If you are considering ERP, take your time. Way too many ERP projects not only end up exceeding their allocated budgets, just as often, they lead to significant revenue loss due to a decline in core business productivity. In case you think I am being a Chicken Little please consider the data. A recent IDC survey shows that the negative impact of business disruptions attached to ERP … [Read more...]
Time and The New Cultural Order
December 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment
If you have a global company, you have most certainly observed that regions of the world do the same things differently. But have you considered that the way a culture experiences time may be one of the most powerful, behind the scenes drivers of these differences? Professor Phillip Zimbardo, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Stamford has studied, written on and in this fascinating animated … [Read more...]
Carrots and Sticks R.I.P.
December 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Guess what? Carrots and Sticks don't work. In study after study we are learning that giving employees more money, promoting them or punishing them for failing to reach goals, all miss the mark by a mile when it comes to motivating behavior at work. Let's break it down: Money - It's table stakes i.e. necessary but not sufficient. You have to give people enough money so that they are not worrying … [Read more...]
Hearts and Minds: Passion or Logic?
December 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
If you've prepared your FAQs, your status dashboard is up to date and your weekly project communications go out on time and so you think your change management box is checked, think again. These things are table stakes. Ya gotta have 'em. They don't move the needle with regard to stakeholder buy-in. Feelings, not facts move the needle. When we feel something strongly, we find the logic to … [Read more...]
Global English is a Competitive Advantage
November 11, 2010 By 1 Comment
Women and men of the global econosphere please listen up! When you work with people for whom English is a second (or third, fourth or fifth language), do you: Speak softly even when people are conferenced in and listening to you via cell phones or speakerphones Establish subject matter mastery via sophisticated or technical words and complex sentence structures Talk at the speed of light … [Read more...]
How To Get Senior Executives to Support Your Project
November 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
What do you do when the company's senior executives who own your project resources don't fully understand or support your project? These senior leaders, more than any other group will influence project success or failure. How can you influence their buy-in? Here is a Now-Next-LaterTM approach to helping your senior leaders understand and support your project. Now: Meet with the senior … [Read more...]
Taming the Abrasive Manager
October 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Today I met a very interesting guy with an even more interesting job. His name is Patrick Reilly and he has a coaching practice that specializes in managing abrasive executives. I left the meeting with a handful of his cards. When Patrick refers to an executive as "abrasive": he's not talking about everyday dysfunctional executives. These are a dime a dozen and we all fit that bill now and then … [Read more...]
Can This Project Be Saved?
September 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I received this question in my inbox today from a past client: Barbara, please help! We have just started 7 days of unit testing. We expected to log around 30 errors a day. After the first three days we have logged over 200 errors. What could be causing this? We are a bit panicked. Here's my two cents: Dear Panicked: You are right. This situation is not good. There are several … [Read more...]
How to Know When Your Project is at Risk and What To Do About It
June 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment
You are the project sponsor. Your role may distance you from essential project details. If this is the case you may only be aware of the project's "high level" status. Effective risk management requires a more detailed understanding. How will you know if your understanding is too high level? How can you quickly assess project risk? Here is what you need to do to assess and manage project … [Read more...]
Barriers to IT Strategic Relevance
May 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Henry Peyret, in his 2007 Forrester article, Assess Your Enterprise Agility well describes the CIO dilemma: IT objectives still include only cost reduction and quality IT objectives rarely reflect enterprise agility objectives Many firms still measure IT on its contribution to cost reductions "While there are a number of current IT trends that, in theory, should improve enterprise … [Read more...]
