sheer volume of it. Global transformation projects are large,
complex, and challenging. Working
through them is often a very rewarding project, but there is a significant
amount of work that is sometimes underestimated.
Global
transformations can create a wealth of opportunities for growth and
success. These projects are a great
challenge for everyone involved.
Internal employees and contractors see the challenges differently, and
you can use the different viewpoints for the good of the project and the
company.
