TeamDynamix News

Project Portfolio Management in Higher Education – It’s not all about the Money

Patrick Bennett, MBA, PMP — 6/10/2008 5:48:18 PM

Higher education is already a competitive business and becoming more competitive every day. The entrance of for-profit, publicly held companies, and even venture capitalists highlight that it’s a growing multibillion dollar business. One for-profit publicly held institution of higher- learning collects roughly $2 billion annually in taxpayer-funded federal financial aid on behalf of its students while crediting students for tuition paid (http://www.lieffcabraser.com/consumer/university-phoenix.htm). For academic purists, this sounds like blasphemy. Tradition and gut-reactions aside, it’s hard to argue with the numbers. If this level of for-profit competition isn’t enough, there are also pressures cascading through the U.S. economy. Dramatically rising fuel prices, the falling dollar, and the mortgage crisis are some recent examples.

So, we’ve got a competitive, fast-paced, and chaotic business evolving within higher education. How are you, as a PMO at a not-for-profit university, going to make a positive impact? It’s clear: you help the university fulfill its mission of providing a quality education to all those it can while still remaining nimble, efficient and as solvent as possible.

One way the PMO can further the institution’s mission is to apply outstanding and consistent Governance, Alignment, and Communication techniques to a university Project Portfolio.

I have worked in higher education for nearly seven years now. Prior to that, I worked in the corporate setting and as an entrepreneur. During my time in higher education, I have come to understand some key differences between corporations and universities with regard to the how and why of projects. In the corporate setting, the golden rule typically applies -

“He, who has the gold, makes the rules.”

In other words, if I have the budget and resources for a project, and can also show that the project increases revenues, increases efficiency or reduces risk, I do the project. However, In the higher education space, bottom-line dollars are frequently not the determining go-no-go factor for many of the projects in the portfolio. This makes sense when we keep in mind the fact that most traditional universities operate at a monetary deficit. The annual revenue generated by credit hours is less than the cost of annual operations and is supplemented by an endowment, alumni giving, grants, and capital campaign dollars. At the same time, a project to add a new academic major may well not result in a profit for the institution but it’s “on-mission” and enriches the surrounding community in some manner.

What do we need to understand about this difference? Increased speed to market, ever-changing technologies, the pace of societal change and the necessary parallel change in academic offerings means that doing the right projects has never been so important and doing the wrong projects so detrimental to the health of the institution.

Creating a Well Governed, Well Aligned Portfolio

Creating a well-governed and well-aligned portfolio requires a broad understanding of higher education’s landscape and an in-depth understanding of one’s own institutional culture and characteristics.

In higher education, mission alignment and strategic objectives often outweigh ROI in dollars. Many projects will not have the traditional financial measures like IRR, NPV, and payback period. Take for example the time I applied a discounted cash flow analysis that measured return over five years to a university project. The project goal was to implement a new dynamic inquiry and application system for prospective students. The project was desperately needed and in the last stages of approval, but the university culture was not used to putting firm numbers to its expected returns. That level of explicit accountability made people uncomfortable. Consequently, a project with widely agreed-upon qualitative benefits (to provide a quality and engaging experience to potential students) has not yet moved forward because of a negative reaction to a quantitative lens.

I quickly found that if this was the only measure applied to projects across the university, we wouldn’t do any of them. As a result of this experience, I decided we had to develop a more robust process to review and approve projects within the university.

Here are some key steps we used in creating a valid and sustainable portfolio process:

Step 1 – Identify Key University Leadership to serve on the Governance Committee – you need engaged decision makers at the table:

Anyone can have a great idea, but you also need the ones who can say yes and no
Executive sponsorship for the process is paramount
Define the differences between operational work and project work for the organization
Define a workflow request process for new project requests
Meet regularly to discuss new projects, progress, and status

Step 2 – Make a List – have key leadership identify all the projects desired across the university and compile the requests as a single document

Use an interview questionnaire template to generate consistent data for requests
Categorize the information received in a meaningful way for your audience
Get the draft document into the hands of leadership – this gives Executive Leadership up-front insight into whether or not there are more project requests than time and money
Have each executive leader prioritize their requests Independently and then as a group

Step 3 – Check it twice with an Alignment Document – this should reflect the university mission, strategic objectives, and goals. Make sure everyone involved in the process has a copy

Use this document as a reference during the prioritization process to encourage consistent application of decision standards

Step 4 - Create an Objective Project Scorecard – this should include weighted ranking criteria sections such as mandatory/compliance, alignment, process improvement, risk, benefit (there are a lot of ways to do this…the important part is for all projects to be compared against the same criteria).

Use this tool to help prioritize the project requests
Educate in advance there is a good chance not every idea will make the cut – there are limited resources and dollars, folks. Also, just because we can doesn’t mean we should (having budget and resources available is not a compelling enough reason to do a project).

Step 5 – Elicit and Document Capacity and Utilization of Human Resources - we have to know who we have, the skill sets available, the hours available for innovation (not operations work-time), and the potential costs of outfitting the organization with skill sets needed to succeed

This could be as simple as using an Excel spreadsheet to capture and document human resource availability
At some point, you’ve got to track effort hours to be able to benchmark

Step 6 – Communicate the Process and the Results – if no one knows there’s a process, then there isn’t one

Once you have buy-in from Leadership and have demonstrated the value of this process, start the communications road show. The organization has to be informed and educated about the process and the WIIFM (what’s in it for me)
Create reports that have actionable information for the Leadership team and project stakeholders

Step 7 – Find a Usable PPM/PMIS Integrated Tool – you eventually must have a place where all portfolio/project data can be stored, processed, and viewed.

Once you have been through this process and you have had some measurable success and buy in, find an integrated portfolio/PMIS where you can really begin to provide transparency in the process while gathering and persisting valuable project data

No process is perfect. Will some bad initiatives get approved? Sure. Next to death and taxes, it’s a pretty sure bet there is always going to be a bad project in the mix. That said, the goal here is to provide transparency in the process that helps to minimize the possibility of a bad project, and to be able to discontinue such an initiative without it being a punitive process. No longer shall projects be approved in a vacuum. Project request should be compared against the mission and strategic goals of the institution, all other requests, and the project portfolio as a whole. If you can get this process in place and running well, there is a world of possibilities that open up for the institution.

TeamDynamix Webinar- Assessing Project Environment Maturity to Insure PPM Success June 11, 2008

Andrew Graf — 5/27/2008 11:55:14 AM

Title: Assessing Project Environment Maturity to Insure PPM Success

Date: June 11, 2008

Time: 2pm EST

Synopsis

The webinar discussion will focus on a higher education specific PPM implementation approach based upon careful assessment of project environment maturity and maturity based planning.

Higher education IT leadership is more challenged than ever to support customers, maintain existing IT investments and continue to drive innovation. IT commitments are many times growing faster than resources and budgets. Often the results are a reduced role in strategic innovation, blown budgets, missed commitments, difficulty adapting to changes, slow evolution and reduced quality. Many CIOs are struggling to keep up and are turning to project and portfolio management (PPM) as a solution.

While the benefits of PPM squarely address the aforementioned issues a PPM solution implementation is challenging for even the most skilled IT/PMO organizations. Many of the challenges experienced are due to the implementation approach. A corporate PPM software implementation approach for Higher Education often results in exceptionally high budget and schedule risk. The typical culprits driving risk and failure are solution complexity, poorly phased rollout plans and insufficient consideration of the project environment maturity.

To Register for this free webinar click on the link below:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/628321513

Higher Education PPM and IT Governance- The Approach Makes the Difference

Andrew Graf — 4/18/2008 11:30:08 AM

Introduction

Higher education CIOs are more challenged than ever to support customers and maintain existing IT investments while continuing to innovate. CIO commitments are also growing faster than their resources and budgets. Many times the results are a reduced role in strategic innovation, blown budgets, missed commitments, difficulty adapting to changes, slow evolution and reduced quality. Many CIOs are struggling to keep up and are turning to project and portfolio management (PPM) as a solution.

While the benefits of PPM squarely address the aforementioned issues a PPM solution implementation is challenging for even the most skilled IT/PMO organizations. Many of the challenges experienced are due to the implementation approach. A standard software implementation approach for PPM often results in exceptionally high budget and schedule risk. The typical culprits driving risk and failure are solution complexity, poorly phased rollout plans and insufficient consideration of the project environment maturity.

Project Environment
1. The aggregate of people, stakeholders, culture, budget, perspectives, processes, commitments, demands, capacity, constraints, objectives, tools, relationships, history, skill mix and skill dispersion surrounding efforts that are contemplated, devised, or planned.

How do the most successful leaders approach PPM and IT Governance?

Having exposure to many colleges and universities addressing PPM and IT Governance solutions we have an inside perspective on how top IT/PMO leaders successfully approach implementation. The best are able to navigate the consensus and community based higher education environment, create necessary buy-in, help the organization achieve its objectives more efficiently and raise the strategic profile of the IT organization or PMO. These high performers first think and communicate objectives in terms of how increasing PPM maturity helps the whole community (strategy) and then align PPM solution capabilities with methodically achieving time based maturity based goals.

Why is a maturity based approach important to higher education?

The higher education environment typically places more emphasis on building consensus among committees, stakeholders, managers and end users than their corporate counterparts. Additionally, colleges and universities prefer (as much as possible) to take a gradual approach to introducing new solutions in order to reduce risk, insure adoption and insure success.

A maturity based approach enables leadership to create this group buy-in and solid adoption by mapping the capabilities provided by PPM solutions directly to the goals and needs of each group in their community. It also allows leadership to clearly articulate a short and long term evolution path. The evolution path clearly describes how each new capability that is added over time will further the maturity of each group as well further the achievement of the organizations over arching strategic goals. The maturity approach should also go beyond recommendations and provide clear and executable steps to achieving the detailed objectives.

How does the maturity based approach differ from a standard implementation approach?

Sound the alarm when thinking or hearing: “I’ve got a good plan. I’ll use the PPM software approach that worked when I was with _________(insert any non-higher education organization name here).”

A maturity based approach doesn’t focus on implementing features and functionality. A maturity based approach begins with first documenting and agreeing upon the institution’s strategic goals, stakeholders’ strategic goals and PMO/IT strategic goals. This is an important step because these goals serve as the anchor point for determining desired maturity. The second step is to conduct a careful assessment of the current maturity of the project organization from a project environment viewpoint (components defined earlier in the article). Once documented and agreed upon current maturity will serve as the baseline for improvement. The next step is to agree upon and document the current weaknesses, threats and opportunities relating to current project environment maturity level. The foundation is now set for creating an actionable evolution plan.

To determine a meaningful (i.e. fundable) desired maturity state, write down each strategic objective, each strength, each weakness, each threat and each opportunity. Now, list all IT Governance and PPM capabilities that the organization does not effectively utilize. Contemplate how each capability would support each goal, resolve each weakness or threat or leverage strengths. Clearly document the alignment of relevant capabilities.

The “GAP” between as-is and desired states can now be clearly established. The aligned PPM capabilities become “deficit components” and need to be broken down into high level and detailed buckets (high level to create stakeholder understanding and buy-in and detailed to guide practitioner execution). Each deficit component is then prioritized and placed on a timeline that leads from the as-is to desired maturity level. PPM solution capabilities and processes can then be clearly mapped to address each deficit area. When evaluating PPM solutions consider if the solution can be implemented in small chunks that align with your maturity plan and make sure it is easy to use to insure adoption. The result of the GAP analysis should be a simple picture (i.e. easily understandable plan) painted for all stakeholder groups explaining how the solution will drive the organization’s success. This step is critical to build the buy-in necessary for success and to justify funding.

What are the approaches for a college or university to measure, monitor and drive maturity?

There are many maturity measurement models some include OPM3, CMMI, ITIL, P.E.M.M. etc.. For higher education the model needs to guide practitioners but also be simple for outsiders to grasp. OPM3, CMMI and ITIL are very comprehensive practitioners tools but they are very complicated to implement and difficult for those funding and supporting PPM efforts (stakeholders) to understand. In higher education we’ve found the P.E.M.M. (Project Environment Maturity Model) to be highly effective because it is well suited for building the necessary stakeholder buy-in to insure PPM success in the short and long term. The PEMM is a solid practitioner’s tool (detailed execution guide) but almost as importantly it serves as an internal marketing tool that paints a clear picture for anyone from the president to students to understand the following points.

How does additional maturity allow the whole organization to achieve its strategic objectives more efficiently?

How can specific tangible steps be taken to achieve the desired maturity level?

How does each step in the maturity model benefit each stakeholder?

How does each maturity component address identified strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the project environment?

What are the priorities and order of actions to be taken to achieve desired maturity?

How does IT/PMO leadership benefit directly from the maturity based PPM implementation approach?

The approach will help raise the profile of IT from a provider of maintenance and support to a key strategic player and source of business intelligence driving universities to spend project dollars and resources most effectively to achieve strategic objectives.

A detailed maturity assessment will help leadership craft a concise strategic operating plan that will support the rapidly changing and resource constrained environment within the context of the university’s strategy.

The maturity approach will allow leadership to clearly articulate to all stakeholders how the new IT/PMO operations strategy directly drives organizational performance.

The evolution that occurs when implementing PPM in a maturity based model will help increase IT’s available funding by clearly demonstrating benefits to all stakeholders and aligning IT spending clearly with university objectives.

The approach empowers leadership to more efficiently and effectively manage interrelated IT projects, operations support, resource demands, and committee approval structures, Trustee oversight and stakeholder support.

Why mid-sized manufacturers need Process, Project, and Portfolio management software

Adam Torres — 10/1/2007 2:27:19 PM

Lots of mid-sized manufacturers have been asking me lately what makes them different in the program, project and portfolio management from other types of companies.

My answer to that question, like so many others, is complicated. Mid-sized manufacturers(less than 2 billion) primarily have their businesses focused around their ERP vendors. While the investment in ERP for them was probably large, many are now looking for the next thing that is going to help them become more efficient and to better seize potential opportunities. These businesses operate so heavily based on process, so why is it that they don’t use these same practices when choosing which IT projects to execute or when measuring how they’re doing against objectives.

Many companies tell me they don’t want or need yet another methodology that is going to make their already complicated jobs more complicated. They tell me that they need a process or methodology around project selection and project management that is simple.

One of my clients in the manufacturing space called me up a few months ago and asked us to help implement a methodology called Bare Bones Project Management written by Bob Lewis. At first I was speculative but after reading the amazingly short and sweet book, I decided to give it a shot. A few months and several client implementations later, I’m a believer. Mid-sized manufacturers need product and methodology together. Most importantly, it all needs to be simple.

Besides process, manufacturers need products that offer sophisticated functionalities such as capacity panning and ROI algorithms. They need products that include and help them collaborate with partners, suppliers, and outside vendors. They need products that help them meet and comply with six sigma and ISO certification processes and they need all of this in one, easy to use, portfolio and project management solution.

In summary, if you are a post ERP mid-market manufacturer looking for more control around project selection, organization and compliance, consider vendors that can provide all of the following.

1) Methodology or Process suited for manufacturers project maturity level

2) Product that is really simple to use and implement

3) Product that has a collaborative slant to how it works

4) People that can bring it all together

Why did we spend all this money on a Portfolio and Project Management solution that few people use?

Adam Torres — 7/13/2007 2:49:56 PM

Believe it or not, lots of people go through what I call the project management tools lifecycle. Someone somewhere in your organization puts together some ROI model that figures if the company can prevent overruns on projects and keep everyone on the same page, they can save millions. If that person begins getting momentum and support within the organization, a committee generally gets formulated to assess tools that allow for realization of the aforementioned savings.

So someone in your company then gets tasked with finding a portfolio and project management solution. Most times companies have a copy of MS Project Desktop lying around so that becomes the obvious target. Sometimes consultants are brought in to interview different members of the organization and find tools that meet each group’s requirements. A short list of vendors gets selected and the crazy demo and selection process begins.

Key executives and committees get formed and usually a fairly complicated solution gets selected because it’s the only one that has all of the things that all of the parties involved put on their requirements list.

Whispers of a major shift in how the organization is going to begin doing projects post selection cause excitement and optimism within various members of the IT staff and before we know it, implementation is upon us.

A year goes by, exuberant and cheery trainers are brought in for classes that are mandatory, but we still are not seeing the big savings that started us down this road to begin with. What happened?

This is what I like to refer to as the “O shit” moment. Companies often ask me to help them understand where they went off strategy or why this is not working. I always chuckle when I hear about a company that failed at a project to make projects better.

Most of these projects fail for one reason; the product they choose does not meet the lowest common denominator. So you might be asking, what does that mean? Well, the majority of the people using these types of products are not managers or individuals that likely talk about earned value on their lunch breaks; they’re software engineers, help desk support technicians, financial analysts, and network administrators. The executives bought something that checked off every box, but it was so difficult to use that true adoption never happened. Trust me, the world’s best project and portfolio management product does not check off every box, but it is the easiest thing to use for the majority of the people within the organization. If it does check every box you can almost guarantee adoption will be brutal and garbage in equals garbage out. Remember, adoption rules, and it should not require force or an army of change management consultants to make it happen.

So how should you select a project and portfolio tool? You should still form a committee, build process, and come up with a list of requirements. After you have done this though, put different products down in front of several line level people(without training) and ask them how simple it is to find out what they are supposed to do and how easy it is to report progress on what they have done. The tool that accomplishes that best should be at the top your list even if it does not do X Y or Z.

It’s not a myth that you can save millions by implementing the right portfolio and project management software, but just remember that ease of use is the biggest key to realizing the savings.

Managing Multiple Projects

Chris Zurn — 4/24/2007 3:13:14 PM

The dot com era of “blank check” spending is over. Existing home values have softened, and foreclosures and mortgages in default are at an all-time high. Both high-tech and manufacturing companies find themselves competing with lower cost, internationally-based labor and services. In short, today we have to do more with less. Companies we support find themselves under pressure to remain competitive while consuming fewer resources. Competitive organizations are often made “lean and mean,” and project managers are often challenged with executing additional projects that former colleagues once managed.

The natural reaction to this news: fear!

Modern project management advocates a host of strategies to carry you through a project from inception to post-production. According to the PMBOK™ best practices, you must always remain cognizant of scope, schedule, cost, quality, human resources, communication, risk, procurement, and integration. There are a plethora of project artifacts that can be produced to support these practices as well, including charters, vision statements, project plans, scope documents, cost estimating documents, project schedule, WBS and WBS dictionary, risk documents, activity sequencing documents, resourcing estimates. My head is spinning. Is yours?

Managing multiple projects can be quite challenging, and each organization may have different ideas as to project artifacts. Even if they don’t, it doesn’t change the fact that you now have additional projects to manage and only one of you, right? Of course not.

It’s natural to feel overwhelmed. When project managers find themselves in these circumstances, they can either seek to master their domains or be manhandled by them. So how does one stay on top of it all? Well, there’s certainly no one-size-fits-all answer, as organizations have different requirements, people have different management styles, and projects can be very different in nature. However, the following key elements may help illuminate what elements are truly essential in projects, and what habits make an already demanding week, month or year more successful and less stressful.

Organization, organization, organization! I am consistently surprised to see individuals using different (i.e., disposable) project notebooks every day for the same project. I’ve also noticed about 50 Post-It® notes scattered across their desks and monitors. I’ve even heard them asking to borrow pens in meetings. Obviously, this type of “lifestyle” will exponentially complicate a project manager’s career, and at minimum, will add about one hour per day (and about 8oz of sweat) to their efforts. Successful project managers utilize hardbound, permanent media for each project and centralize their “to do’s” for the day and week for all projects. Some utilize notebook software to organize all notes for all projects, store all to-do’s, and password protect sensitive project information that doesn’t belong in a paper notebook.

Foster Healthy Relationships- Whether it’s with your project sponsors, internal teams or even your vendors, establishing rock-solid relationships built on respect, integrity and honesty will make a difference in your life, the lives of those you work with, and those who have formulated an opinion about you (i.e., your reputation.) Help executives understand that you’re working in their best interests. Reward, counsel and protect your project teams. Build trust with those around you. Be a leader.

What does this have to do with multiple projects, you say? Think about it. How much time have you spent clarifying misunderstandings, righting wrongs, quelling fears, or managing conflict among people? In project environments, these distractions do happen. It’s time intensive enough to manage multiple projects. Proactively setting a positive atmosphere in your work environment will pay huge dividends from a time perspective.

Know Thine Projects- Some project managers have excellent technical skills, and they manage tasks flawlessly, but they fail to truly understand the strategic nuances of the projects they were entrusted to take over. It’s important to have an in-depth understanding of the ultimate long-term goals of the project. In knowing this, project managers can feel confident that the precious time they are spending is not wasted on efforts non-critical to project success.

Manage proactively- Successful project managers not only manage today, but they manage tomorrow, next week, next month and even next year. It’s much easier to keep your proverbial train rolling by seeing all of the landscape ahead of you. Build bridges over water and tunnel through mountains to ensure your train gets to its station without incident. Avoid desperately throwing track under your train as it steams by, seemingly out of control.

Know Your Project Roadmap and Milestones- When adding a project to your current load of projects, it’s crucial to know exactly where you are in that project’s schedule. If needed, what adjustments need to be made to update or conform to that schedule? If you were on a trip from L.A. to New York, how would you describe where you are? By state? By city? By street? Any one of these answers would be more suitable than “I’ve left L.A. and I’m not in New York,” right? The same logic applies to knowing project progress. I have often heard task statuses reported as “in progress” and “we’re working on it” without specific mention given to phase progress, reference to milestone dates, needed adjustments, etc. How can anyone know if the project is on track if they don’t know where the project is at today? Tomorrow? Next week?

The aforementioned key elements may seem to be common sense to the average skilled project manager, however there are huge numbers of project “coordinators” that have willingly raised the torch in workplaces that do not provide any formal methodology training (e.g., RUP®, PMBOK®, Six Sigma®, Total Quality Management, even SDLC). I dedicate this article to those aspiring project managers that wish, like the rest of us, to be at the top of their game.

Keys to Implementing a Large Project at a Small or Mid-Sized Enterprise

Russ Ballard — 1/15/2007 9:26:59 AM

Do you work in a small- or mid-size enterprise (SME)? Are you trying to implement a major new initiative? If so, are you up for the challenge? Implementing significant changes in the SME space presents some unique challenges that need to be considered. This is not to say that implementation is any easier in a large organization, but I’ve been fortunate enough to experience implementations in both smaller and larger enterprises. I would like to offer some insights on what I feel will help you successfully implement big changes in your small- or mid-size enterprise.

You may already be familiar with some of the key factors that drive project success. I do not want to focus on the academic explanations, since you can go to the Project Management Institute website (http://www.pmi.org/) to get that information. Instead, I will share with you how Cranel Incorporated (http://www.cranel.com/) quickly and successfully implemented the largest IT project in its history.

Our project, coined Project Gemini, was officially kicked off on March 1, 2005. The official implementation kickoff was preceded by four months of planning, business case development, requirements assessment and options analysis. These activities culminated in January and February of 2005 with the selection of an eBusiness platform and a business integration provider.

The scope of project Gemini focused primarily on building an eBusiness solution for Cranel Imaging (http://www.cranelimaging.com/), a division of Cranel Incorporated, that would ultimately be a differentiator with our value-added reseller (VAR) customers. Project Gemini set the stage for building towards a truly unique experience for our VARs.

Throughout 2005, the Project Gemini team worked tirelessly to design, build, test and deploy the final product, Cranel Imaging Online. The team was comprised of key business stakeholders, internal IT professionals, and consultants. The team successfully deployed all of the Phase 1 capabilities in November of 2005. Since the General Release, we have been training VARs on a weekly basis to utilize the new system as part of their relationship with Cranel Imaging.

In my opinion, Project Gemini was a success for many reasons. These reasons can be broken into two categories: Universals and Essentials. Essentials are the key success factors that are crucial to project success within a small- or mid-sized enterprise. Universals are the key success factors that apply regardless of an organization’s size. However, Cranel did not necessarily have all of the tools or processes (i.e. Universals) in place to successfully execute large-scale business and system transformation projects. The analogy that helped to shed light on this issue was the following:

Cranel needed to build a “Software Manufacturing Plant”. Just like a manufacturing plant, IT organizations need standards (architecture), repeatable processes (methodologies), tools (development platforms), and defined roles.

First, let’s look at the Universals.

Methodology – Cranel deployed a new project management and systems development methodology in anticipation of Project Gemini. Many of us knew from experience that a large project would flounder without some structure and processes. In a SME environment, you do not have the luxury of a large project office to implement methodologies. Take advantage of a large initiative to rollout out a methodology that you can use on future projects. For example, if you hire a consulting firm to run your project, adopt the key components of their methodology for your future project needs.

Solid Business Case – In any size organization, a business case is crucial to project success. Without a clear and compelling business case, a project should not be tackled. If you do go down that path, you will quickly see the project lose priority to other projects or simply fall apart due to a lack of vision and purpose. You might think that there is no way to get a large budget for a project at a SME. Think again, you might be surprised at the resources you can get when the business case is solid and the business need is strategic.

Solid Business Requirements – Prior to selecting a solution and definitely prior to implementation, you must have a solid set of business requirements defined. Prior to selecting the software, we spent over four months gathering requirements for Project Gemini from customers and internal stakeholders. Requirements gathering is as much art as it is science. In a SME, you will likely have to rely on a single person to unearth the hidden treasures called business requirements. Be sure to find the right person to do this job that can wade through the business processes and weed out the fluff from the true business requirements. It takes someone who is not afraid to stand up and point out the silliness in some requirements and ask the “stupid” questions that often lead to a total shift in thinking.

Project Management – Assign a full-time project manager. For a large initiative, this needs to be someone with strong experience implementing major projects. You will likely need to go outside of your small- or mid-size enterprise to find this person. Don’t be afraid to pay a consultant to do this job. It might be the best money that you spend on the project. My only caution here is to ensure that any consultant is a good fit with your team and your culture. Interview the candidates along with your team.

Now, let’s talk about the Essentials.

Executive Sponsorship – All projects need an executive sponsor; however this is even more critical in a SME. Your project will consume a significant amount of time from internal resources (people, money, systems, etc.), of which the supply is lean. In order to keep your supply of resources flowing, you will often need the clout of your executive sponsor to step in to rearticulate the vision and need for the project. On project Gemini, our executive sponsor actively provided leadership and collaborated on a daily basis to ensure success. If your executive sponsor’s level of involvement makes your periodic status updates unnecessary, then count your lucky stars. You have the fortune of working with a truly great executive sponsor, and your project is well-positioned for success.

Focus – Without focus, your project is dead. In a small- or medium sized enterprise, you certainly find yourself pulled from priority to priority and from fire to fire. There is only so much of everyone to go around, and there is much more to do than what can actually be done. Ensure that the project manager is 100% focused on the project. You may also have some consultants that can be 100% focused on the project. Some resources must be shared with other priorities (e.g. system support). Be sure that you set clear expectations around the amount of time that the project will need from these shared resources. Constant reinforcement of the expectations will help to keep focus on your project. Don’t forget to build in a little timeline contingency for the occasions when those shared resources get pulled in to the inevitable fire.

Engage your team fully – The most critical aspect of ongoing success, is to fully engage the internal IT and business teams. If they are not key players on the project then you might see a flawless launch turn into a cruise on the Titanic. A team made up entirely of consultants will likely have a successful initial deployment. However, when issues arise down the road, your uninvolved support team will not know where to turn, so you will be calling the consultants to come back to rescue you. Enjoy taking that invoice to your CFO for payment. Another benefit from a large project like this is that it can galvanize your team and build camaraderie and collaboration. Foster this by celebrating team successes along the way with lunches, recognitions, etc. In a SME, your small team will have to work together closely on numerous projects. We found that Project Gemini forced our team to come together in a totally new way to deliver under some significant time and budget constraints. There is nothing like achieving a challenging, shared goal to forge team bonds that will continue to drive success long after the project has ended.

Don’t be afraid to tackle large projects in your small- or mid-sized enterprise. They are absolutely achievable. Just don’t kid yourself about what it takes to be successful. Don’t be tempted to cut a corner to save a dollar. Instead, fortify your business case and go get the resources that you need to be successful. Focus on flawlessly executing the Universals, and execute on the Essentials at a world-class level.