When you’re eager to begin a project, it can be challenging not to leap straight into the execution phase. Though planning may not hold the same satisfaction as making moves, you’ll be glad you accounted for any ongoing ERP implementation and created a well-outlined charter. The initiation phase is the foundation of your project, so taking the time to get a solid start will benefit your project’s future success.

5 Best Practices for a Successful Project Initiation Phase

1. Know Your Project’s “Why”

This question may seem overly philosophical, but it’s critical to the success of your project. Your project’s “why” determines whether your project is worth completing. To establish it, you’ll need to answer three questions.

First, what is the project’s goal? Also, what are the reasons this project should be completed now? Finally, what business benefits are you expecting to receive from this action? Once you answer these questions, the “why” of the project should be clear.

2. Determine The Deliverables

Knowing your goals and objectives is essential, but you’ll want to go further and break them down into concrete deliverables. Once the project is underway, deliverables are the targeted result.

Depending on the project, it could be something like implementing a new software system, closing a specific number of contracts, or constructing new facilities. Knowing the deliverables you want from the project allows you to establish the task breakdown necessary to achieve your desired outcome.

3. Take ERP Implementation Into Account

Implementing an enterprise resource planning system into your business will affect all departments. Since implementation can take anywhere from a few months to a year, depending on the changes occurring, you’ll want to account for it when planning your project’s timeline. A well-planned, relatively simple implementation most likely won’t slow progress on your project, but one that is chaotic or poorly designed will use up employee bandwidth.

However, having an enterprise resource planning system implementation underway doesn’t mean you need to hold off on starting new projects; that would be inefficient. Instead, you’ll want to consider any significant changes occurring in the company when planning your project so that you are prepared for any potential hangups.

4. Establish and Document Major Stakeholders

As stakeholders will have significant sway over project decisions, all the necessary parties must agree on them. Then you will want to decide how many stakeholders are needed to make a decision and the role each stakeholder will have in the project.

Finally, since maintaining stakeholder engagement is challenging during most projects, you’ll want to have each stakeholder sign off on their commitments. This step can prevent you from running into issues or confusion down the road, as each stakeholder will be aware of their responsibilities from the start.

5. Craft the Charter

The project charter is your guideline to success—the project’s “why,” the deliverables––and stakeholder roles will be listed in this document. You’ll also want to have team structures outlined and the contact info for core people participating in the project.

Project constraints, risks, and assumptions will also be included. The charter serves as a comprehensive overview of the project and allows the project to be commissioned. Charter creation is a vital step since this document will serve as a guidebook throughout the project.

When your company needs project solutions, our team is here to help. At Project Genetics, we bring the no-nonsense guidance you need during high-stakes situations like mergers and acquisitions. Work with people as passionate about your business as you are; contact Project Genetics and find out how our experienced leadership team can help you.

While there are many reasons for Mergers and acquisitions (M&A), one thing is for sure – it can oftentimes lead to the need for a project recovery plan. This is because M&As can often disrupt normal business operations and create chaos within an organization. If you are responsible for leading the recovery efforts in the aftermath of an M&A, then you’ll want to read on!

Why Mergers and Acquisitions May Require You to Redesign Your Approach to Project Recovery

To Avoid Duplication of Effort and Resources

One area that is often affected by M&A is project management. In many cases, each company will have its own project management system in place. This can lead to confusion and inefficiency as employees attempt to coordinate between two different systems. In some cases, it may be necessary to shift to a new enterprise project management system that allows smooth integration with your ERP. This can help to avoid duplication of efforts and ensure that projects are completed efficiently.

To Ensure That the New Company Culture Is Embraced by All Employees

There are a lot of moving parts during M&A, and it’s essential to make sure that your approach to projects takes into account the new company culture. In some cases, you may need to redesign your entire approach. For example, if the new company is more hierarchical, you’ll need to make sure that your project management processes and procedures reflect that. If the new company is more collaborative, you’ll need to update your processes accordingly.

The key is to make sure that your approach is aligned with the new company culture. By doing so, you can ensure that all employees feel comfortable, included, and embraced in the new company culture.

To Maintain Continuity of Operations

In order to maintain continuity of operations during a merger or acquisition, it is essential to take into consideration all types of project operations that may be affected. For example, if two companies are merging their IT systems, then the project management approach to recovering the IT system must be designed to account for this change.

The efforts may include things like designing a new system architecture or redesigning the process for how data is migrated from one system to another. Other examples of project operations that must be considered include changes to manufacturing processes, financial systems, sales and marketing, as well as HR systems.

To Protect the Interests of Shareholders

In any organization, shareholders are the ultimate owners and have a vested interest in the success of the company. They provide the capital that allows businesses to grow and expand, and they expect a return on their investment. As such, it is essential that companies take into account the interests of shareholders when making decisions during and after M&A.

As you can see, M&A can be a tricky process, especially when it comes to the sustainability of projects. However, if you are prepared for the challenges and have a solid plan in place for recovery, you can make the transition as smooth as possible. Contact us today at Project Genetics and let us help you redesign your recovery strategy so that your next big move goes off without a hitch.

ERP implementation, also known as enterprise resource planning implementation, helps businesses streamline their operations, promotes organization, and allows them to benefit from the automatic sharing of information in real-time. There are many benefits to implementing this system into a business, including overall cost reduction and increased efficiency among systems and employees. Still, in implementing ERP, you must avoid some of the most common mistakes people make during this process to ensure ultimate success.

The Three Biggest Mistakes People Make With ERP Implementation

1. Not Utilizing the Vendors

The vendor that implements your ERP system has experienced employees who know everything about the new system. Many people choose to white-knuckle their way through difficulties learning the system and don’t reach out to the vendor to ask questions or get help.

As a result, the learning curve takes even longer, and employees’ workdays are marked by frustration. This is unnecessary because your vendor is an essential resource that you need to utilize, especially during the transition period. Always reach out to your vendor with questions so you can learn the system, understand the ins and outs of how it works, and learn it quickly so you can benefit from everything your new ERP system has to offer.

2. Not Implementing a Training Protocol for Employees

The purpose of an ERP system is to streamline operations to make everything more efficient, including the employees’ roles. However, introducing any new system to employees will temporarily turn their work lives upside down. In the case of ERP, change is a good thing and will eventually make work-life easier. Still, without implementing the proper training protocols and planning for the learning curve, employees will feel frustrated, confused, and overwhelmed by the sudden change.

It’s important that before implementing this system, you give your employees advanced notice of the coming changes, allot time for the learning curve, and provide the resources and training they need to learn the new system. Then, they too can benefit from how the ERP system streamlines their tasks and workloads as quickly as possible.

3. Not Planning for the Company’s Needs

There are different ERP systems, so you must have someone with expertise who can evaluate your needs and implement the right system. That individual should also be able to evaluate your processes so that once the system is implemented, employees simply need to learn how to use it and then train others, including potential new employees, as needed.

The planning stage is imperative for a successful ERP system, so when you have an expert who can do the preparation and planning for you, you can ensure a simple and effective transition.

If your company needs help streamlining projects to ensure a profitable and successful outcome, our experts can help. At Project Genetics, we take a no-nonsense approach to project management and specialize in helping our client’s projects succeed. If you want to streamline your project management division, we can help. Contact us today at Project Genetics to learn more about our project solutions, technology solutions, and partner solutions that can help your company thrive and succeed.