In earlier blogs I have covered many topics. Some of them are key components of successful projects. In this blog, I will put them together as tips for BPM Project Success.
Most successful BPM Projects will likely include the following:
1) The 80/20 Rule - If you really could identify all of the processes in your company, it is most likely that 20% of them bring the highest value to your company. So, the first process to manage will be from the 20% group.
2) A Project Manager with enthusiasm, energy and empathy...
3) A Team to analyze, improve and test your solution. Make sure to get the 'nay-sayers' from your company involved so that they have some ownership of the solution.
4) A Champion with enthusiasm, energy and empathy to be the internal sales person for this project... This doesn't have to be by title, it could be by respect.
5) Manage Complexity - Scope creep is a project killer. Just say no...
6) Manage Change - The Champion should lead this charge. Proceed with a campaign that says 'change is good' for you and the company.
7) Management Support - Most often management support guarantees success. If you proceed without it, you likelihood of success is severely limited.
8) Manage Politics - There is politics in most companies. Understand the political climate and attempt to work within that infrastructure.
9) Identify Success - How do you define success? What are the critical success factors? How will you be measured? What must you achieve in this project phase in order to roll it out to other processes?
Measure - Measure the current environment. After you have rolled out the new solution, measure that environment. You are looking for an improvement. This step is often overlooked because no one has the time to do it. Not only is it important to do this for this project, it will help you get approval for others.
10) Review - What did we do right? What did we do wrong? What should we change for the next project?
Your Thoughts...
This list isn't intended to be exhaustive, just representative. From your experiences, what would you add?
The idea of a "project champion" is so critical to any BPM initiative. Without the right levels of support through the entire project, you're doomed to fail immediately. The other critical role is that of the "process owner". Someone who can make the hard decisions, manage the scope creep, and be the "traffic cop" on a project. Having someone in the righ position to make the tough decision is absolutely critical.
There is an "11th Commandment" - Start Small.
Taking on BPM can be a little like taking on world peace - a great idea, but tough to accomplish. Starting out with the biggest most visible project you can find in hopes of a home run, is a recipe for disaster. BPM project managers have to build a reputation of success. That means starting out with a project that is meaningful, but where the risk and exposure of failure is less, and the chances of success are the greater.
project success based on some variation of the Triple Constraint for many years as well, some placing more emphasis or value on one of the legs or some combination of legs. On the whole, organizations have no standard measure in place for determining project success so generalizations are problematic.