As part of any business plan or business case process, you need a great plan for implementation.
Here are our 7 tips to make your project a success.
1. Objectives
What are you going to do? What is it going to look like? More importantly, what does success look like?
2. Business sponsor or lead
Get someone to publicly nail their colours to your particular flagpole. This does two things. One, it focuses their minds to help you succeed and two, it focuses your mind on not letting them down.
3. Gather the troops
You know what you need to do, so list all the roles and responsibilities. Armed with your list, look around and select the best people to help you achieve it. Can't fill a particular role? Ask around your peers for their suggestions. Still stuck? Look outside the company for the relevant expert. It's crucial you get the right people with the right skills for the job.
4. Communicate, communicate, communicate
Regular progress and status updates are needed. Why? It keeps your sponsor happy, your team happy and head off any nasty surprises. If you hit a problem (refer to your risk management plan - see below), by communicating with the team and your wider community, you may get a solution that you wouldn't have thought of by yourself.
5. Timeline and activities schedule
So everyone knows who is doing what, by when and highlighting any project dependencies (ie situations where someone can't do their bit until someone else has completed theirs)
6. Budget
You know what this is going to cost. Stick to it as far as possible. If problems arise out of your control then flag it early and take a go/no-go decision in a fully informed manner. Should you stop? What are the consequences of going on or stopping?
7. Risk Management Plan
Right at the start, think about your project with your panoramic glasses on. What could possibly go wrong? Write down all the thoughts that come into your head - Jane the lead sponsor resigns, the IT dept implodes, the economy collapses and all budgets get a severe haircut (that one sounds familiar!!!!). Armed with this information think about what you could do to counteract it. Remember that culling the project is always an option.
With all these bases covered, you'll be in a pretty strong position to not only tackle and successfully implement a project but also be prepared for those little unexpected set backs.
Need help with putting a business case together? Take a look at our business case template with its handy tips and hints to getting it right (in our marketing resources toolkit). We have also written a blog about business cases.
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