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Software implementation projects in the business setting can confront a company's business processes. When the project team fails to examine the current business processes the project often fails. Writing in CRM Magazine, Barton Goldenberg warns readers, Business Processes Must Precede Technology. (You'll find the same advice reading The Toyota Way, by Jeffrey Liker.) He urges teams to avoid just adopting the business processes inferred by the software. He goes on to say, Unfortunately, too many organizations depend on CRM software vendors to supply needed business processes.
As an alternative, Goldenberg recommends a two-step approach to getting CRM efforts off to a good start:
Pay close attention to the specific business situation for your project.
- Document the key as-is business processes (e.g., using swim-lane techniques) and make sure to note where they fall short.
- Review best-practice business processes…that help address these shortfalls and then agree to move as-is business processes to to-be business processes
The author could have been writing about any software implementation project. Good business process can be more important than good software to support it. When there's a mismatch of the business process with the promises to the customers there'll be real trouble.
Why do I write about CRM implementation projects? Because so many companies are implementing CRM software and so many implementations go bad. We can learn something about what makes any project successful by looking at projects failures. Goldenberg's general point is to pay close attention to the specific business situation for your project. That is a lesson that applies to all projects.
? Guy Kawasaki wrote, "Less is the new more." Easy to learn: symmetry, seduction, subtraction, and sustainability. Very valuable to do. Step 1: Read Matt's book!! just 140 keystrokes.
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