Most IT projects also end up being an organizational change process that goes beyond the strictly technological area. That is, the final result of this change process ends up influencing the outcome of the IT project itself.
Whether it’s due to the nature of IT projects (which almost always involve adjustments to the organization’s processes) or the reason that may give rise to the project itself (the need for change), almost all IT projects are accompanied by organizational change. Ignoring this issue puts the success of the project at risk.
About 12 years ago, IBM published a book titled “On-line, On-time, On-budget.” At the time, it seemed brilliant how they managed to capture the critical success factors of a project in a simple title. Just control the functional requirements, time, and budget, and surely the project would be successful.
Since then, much has been written on the subject. Methodologies and training programs have been created. However, some very well-planned and well-managed projects from a technical point of view still fail.
But why?
What experience tells us is that we often forget that companies are living and complex entities. Moreover, the path to achieving a goal is not always linear, and our projects sometimes have impacts that we are far from predicting at the beginning.
Therefore, for a project to be successful, we need to ensure other issues beyond purely technical ones. Ultimately, the project is successful if the impact it is intended to have on the business is achieved.
So, in order for this to happen, it is necessary to “induce” that the result of the IT project is “absorbed” by the company. Let’s see below some of the factors that seem to be critical in any project.
1. Planning is not a cost, it’s an investment
The tendency of human nature is to invest much more in execution than in planning, often reducing planning to the bare minimum.
In summary, theory (and experience proves it) says that the resources invested in planning (time and money) not only reduce the resources needed in the execution phase but also reduce the risk of unforeseen events.
2. Immutable scope… until it’s necessary to reduce it
Another common mistake is related to last-minute changes to the project scope, either because it was not thought of before or because something has changed.
Before anything else, it is essential to “freeze” the scope, and the decisions made during the project should take this assumption into account. However, it is acceptable to change it, reducing it, when the initial scope puts the success of the project at risk.
3. The importance of an effective Sponsor
Project management rules refer to the importance of appointing a Sponsor who has power in the organization. In other words, this role should not only be figurative but should also not be limited to interfering only in case of conflict.
The Sponsor should be the main mobilizer of the entire company for the necessary changes.
4. People as critical success factors
No change can be achieved without the involvement of people. It is essential to communicate effectively, primarily to the organization’s employees. Increasingly, we are realizing the importance of internal marketing in companies (internal marketing).
5. The important thing is the business, the tools are just that… tools
One of the risks of using standardized methodologies is that the processes can overshadow the business, meaning that complex methods are used to solve simple issues. We need to use common sense and align the complexity of the methods used with the processes we are dealing with.
6. When the unthinkable happens
IT professionals are naturally optimistic, assuming that everything will go as planned. We need to counter this tendency and consider the risk of things not going exactly as planned in our planning.
Ideally, this risk should be measured at the beginning, but even if it’s not, we should always consider safety margins in terms of time and budget, and have alternative plans.
The best examples of these issues are CRM projects. Often, top managers decide to enter the world of CRM, choose an IT tool, and expect the implementing company to provide training to users.
However, the training provided by implementers will be on how to use the tool. For a project of this nature to be successful, it is necessary to create a customer-oriented attitude throughout the organization.
Therefore, it is necessary to listen to customers, record the information obtained, process that information, analyze it, and finally take action. The whole process is supposed to generate constant actions in the business, whether it’s changing products, processes, or communication.
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