It’s no surprise, but we hear the same refrain from clients all the time: we are just going to do this implementation ourselves. Frankly, there is nothing wrong with taking this approach; in fact, we agree that organizations should never rely on outsiders to manage business critical implementations over the long-term. We are firmly on the side of building the capability to execute strategies internally. At the same time, we recommend that organizations invest in learning how to do this better for themselves. Look at the Implementation History of most organizations and you will see why we say that it is just plain smart to spend a little on organizational learning. 

 

 

If you haven’t already done so, we recommend that you conduct an Implementation History Assessment of key business areas to gather data on how people at all levels of your organization rate past implementation success. It’s not expensive or time-consuming to do, and this data can be invaluable in presenting quantitative results to executives on likely future barriers to success. (Call 800-752-9254 or email us at info@imaworldwide.com for more information on the Implementation History Assessment). 

 

If your organization’s data is less than stellar, the next question is fairly obvious: “So, if we haven’t been very successful in the past, and we are going to do the same thing in the future, why should we expect to see different results?”

 

If your organization has composite Implementation History data available from previous work with IMA, make sure you have studied it and have it in hand. Use the data to present a plan to organizational leaders that focuses on enhancing your capability to do a better job of implementation. Even in difficult economic times, when you build a data-based, quantitative business case, the chances of getting the resources you need are far greater.

 

Compare the investment in organizational learning to the investment being made in the project or strategic initiative, and it will represent a fraction of the cost. 

 

 

Learn how to conduct a Project JumpStart to make sure your core team members are aligned on scope, purpose, and success metrics for the project. Do not assume that the team is aligned and headed in the same direction—our repeated experience is that most teams are not aligned, causing a significant amount of wasted time and excess cost.

 

Your chances of implementation success are far greater if extended project team members have gone through AIM (Accelerating Implementation Methodology) training. Conduct a Project Planning Workshop and in 3 days you will have a head-start on completing the deliverables needed for implementation success.

 

We know that the best investment you can make is to make sure your Sponsors know what they need to do to demonstrate good Sponsorship. If you train your Sponsors through an Executive Briefing or SponsorShop, you are making them aware of how their own actions impact execution success, and you begin to build a common vocabulary that will accelerate future implementations.

 

Learn to do it yourself better, and you will save your organization countless costs and business disruption.