Of Lemons, Limes and Late Projects
Of Lemons, Limes and Late Projects: Program Management Skills There is a fascinating story showing how science can regress. In the late 1700s, the British Navy discovered that juice from…
The Fractional CIO
Innovative CEOs and CFOs are turning to the fractional CIO to drive strategy, enterprise architecture and IT vendor management without the expense the typical high-powered CIO would incur. The ‘executive…
Assessing a Project: Issue Management Mistakes
“How bad is it?”
When asked to assess or take over management of a project in full swing, you need to be able to quickly figure out whether a project is on track, or how far off track it is if not. A problematic project will be weak in one or more of the three pillars of a good project:
- People (does the project have effective leadership, necessary internal resources, good external expertise?)
- Process (is the plan properly organized and at the right scale? Are proper techniques being used?)
- Technology (is the project using the right package / right tools?)
But before you can diagnose the problem, you need to determine if there is a problem to be diagnosed. There are a few basic steps to making that first assessment: (more…)
ERP Interface Design Principles
Switching ERP systems in a business is like transplanting all a person’s internal organs at once – and if you are going to take on that kind of pain, you might as well do it right. Three fundamental areas can determine success or failure of even the best managed program: where to set the functional edges; how to design the interfaces for the edges you set; and how to model your business objects in the software. In this post I’ll tackle interface design. (more…)
Great IT – Business Partnership
Organizing some thoughts I had put down while waiting for conversions to run on the weekend a large systems project went live, on original budget and original schedule.
In 25 years of working with great companies across a variety of industries, I see IT leaders engaging with business leadership to shape project commitments in three ways:
- Some answer “Yes,” to everything, work heroic hours and under-deliver
- Some just say “No”
- The best engage in a discussion starting with “Yes, and…”
Only the third type of leader has a great relationship with their business partners. There are many other prerequisites for a great IT / business partnership, such as the right organizational design, great people, great planning, and great project management. But it all starts with how you engage your business partners. (more…)
World Class Issue Management
On a recent ERP project I was a part of, the team absolutely nailed issue management. It seems so simple, but can be the difference between a smashing success – that rare ERP project delivered on-time and on-budget; and the typical project – late, expensive and poorly received.