Content
The needs of the implementation project will dictate the roles and responsibilities necessary to ensure all components of the project are addressed. Meanwhile, the size and structure of your company will determine how these roles are identified and assigned. With these factors, designing an effective and efficient team must be strategic. Knowing the steps for implementation planning is the foundation of project management. Organizations choose to implement an enterprise resource management system for many reasons, including to increase productivity, create a better experience for customers and reduce costs.
Provide the detailed understanding of their business domain to the implementation partner. Aligning the ERP software change with the different company departments operational and training requirements. Consistently and constantly communicating ERP software changes, and promote the system to the future-end users and stakeholders. “It takes a lot of work to get something significantly new implemented,” she notes. “For this reason, the fewer initiatives the business takes on simultaneously, the greater the chances of success. Each initiative will take its team members away from their ‘normal’ work to some degree, and the business needs to be able to support this.
What should your ERP implementation team look like?
They are a great ally to have when implementing something new because they have knowledge on all the nooks and crannies of your new system that will help you truly maximize its potential. If you keep your goals tangible, you can more easily identify targeted actions that will move you toward them. Strategic Transformation Plan and implement change fast and mobilize resources to gain a competitive advantage. Governance & administration Configure and manage global controls and settings. During Explore, VMware tried to convince customers to use its technology for building a multi-cloud architecture.
- In fact, project sponsors select project managers for their projects during the project initiation phase.
- Teams that are suited for this structure tend to be focused on internal processes and efficiency rather than external-facing projects.
- And experienced QA engineers design and implement quality assurance processes and procedures that help prevent defects at later stages of development.
- This full-circle organizational structure keeps everyone connected, yet separate in their own circles.
It is important to have an executive sponsor to oversee the high-level ERP responsibilities of the implementation project. They can either be an individual executive for a small to mid-sized company or a group of senior individuals implementation team structure that make up an executive suite in the case of an enterprise business. The executive sponsor plays a significant role in determining the right ERP software based on business needs, budget, and the readiness to implement.
They should not be confused with other groups or structures such as governance groups or steering committees. They are different in that they are actively involved in overseeing and managing the implementation process. They typically have some decision-making authority but rely on other governance structures for major decisions. Implementation requires dedicated people who can provide direction and support. The development of an implementation team is a key step for successful implementation.
Market-focused divisional structure
Outlining with the implementation partner the operational processes and decision makiing process within the organization. Going straight into the execution phase without an implementation plan may feel like walking on stage to give a speech without knowing what you’re going to say. Resources may include money, personnel, software, equipment, and other physical or technical materials. Time can also be a resource because the team members you need to complete the project may be working on other projects.
Executive leadership is shown in the center of the circle, which represents the fluid relationship they have with each department head. Matrix organizations use this structure in order to create a balance between leadership and, ultimately, the decision-making process. From a functional structure to a flat structure, we’ll go over the 10 most effective ways to organize your team to help you find the right approach for your goals. Anyone who is affected by or is involved in the intervention being implemented.
The type and complexity of your project
Setting up and mmaintaining realistic expectations of the ERP software needs with the implementation partner and the executive sponsor during the change management assessment. You’ll outline your project objectives in step one of the implementation process. Set your goals and decide what metrics your team will use to measure to monitor progress. By clearly identifying your project objectives, you and your team can measure progress and performance as you move forward. These steps can help you and your team prepare for projects both big and small. A Gantt chart is a graphical bar chart that you can use as a project timeline, and many software programs exist that allow you to create these online charts.
For this reason, several researchers have highlighted the importance of ensuring diverse organizational representation on the implementation team. They suggest members reflect a “diagonal slice” of the organization hierarchy. This helps to ensure that the full variety of perspectives on the effort — from executive management to line staff — informs design, planning, and execution. One of the most widely used team structures, apart from the hierarchical approach, is the functional organizational structure. These groups are then vertically structured between each department from the top-down, from the president to individual team members, and so on. The Health Services Executive Nurture Programme – Infant Health and Wellbeing, aims to improve the health and wellbeing for infants under the age of two and their parents.
Following these steps as you create your implementation plan will increase the likelihood of hitting your project goals. Having a checklist of the items to include in your implementation plan can also lead to successful implementation. Every action plan must include a list of responsibilities with team members assigned to each one.
Super Users
The team helps map out requirements for the ERP system, sets key milestones, determines how it will support specific business processes, and tests the new software before it goes live. In a functional project team structure, there are multiple functional managers that oversee their teams instead of just one project manager. As the name suggests, those teams accomplish specific functions for an organization, such as marketing, sales or product development. This is the most traditional project team structure that’s used in most projects. In this type of project team, the project manager is given the most authority over team members and they all report to him or her. This individual is also in charge of creating a project plan and schedule, assembling a team, assigning tasks and responsibilities and overseeing the project every step of the way.
For example, an implementation partner can act as the project manager and also coordinate the technical aspects of system customization and installation. The executive sponsor helps assess risks and devise action plans, and often serves as the company cheerleader and internal face of the project. During the implementation, the executive sponsor receives updates from the project manager and sometimes from core team members. The change control board is a group of project team members who are subject matter experts in key areas of the project.
This tends to work for teams that want to ensure decision making authority isn’t limited to a handful of individuals, and rather, want team members to feel empowered to make decisions. The matrix structure differs the most from other team structures as it doesn’t follow the typical hierarchical model. Instead, this team structure is organized in a grid format, with team members reporting to more than one leader. These relationships are commonly structured as primary and secondary reporting relationships. The number of layers your structure includes will depend on the size and complexity of your team. Most organizations have four or more layers, and visualize the structure in a company-wide org chart.
Evaluate your business goals, the complexity of your project, available budget, and deadlines to make up your mind about a suitable approach to project management. If you choose to go with Agile, the perfect team would span four to ten people. Waterfall teams, in turn, are usually quite large and may span up to 15 people. To avoid any management complexities, it may be worth dividing a large team into several sub-teams, each with a lead of its own.
Structure your team for success
Some of these “soft” benefits are important in motivating users to adopt the system and make it a success. Education and training are key to helping users understand how the system will improve their work lives and job performance. Your IT department will take care of hardware and software installation (if the new system is installed on-premise). IT will also be responsible for compatibility and integration with other data-dependent systems and equipment – both within and connected to the enterprise.
Responsible for the design and management of the implementation
In this free ebook, learn how to structure your organization to prevent silos, move faster, and stay aligned in the face of change. Since this approach is a universal org structure, the hierarchical approach can work for most, if not all, teams. A structured process where relevant information and evidence on a topic is gathered, reviewed, assessed and brought together to support decision making. Methods or actions that aim to overcome barriers, increase the pace and effectiveness of implementation, and sustain interventions over time. This does not just apply to leading a whole organisation or system – leadership can take multiple forms and can occur at any level of an organisation or system. A group or structure that oversees, supports and attends to, moving an intervention through the stages of implementation.
Such a team structure grants a project manager more control over the project workflows. Sometimes known as super users, the end users included in an ERP implementation team will raise any concerns their departments have about the system’s setup. Typically, they also encourage adoption within their department, and they answer non-technical questions from other users about how to use the system once it goes live. The executive sponsor typically makes final decisions about the project, based partly on input from the implementation team while continuing to align to the customer’s business needs. These decisions may include whether to increase the project budget, which business processes to automate, and whether to add or remove personnel. There are three main types of project team structures, which mainly differ on the degree of authority that’s given to the project manager and how teams are configured.
For ERP deployments in the cloud this is not necessary, although technical administration resources may still be required for Cloud ERP, for example security professionals. For smaller businesses, these roles are filled by the business owner and upper management. Make resource allocation, succession planning, and career progression easier to visualize.
Benefits of Automation for 3PL Companies
For example, a team member who represents the finance department should understand the daily, monthly and annual procedures of that department. As is clear, these tools and services cover many industries and have a substantial footprint. They also bring in considerable amounts of revenue and are used by millions of people every day. Adobe, a leader in creativity software, now provides Photoshop and other editing tools via subscription. Lilly is a Professional Services Team Lead at WalkMe with a passion for creating engaging content with a seamless end user experience. Based in New York City, she also enjoys traveling, running and trying new recipes.
