I’ve been thinking about why big system implementations fail. Some multimillion-dollar ERP implementation failures are legend. I don’t need to repeat the need for the right partners, technology and business case. But what about business culture, particularly the impact of silos, on project success?
Why silo-driven business culture kills strategic technology projects.
Before I get to seven practical ways to shape collaborative cultures to support project success, let’s look at the bird’s eye view.
The Danger Signs
Here’s an equation I see too often: the more rigid the silos between business users, tech teams and implementors, the more time is spent on post-launch fixes. Unplanned costs spiral upwards. The system is far less likely to deliver on promises or meet the payback period.
When I audit large IT programs and observe very little process design or user involvement in the project plan, I know we’ve already stuck an open price tag on the system. Even if it is the right technology choice, there’s often a excessive “punch list” of fixes after the system goes live–once user feedback comes in. If the right people, particularly business users, were not involved early and fully, all heck can break loose.
But by then it’s already too late.
Every implementation failure I’ve seen has overlooked the people side, not the technology side.
It is easy to fatally underestimate the real changes needed to adopt new systems. It is easy to be entranced by technology and assume it will solve all problems.
A Cautionary Tale
I watched an implementation team launch a new sales system and fail to involve the humans who would use it to run daily sales operations. Why? One reason was that they were afraid project deadlines would slip. They had not built business process review time into the project plan. They missed getting key user requirements, including reporting needs.
No matter how many bells and whistles the system has, if users had no say in during planning and design stages it guarantees they will:
- Shoehorn the system back to the old ways of working
- Ignore the new system
- Create workarounds to accommodate processes they know
Distortion, passive resistance, subterfuge… all these behaviors erode and can destroy the expected business benefits.
In the case of the sales system, it brought some key business reporting to a standstill. This required the business teams to produce manual spreadsheets for months after the new system went live. The end result was costly and painful. This might have been avoided with the right team involvement at requirements stage.
Change consultants, like myself, often get called to fix “adoption issues” that are, at least in part, collaboration issues. Often I am rebuilding project teams after a major failure. Not only are problems much more difficult to address with emotions running high and blame being passed round — there’s always a chance of deep damage in trust that can affect teams and project results for years afterwards.
We need to eradicate the root problem early. One way to do this is for business cultures to become more porous and encourage real team collaboration across silos. Here are some simple suggestions:
Seven Ways to Shape Collaboration Business Culture:
- Reward project participation and celebrate meaningful milestones around quality teamwork.
- Make a project assignment a privilege, not an unwelcome addition to an already over-scheduled day.
- Incorporate project end-goals into performance plans.
- Hold teams accountable for quality and strategic results, not only hitting the next milestone or deadline.
- Ensure business system users have time to fully participate for the length of the project.
- Ensure technical teams have adequate people and process awareness.
- Incorporate change management (not just system training) from the very start of the project.
In short, successful projects need business cultures with end-to-end participation and accountability across boundaries. With this kind of culture, teams can hold responsibility for the ultimate success of the technology — including successful adoption and delivering on the business case.
About the author.
Elese Coit is a Large-Scale Change Consultant who helps organizations succeed at technical, system and process transformation. Elese Coit & Associates partners with companies undergoing change to build engagement and overcome resistance .
