Firstly, you must acquire full control of selecting your project’s team for the SAP implementation primarily to manage the success of the project, which in turn will reflect as your own success. Appropriate identification of the recruiting criteria is an important element of this project’s accomplishment as well as assisting in managing Mr. Corti’s selection expectations. As long as Mr. Corti’s recruited team fits within your parameters, they should be considered. If not, you have a tool to advise him, objectively, of your preferred selection.
My second recommendation is to ensure you align the stakeholders’ incentives and expectations as this will be the second and critical part to your success during the course of the process. In order to appease everyone on this grandiose expenditure, you will need to manage each expectation prior to as well as throughout the project. An operative implementation is not considered successful if the stakeholders are not confident in your progress, clear on the returns and satisfied with the outcomes.
Problem Statement:
With the GLOBE initiative already on route and with the potential for clouded perceptions among the various groups, your task, throughout the project, will be to provide clarity, outline each of the benefits by group and to manage expectations accordingly. Revenue bottom line increases, infrastructure reorganization, and cultural changes are some of the mentioned objectives of this project. Your task must be to ensure all teams from front line to Board of Directors are satisfied and aware of the timelines, costs, and outcomes; especially those that benefit and affect them directly. A strong alliance with key stakeholders is vital to help you keep everyone clear and cooperative with the upcoming changes.
Recommendation:
As the head project lead, you should have no challenges in establishing your preferences with the leadership group as long as you are prepared. Create a table with each of the key members’ expected criteria to ensure they are in line, firstly, with what the system can accomplish, and secondly with each other. To succeed at this task, there cannot be conflicting expectations. Ensure you are clear on each of the stakeholders’ visions and directly link the personnel to demonstrate how each of their skill sets will contribute to the success of the implementation and their expectations. You should not move forward until all conflicting expectations have been resolved together as a group. The task will be simplified and easy to translate to the groups using selection criteria as sampled in the table listed below, only once expectations have been aligned.
Selection Criteria – SAP Implementation