One of the biggest forms of waste I’ve observed comes from working on the wrong things. IT projects are certainly not immune from this form of waste. All too often organizations fall in love with a new technology and adopt it without understanding the business case, or teams work on someone’s pet project even though it doesn’t fit with the organizations vision and strategy.
For major projects, half the battle is picking the right projects. Some characteristics of the right projects are:
There is a clear link to the organizations vision and strategy. This linkage allows building off the organization’s direction to build alignment around the project. I have seen several projects killed when a new executive asks “Why are we spending money on this instead of a project which ties to my priorities?” Over time nonstrategic projects loose support, and the impact of the initial investments are lost or minimized.
The project needs a committed executive sponsor who wants accountability for the results. All transformative projects run into issues. A sponsor who will break down barriers and drive for results when issues arise is critical to a project’s success. A good sponsor will ensure the project gets the right resources, and that the organization understands and is committed to the business case.
The organization is committed to develop the capabilities required to make the ongoing operation a success. Often some of the non-IT related skills required to realize the business case are missing. Understanding and providing the base business skills is essential to properly using a new solution. New solutions often require new IT capabilities. For projects where most of the technology will be outsourced, developing the right vendor management skills is essential. A robust plan to identify and develop the required organizational capabilities is essential.
The project fits with everything else that is going on. Doing a project that impacts part of the organization that is already fully (or over) committed with other strategic priorities never works. A portfolio that requires the same group to launch two important but independent initiatives puts too much stress on that group. When issues come up there is always competition for the resources required to deal with them. By understanding the entire portfolio of work projects can be timed to allow the organization to successfully absorb the changes and provide impactful support.
Picking the right projects with the right timing gives them a fighting chance for success. Otherwise an organization is very susceptible to delays, over runs and unrealized business cases.
