The more critical the project, the bigger the challenge of finding the right people for the job. After all, the future of your organization depends on your decision now. And an ERP implementation is about as big of a project as it can get. Can you afford to sacrifice the quality of your ongoing operations for this project, by assigning your best people to it? Do you bring in professionals that as a career do this type of work? And in either case, do you even know what you are looking for? What does “the right person for the job” look like? Who can tell you what’s actually needed for the success of this project?
What skills are you even looking for, exactly?
If you find yourself asking these questions, you are most certainly not alone! The vast majority of leaders are in the exact same situation as you – after all, you are the expert in running your business, not an expert in ERPs! And you shouldn’t be, there are experts out there that spend their careers helping organizations grow and reach that next level by leveraging the advantages that an ERP can provide.
Sounds simple – get me one of those experts!
Yes, unfortunately, when it sounds so simple, you know that there is more to it than meets the eye.
So, lets see why do so many ERP projects fail, run over budget, the company and consultants are at war with each other, fingers are pointed and scapegoats are sought after?
There are hundreds of articles out there pointing out the usual causes: lack of top management support, lack of internal resources, the quality of the consultants, the lack of training provided by the consultants, etc – surely it all sounds familiar to any executive that’s ever considered such project, or even just spoken with anyone about their experience with such project.
There is no denying that any and all of the above can play a role in a project derailing, but most often the above are symptoms, and not root causes.
They are all symptoms of misaligned expectations.
There is no executive in the world that would embark on an ERP implementation project while knowingly being in disagreement and actively acting against it, spending a significant amount of money and resources while willing to cut off the nose to spite the face. The internal resources are qualified enough in their functional roles to have driven the organization to the point it is at now, and quite certainly nobody was hired under the premise of “thou shall learn nothing more from this moment on”, so they are prepared to learn and help the company grow. Consultants are all over the spectrum in terms of approach and knowledge, both technical and functional. For ERP projects, you will be hard pressed to find a consulting company that is partnered with the ERP provider, which has a reputation in the industry, and yet be void of the knowledge required to successfully set up an ERP.
So what is missing?
What is missing is an opportunity for executives as well as project team members and subject matter experts (SMEs) to truly understand what is required to organize and execute such project, and to align their expectations to these requirements.
Too many organizations make a decision to move forward with an ERP implementation with only a few items in mind: select a software, select an implementation partner, appoint a team and project manager. And the rest should take care of itself, right?
WRONG.
There are several key roles and activities that are absolutely critical for a successful ERP implementation. It does not matter how large or how small an organization is (and for an ERP implementation it stands to reason that there is a certain mass even at the small end of the scale), the roles need to be fulfilled – whether a single person playing multiple roles, or, on the other end of the spectrum (for large organizations), several individuals assigned to execute a role. Some of the activities and roles CAN be shared between the organization and the consulting implementation partner, however, part of establishing the right expectations upfront is that the more your company is willing to drive and take ownership of this new mechanism (system + people + processes), the more successful the project will be, and the larger and more persistent the gains from it.
This is all about project governance. Management of people and processes, understanding of technology capabilities and restrictions, knowledge of functional best practice – they are all moving parts that have to be consciously planned and executed, with a crystal clear sense of purpose and ownership, and laser-like focus.
Over the next few articles, we will take an in-depth look at the critical roles and activities that make the difference between successful projects and the painful ones that leave scars and create horror urban legends. Keep reading to find out how you can become one of the success stories!