1. Top 5 Ways Political Wrangling Can Kill Your ERP or CRM
Project
Many of us have heard throughout our careers that we need to ”rise above the petty politics” or
“pay no attention to office politics and just focus on doing good work”. That mind-set can kill
an ERP or CRM project. How can you predict that politics will have an impact on your project?
A simple formula exists:
If #of people on the team > 1 Then Political Influence = ∞
I’m using that equation to humorously point out that anytime you have a project that involves
other people you must be aware of political motives and agendas. Every one of us has different
wants, needs and desires – some of them are transparent and shared, some of them are secretive
and destructive.
Recently I was involved on a project where we were selected as a 3rd party project manager to
assist our client through the ERP implementation process. The client, as many are, was stretched
thin with resources, working on lean operating principles and had a tight budget to work with –
sound familiar? That’s a pretty apt description of most companies these days. But where this
client was different is that they had a turf-war going on between two areas of the executive
leadership team – maybe that’s not too different from many companies either, in fact, we
probably should have seen the problem and addressed it more quickly. Ultimately, one newly-
promoted executive gained a foothold and decided that external project management wasn’t
necessary and that his group could be solely responsible for managing the project. Of course, this
is the same person who took every opportunity he could to publicly remind us that they “still
have a business to run” whenever asked to attend meetings, provide input, approve process
documents or contribute to the project in any way.
A project post-mortem revealed that there were definite signs we should have paid closer
attention to early on in the project – these 5 points are listed below to help you better manage the
mine field of project politics.
1. Resistance
This particular team member resisted our recommendations, methodology and approach at
every turn. Despite the fact that this methodology and approach is what initially won us the
engagement and demonstrated the value we would bring to the project.
2. Gridlock
In hindsight, he prevented effective decision making by stalling, barnstorming and creating
general confusion and uncertainty around the most minor activities – selecting individuals from
his team to attend training for example.
3. Circumnavigation
OK, I used a thesaurus for that one! It’s just a fancy way of saying that he used the old “end
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2. around” play as a standard form of communication. Instead of making suggestions or discussing
differing views in an open group, he would go around individually to team members to let them
know that he wasn’t aligned with the current approach and that they shouldn’t be either.
4. Passing the Buck
This is often seen as finger-pointing, or the “it’s not my fault” syndrome. This team leader
wouldn’t complete assignments and then would feign that the instructions were not clear or
the deadline wasn’t communicated. He saw this as a viable excuse despite the fact that all of his
peers completed the task successfully and on time without confusion.
5. Grandstanding
Everyone is entitled to toot their own horn when they accomplish something valuable, but this
person will use every public interaction to lift up himself and his team as examples of efficiency
and commitment despite visible evidence to the contrary.
Now that I’ve pointed out ways to identify political wranglers you may realize that you have one
or more of those on your current project. Please feel free to contact us for further information.
Lionshare Software, Inc.
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3. About Lionshare Software
Lionshare Software Inc., was launched by ERP and CRM selection consultants
and project managers with extensive experience in a variety of applications,
businesses and industry verticals. This allows us to identify common pitfalls
to avoid and best practices to employ when selecting and implementing
enterprise software applications.
By hiring Lionshare Software consultants to assist in the software-selection
process, our customers have reduced total project costs, had better results,
and have had a more satisfying experience than previous projects
Lionshare Software is a truly independent consulting firm with no
partnerships, relationships or affinity with any particular software product
or implementation vendor. This independence assures you get a truly
independent evaluation and recommendation that meets your specific
business requirements.
Contact us today and start your ERP or CRM project on the right track.
Lionshare Software, Inc.
148 East St. Suite 104
Pittsboro, NC 27312
919-542-8401
888-741-0262
www.lionsharesoftware.com
info@lionsharesoftware.com Lionshare Software, Inc.
©2010 Lionshare Software, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.lionsharesoftware.com dfsdf
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