How to Deliver Successful Projects: Have a Dialogue

Talk, talk, talk, and then ... talk some more. You cannot talk enough when you're leading any type of change management effort. And that's what a technology project boils down to -- implementing a change to the way things are today. So how do you manage your change efforts? What should you talk about? And to whom should you talk? My company uses John Kotter's Eight Stages of Change as a framework for structuring the conversation with those involved in projects. Here are some guidelines for getting your conversations started.

Do your homework before you start talking ...
Create Urgency: You may have communicated the purpose of your project, but does it have teeth? Paint a picture of what happens if you don't complete the project. What happens if the status quo remains? And what are the benefits that can be realized when the project is done? Often the improvement is crystal clear to technologists, but murky for others. Especially if the project is something ambiguous to a non-technical business counterpart, such as an infrastructure upgrade or an information security tactic.

Create a Vision: Realized benefits are a great way to frame how your project will make the world a better place (at least the world inside the walls of your organization). Give thought to the bigger picture of your project, so that you can paint the "future state" for your stakeholders. Whether your project will result in internal or external customer facing deliverables, painting a picture -- early and often -- is critical for gaining acceptance.

Form a Guiding Coalition: Formally organizing internal support is extremely important, because it helps sow the seeds of change. We've all heard of steering committees. Well, let's put them to work. First, it's important to get the right people on-board -- those who will help you sow the seeds of change. Ask yourself: How can they help spread the message about the project vision? How can they help contribute to defining the vision, so that it speaks to and resonates with the needs of a particular business area or customer segment? A guiding coalition is important, but the team won't work without a sponsor, leader, or visionary enlisted for the long haul. This is the person continuously driving the vision forward and helping the project team stay the course.

Start Talking ...
Communicate the Vision: Talking about your vision isn't a one-time event done via a mass e-mail. You need a plan that identifies who, when, how, and how often they should hear your message. Look for opportunities to get your vision in front of people -- status meetings, town halls, or messages and alerts in an existing system of upcoming milestones. This is not only an opportunity to communicate, but also an opportunity to sell. And like it or not, your vision is for sale. Your buyers are the people impacted by the changes, and also those individuals whose help you need for the project to be a success.

Get others talking (and doing) ...
Empower Others to Act on the Vision: You may be wondering who is the "you" that I keep referring to in this post. It's anyone and everyone who has a role in contributing to the goals of the project. The guiding coalition helps define the vision and pushes it forward. But in order for the vision to be a reality, others need to get on-board. If people feel boxed in, not supported by management or peers, or lacking access to the necessary tools, your project will fail. Make sure the barriers are removed so others can act on your vision.

Plan for and Create Short Term Wins: This is a great way to start showing progress and proving your theories. It also helps everyone realize that their effort is valuable while keeping momentum going. Think about your project plans in terms of, "how quickly can I get something useful out?" "Useful" doesn't have to mean "perfect"; you can always fine tune later. But showing visible progress sooner, even with a few warts, will provide great insights early-on into what is really important to your stakeholders. This allows your team to correct the course sooner, so be sure to create a formal feedback process to capture stakeholder input.

Don't Declare Victory Too Soon, Sustain the Momentum for Change: We've all experienced it – the anticipation of the much celebrated release party. Celebrating milestones is important, but equally as crucial is being cautious to not signify "it's over". The real work begins when the initial visible change is released outside the project team. That's when things really get started and when it's important to keep up the momentum. Change isn't easy and it's not a static, one-time event.

Institutionalize The New Approaches: We call this "business as usual". If you are implementing something new (technology, process or both), you want it to become the new method of operation. Repetition and reinforcement makes something new feel natural, as if it was the way it had always been. So, you haven't talked enough until you feel like a broken record, and others are repeating your messages and finishing your sentences.

As always, looking forward to any comments and knowledge sharing on the topic!

Add Market Research to your Project Plan

The number one mistake I see repeated time and time again is the project team assuming, within a vacuum, they already know what’s important to the end-user/consumer of a technology or a process.

A project equals a change within an organization. Whether you are talking about a new process or new technology it’s a change. The most effective change management strategies are those built on the basic principals of Marketing. The first rule of Marketing is “know your customer”. The same holds true when promoting your project. First, understand who the change impacts. Marketers do research before introducing a new product or message. They identify their target audience then talk to them to find out how they might use a new product or perceive a new message. In marketing this process of getting to know your customer is used to make what they are selling relevant to consumers. Conduct “market research” within your organization and get answers to:

• Who does this project impact?
• How is what the project will replace perceived today? What kind of baggage exists?
• What are the issues today?
• What are the real needs of those impacted?

Using a “Market Research” approach to engage those impacted during the planning phase of your project will help ease their transition into the new world and sets the stage for end-users to embrace the changes to come.

Think Outside the IT Box

Complimenting the traditional system development lifecycle with the best practices in product and change management enables IT stakeholders to “swim further upstream” to understand the real goals of the business and to gain a deeper understanding of the processes that a new technology is required to accommodate.

The Product Development Lifecycle
Concept and Design -> Growth -> Maturity -> Decline

The following best practices, when applied during the first phase - Concept and Design, can be repeated in each phase of the product development lifecycle to ensure an alignment of vision and to keep the lines of communication between stakeholders open throughout the life of a product ( in the case of an IT project, product = system).

Step 1: Idea Generation Brainstorming

• A pie-in-the-sky approach to getting to the real customer need.
• Participants should include product owners (that represent the customer) and key IT stakeholders (those responsible for delivering the customer needs).
• End-user Market Research should feed this process.
• Benefits: This represents the initial alignment of business (those generating the demand/need) and IT (those fulfilling the demand and assessing feasibility)

Step 2: Create a Short List

• The scope is narrowed from the brainstorm session.
• Feasibility assessment is done
• A formalized plan is developed for delivering product functionality.
• Benefits: Further alignment of IT and the business; Clear and realistic delivery expectations.

Step 3: Proper Engagement in Concept Design and Development

• Design and develop the new functionality.
• This is where the IT project hits full capacity.
• The Product Owner/Business should be engaged in each design and development iteration
• Benefits: Further alignment of IT and the business; Continued product owner engagement allows for quicker remediation of unexpected changes to requirements; Further refines delivery expectations

Step 4: Promotion

• Concurrent with design and development, the product owner/business should be promoting the new concepts/functionality to those impacted.
• Benefits: Generates awareness and excitement about changes to come; Plants the seeds early with end-users and allows them to prepare; Presents the opportunity to establish and initiate the feedback loop with the larger end-user population.

Step 5: Testing

• Formalized review and sign-off from product owner/business.
• Benefits: Confirms what is delivered from IT meets product owner/business expectations.

Step 6: Roll-out

• The new functionality is introduced outside the project team.
• The next phase of the Product Development Life Cycle (Growth) is initiated with roll-out.
• Benefits: The foundation for feeding the rest of the product development lifecycle has been established.