Philosophy

Vision

To empower competitive advantages through strategic system investments.

Mission Statement

To be a trusted partner for creating and capturing business value through system implementation projects.

Values

  • Transparency
  • Commitment
  • Expertise
  • Empathy

Goals

  • Manage costs favorably against the budget
  • Deliver all approved scope
  • Meet all milestones on time

Objectives

1)    Obtain Clear Project Scope - Understand exactly what the project is to accomplish and what and any third parties are to perform. 

2)    Develop a Change Control Process - Manage the project’s scope.  If changes are requested during the implementation, it should be documented, reviewed, and approved before proceeding.  There must be awareness of the implications to all change requests before proceeding.

3)    Build Professional Relationships - It is nearly impossible to have a successful project unless the stakeholders and team members all establish the right professional relationships. 

4)    Demonstrate Exceptional Integrity - Be ethical, honest, and maintain a positive attitude and a professional demeanor at all times.

5)    Produce Appropriate Documentation - Document and store all appropriate decisions, meetings, plans, designs, test results, issues, risks and outcomes. 

6)    Manage Risk - No project is without changes, new issues, conflicts and a number of other influences that cause problems and delays.  Develop action plans to mitigate these risks, monitor progress against those plans, and identify new risks as they develop.

7)    Set Realistic Expectations - Do not promise anything to that you and your team cannot deliver.  It is more desirable to set a reasonable expectation and then beat it than to set an unreasonable expectation and then miss the mark. 

8)    Communicate – Put simply, strive to prevent any surprises.  There is no excuse for improper communication with the stakeholders of the implementation team.  Remember that it is really, really difficult to over-communicate.

9)    Understand the Business Relevance – Internalize how the expected benefits of the project will fuel related business drivers and/or resolve existing business issues. 

10)  Have Fun – Remember that work and fun do not need to be mutually exclusive.

Methodology

The underlying Navigate methodology allows stakeholders to consistently implement systems rapidly, economically, and predictably.  By doing this, real value can be achieved by the business from creating system investments that produce favorable returns and strong user adoption over time.  Please refer to the Navigate Methodology for a full guide to the methodology including, Phases, Stages, Gates, Key Activities, Deliverables, Owners, Roles & Responsibilities, Management Threads, and Templates.

Governance and Direction

Through experience, there are many reasons that can contribute to project failure including such things as scope creep, incomplete requirements, poor planning, resource constraints, end user adoption, and technology issues.  However, the number one cause for project failure is a lack of executive support.   The aim of this governance model is to deliberately provide a set of structured, consistent, and traceable control points used to ensure consistent measurement of progress and understanding of direction so that executives can be confident and timely in their supporting messages, feedback, and actions.  The following checkpoints are included in order to apply this governance model:

  • Status Reports
  • Deliverable Sign-Offs
  • Project Gate Review Meetings
  • Steering Committee Meetings
  • Business Review Meetings
  • Executive Management Team Meetings