Developing Project Strategy

Ensure the success of your

project by assigning the correct
strategy and focus to it.
 Key Elements of Success
• Understanding the need for the project.
• Ensuring the company strategy is correctly
aligned to the project.
• Finding the right sponsor for the project.
• Putting together a project charter.
• Funding the project correctly.
 Tips to Ensure Success-1
• Delivery of business benefits must stay a
high-level priority throughout the project.
• Stay focused on measuring business
improvements, because measuring can
make them happen.
• Train and prepare system owners and
users so they can fully utilize their
systems.
 Tips to Ensure Success-2
• Project managers need to allow for other
benefits to emerge as system capabilities
become better understood.
• Do not expect suppliers to deliver business
benefits. That’s your job.
• At the end of each project:
– Conduct an independent review to confirm that
benefits have been realized.
– Record lessons learned.
– Apply them to future projects!
 Tips to Ensure Success-3
• Focus on business benefits before
focusing on technological ones.
• Approve projects only when you’re
confident that the projects support
business objectives.
– Get senior management on board.
• Plan to achieve measurable
improvements.
 Tips to Ensure Success-4
• If you delegate responsibility for the
management of a project or program,
make sure this person is responsible to
someone (or even your corporate board of
directors) for delivering business benefits.
• Plan sufficient resources for training.
• Review projects to make sure that planned
benefits are realized.
 Other Factors to Consider-1
• There are many projects that get carried
out just because some CEO wants them
done. However, many of these projects
don’t get off the ground, just consume
resources, and are not in the company’s
strategic portfolio.
• Strategy makers and sponsors need to
remember they are all on the same team.
 Other Factors to Consider-2
• Businesses should fully analyze and understand
the implications of introducing new systems for
their organizations.
• Major IT systems cannot be introduced in
isolation from wider changes to the business.
– It is imperative the businesses thoroughly analyze
business ramifications of implementing a new IT
system.
– Introducing new systems should be based on clear
business requirements.
 Strategy Completion Checklist
• The project sponsor needs to make sure the
following are filed within a main project folder to
complete the strategic phase:
– Project prioritization schedule, listing all priority
projects
– Marketing material in support of project concept
– Business and IT strategic plans
– Executive reports
– Minutes of any meetings authorizing project decisions
– Any and all correspondence relating to the project