A project is in place for something to be achieved, and any initiative in ERP adoption is considered a major undertaking. Hence, such initiatives should not be treated as mere IT programs but as organizational initiatives.
A strong project start is imperative in laying down the foundation for assured success. One can ensure a strong start by mixing in all the key ingredients:
- Vision for transformation
- Executive buy-in
- Talent acquisition
The definition of a strong start is important and may need to be personalized as per the size and complexity of the project. In essence, when project goals are committed from top to bottom and the vision is accepted by all the stakeholders of the project, it is considered to be a strong start. Often, this is just like laying down the seeds of a plant and watering them with commitment. While detailed planning will happen shortly, emphasis needs to be given to preplanning.
Business drivers and organizational goals often trigger the conceptualization of an initiative. Use these levers to preplan for the project and have a high-level of execution throughout the process.
You can tell that a project is ready to start when the project initiation checklist is ready. We recommend that the checklist contains the following:
- Vision statement:
- This is super important and should be written in a business language, in such a way that any person outside the project should also be able to read it and understand what the project aims to achieve
- A project vision statement should always be tangible and achievable
- Executive sponsorship
- Benefits
- A high-level timeline envisioned for going live
- Constraints and assumptions called out upfront and validated
- Identification of advisors and partners
- Budgetary approvals