This paper is based on observations and experience over a number of years of involvement in systems implementation as a practitioner, an educator, and a consultant. As such, the comments and ideas have evolved from a variety of industries, implementation plans, software products, and corporate cultures. The sole objective of this paper is to share some issues and opinions in the hope that they may help the reader chart a better course on the reader's implementation journey. The chosen areas or issues are critical in a successful implementation. These areas are vulnerable to mismanagement with potential project-failure consequences. For each area, potential concerns will be identi­fied along with proposed ways to avoid these concerns or processes to deal with them if they are unavoidable.

CHOOSING A PROJECT MANAGER WITH SIZZLE

A critical resource to the project is the project manager. This person will be called upon to lead, facilitate, coordinate, moderate, challenge, compromise, and do whatever necessary to ensure the success of the project. Ideally, this person should be well versed in the strategic ob­jectives of the organization, respected by superiors, peers, and subor­dinates, and possess the skills necessary to carry out the activities men­tioned above. This would speak to choosing an already valuable and busy resource in the company. This is the choice of preference! Too often we choose someone in the organization who has available time. Often, this individual is new to the organization or has gained avail­ability some other way, but does not possess the skills required. Don't give in to the convenience of the situation! The sizzle of a good project manager comes from the rapport that they can develop within the imple­mentation team. Attitude is everything.

Project managers for hire, i.e., consultants, are also tempting. The same concerns apply when choosing an outside project manager along with the issues of expense, credibility, and buy-in on the part of com­pany personnel. Although outside project managers may succeed, only take that option if the internal resources are simply not available.

Few project managers will be the perfect fit. The key here is to find ways to overcome any project manager's significant shortcoming through training and/or complementary skills sets of other members of the team. Remember that a weak or highly faulted project manager is a high risk for an otherwise good project structure. Stated in our confer­ence theme, your project won't sizzle if the leader is only lukewarm.

GETTING A FIRED-UP IMPLEMENTATION TEAM

The people referred to here are not the steering committee, upper man­agement personnel responsible for strategic guidance, funding, etc. They are those who will dedicate a major portion of their time and resources to the understanding and integrating of system functionality to the busi­ness needs. It is critical that these people have a thorough understand­ing of the business issues in their area! Common errors in implementa­tion structure include (1) leaving a part of the company's business un­represented; (2) making this the last project of a retiring employee or the first project of a new employee; (3) not making the team cross-functional; (4) not giving team members authority to make decisions in their own areas.

Additionally, the dynamics of the team are frequently ignored. Early training may be needed in this area. Don't assume people know how to function effectively as part of a team. The team composition suggested is key middle management, hands-on people with decision-making ca­pability. They are too busy! Yes, so how can that be addressed? More

about that in a moment. Staffing the implementation team to ensure status quo for the daily business is potentially a much greater risk to the long-term success and profitability of the organization. Build your red-hot team out of movers, shakers, and doers. You can't afford not to invest the best.

RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS—WHAT TO DO?

A basic truth about systems implementations is that they are incremen­tal work for the organization. The true time line for an implementation relates directly to the resources that can be applied. Sensitivity to this issue is a must, but it cannot drive the project in unproductive ways. Two examples of unproductive processes follow.

First, the morale issue. A common comment from new team mem­bers is, "I already have a full day's work. I don't have time for this project." Possible solutions involve working a lot smarter and only a little harder. Some options: Delegate routine tasks to subordinates. This is a win-win. Outsource routine tasks to temps. Optionally, get third party support where appropriate.

The second unproductive process is to micromanage the resource load or work content. Provide enough detail to generate a time line, but don't detail the tasks to the lowest level for two reasons. First, they are simply not qualifiable, and second, it takes too many resources to do this. Measure progress by milestone attainment and audits; more detail does not add value. Typically, organizations resort to a blend of inter­nal and external resources based on a combination of skill sets and time line constraints. Remember, external resources can provide alter­nate viewpoints and prior experiences as well. This use of external resources, both manually and clerical, should be decided early and put in the project budget.

To Be Continued