- There's an old African proverb,
"If you want go fast, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together."
That's really great advice,
when it comes to digital transformation projects.
In order to be successful,
we need to have the right people along for the journey,
and, we need to lead them effectively.
Let's start by looking at
who we may need to have on the project team.
First, we need team members
who understand the technology,
or who are able and willing to learn about it.
For complex projects that involve several technologies,
we may need to have subject-matter experts,
who specialize in each of the technologies
that we're working with.
We may also need folks
who can integrate the technologies with one another,
and with our existing systems.
Next, we need to have team members
who understand our supply chain,
and who have the business acumen,
to align the project goals,
with the priorities of the organization.
Every project is an investment.
So we need to be able to justify the project
with a strong business case.
And last,
but certainly not least,
we need people who can engage with our stakeholders.
That starts with our project sponsor,
but, we may also need folks
from sales who can talk to our customers,
and folks from procurement,
who can collaborate with our suppliers.
We may need folks to serve as liaisons
with other departments in our own organization, too.
In addition to pulling the right folks
onto our project team,
we also need to think about,
how the teams should be structured,
how to build good working relationships
between the team members,
and how to maintain communication,
and engagement throughout the project.
This is really important
as you recruit people to be part of the team,
because you'll need to set everyone's expectations
for the project.
How long will the project last?
Will this be a full-time job,
or is it an additional responsibility
that's being added to their duties?
Will your team members be located in the same place,
or will they be working remotely?
How will time zones and holidays
factor into your work schedule,
and your project timeline?
If you'd like to take a deeper dive
into project management best practices,
there are several courses here in the library that can help.
One that I recommend,
is a course called Leading Projects,
where I walk through a simple six-step system
for leading cross-functional project teams successfully.
Digital transformation is a long journey,
so we can't go alone.
We need to assemble the right team,
and lead them effectively,
so that we can all get through
the digital transformation together.