As senior executives, ensuring that your enterprise software project is successful is essential. Here are a few tips to don’t let your enterprise software project go south:
- Understand the game you are in: Research the number/percentage of enterprise software projects that fail or exceed their budgets every year. This report will give you a better idea of the risks involved.
- Assess the risks: Assess the potential impact of the Project’s success or failure on your business, department, and personal credibility.
- Educate yourself: Learn from the experiences of other project sponsors by networking with them, reading articles, watching videos, and reading books.
- Consider hiring an independent consultant: An independent consultant can provide guidance and support throughout the Project.
- Be realistic: Do not assume that everything will go as planned. It’s important to question assumptions and assess the feasibility of the proposed plan.
- Stay informed: Get weekly project status reports from the project manager(s) and review them thoroughly. Ask great questions to understand the project status, issues, risks, and pending decisions.
- Be proactive: It may require some work, but it’s better to be proactive and avoid significant problems than to spend time chasing people to understand what happened after the damage is done.
As senior executives, it’s essential to take ownership of your enterprise software project and ensure that it is managed effectively. The above suggestions can mitigate risks, ensure that the Project stays on track, and increase your chances of success. You must act; the choice is yours, however!
