After nearly two decades of working on projects touted as the ultimate transformation of an organization's finance
#7 - Improper Use of Consultants
I cannot stress this point enough. There is a huge difference between a consulting firm and a staffing firm! Now to many of you reading this, you may be tempted to think that this is a distinction without a difference. I assure you it is not.
If you have a clear idea of what you want to do, you have the in-house expertise to scope and plan your transformation project, then by all means you probably just need to augment your staff to bring on the necessary resources to implement your plan. Don't waste money on a consultant when what you really need as a high-end temp.
If you don't believe that you have the in-house expertise, you would like to take advantage of a person who has specialized in the type of project that you envision, then why on earth would you hire that person or firm only to ignore their advice. Too many times I have seen consultants relegated to the status of high price temps because their function becomes merely to carryout their client's wishes. You need an honest broker. One who is not vested in the politics of the organization and sincerely cares about the success of the project. When you find a firm like that, you owe it for the sake of the project, to let them do what they do best.
#6 - Lack of Involvement by Operational Subject Matter Experts
When I work on a project, I insist on having access to the people who actually do the job. Companies today are staffed so thinly, the regular operation staff simply does not have the time to participate in long project meetings. While using methodologies such as Agile may help cut down on the amount of time needed from SMEs, it is not a cure all. Requirements are difficult and they are, along with data migration, the devils that hide in the details. In order to ensure the process works they way you think it will, you should involve the people who do the actual day-to-day work. Not everyone is cut out for project work but you should make an attempt to identify someone who is currently living with the pain of the current state to participate in the project. Finance operations is a critical component to any organization. Now's not the time to be cheap. Find the resources that will allow you to hire temporary help which will free up members of your operational staff so they can concentrate on the project. Don't make the mistake of rewarding your best employees with a chance to do project work and burn them out in the process by not relieving them from some of their regular duties.
#5 - Lack of Honest Communication
A popular methodology of reporting on project status is to use the much beloved Red Amber Green status indicator. Green means everything is peachy and there's no need to worry. Yellow means we have some storm clouds ahead but we've got a mitigation plan in place and we're going to get this thing back on track. Red means we're...well, you know. In almost twenty years of project work, this year was the first year I've seen someone brave enough to say the project status was red. How many times have your project teammates pulled you aside and said to you privately, "can you believe they're doing this?" only to watch them sit in stone cold silence in the project status meeting. There is no question, no good comes to those who dare to tell the truth. In order to have the best chance of success, team members must feel free to express reservations and should not suffer consequences for doing so. Lack of honest communication during the requirements gathering and development process usually leads to a disastrous user acceptance test.
#4 - Improperly Defined Project Scope
We all know the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Making your project scope too big is a sure path to failure. However, making the scope too small is also a recipe for trouble. Transformation projects by their very nature tend to be of a larger scope. Many times critical issues are dealt with at a later phase of the project rather than during an early stage. However, many times answers that you find solving issues in later phases impacts some of the decisions you made earlier. You don't have to execute the project all at once but you do have to have a complete vision of what you hope to accomplish. Once you start making design decisions, you limit your
#3 - Unrealistic Budget
I will make this short and sweet. You cannot determine the budget before you have finished requirements and finalized the project scope. In my experience, the budget is usually finalized before this happens and almost always leads to embarrassing cost overruns. If you want the truth, you have to determine the scope and the requirements first. Enough said.
#2 - Unrealistic Time Frames
Projects are a three-legged stool. They are functions of budgets, time and resources. There's no getting around this fact. Just because you want something to be done quickly doesn't mean that is metaphysically possible. If the time frame cannot be changed, then the budget and resources available must. Ignore this axiom at your own peril.
#1 - Lack of Executive Support
Usually projects that are meant to fundamentally transform a function will undoubtedly have an executive sponsor. Usually the executive sponsor is practicing his or her own version of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. You see, they're not going to ask deep and probing questions for fear you might actually tell them something is wrong. This gives them plausible deniability. You're not going to volunteer information to them because they have made it clear they only want to hear about the problem after you have already solved it. This game of willful ignorance is being played out all across America and is absolutely killing the chances of meaningful organizational change.
If you want to be safe, take up knitting. Fortune favors the bold. A project has the best chance of succeeding when it has an active champion who ensures the team has the resources it needs to deliver on the project objectives and the temerity to call "BS" when the team is not telling the truth. Without this, projects tend to flounder and devolved into mere shells of their original objectives. Be prepared to be responsible. If you are willing, you're team will be more likely to be responsible for their actions as well.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gregory Q. Jenkins is Founder and CEO of Quentasia Industries Inc.