Face the Risks
A successful implementation of i-lign will:
- Add value to your SMT, programme teams and your people.
- Encourage i-lign users to provide robust and quality data.
- Embed i-lign into your corporate landscape and management toolkit.
- Deliver a tangible ROI within acceptable timeframes.
There are key risks that need to be identified, acknowledged and managed. The nature of these risks and the mitigating actions required will vary according to the culture, organisational readiness and requirements of your organization.
Unanticipated Impacts
Risk
Unforeseen areas of the business are impacted on by the solution.
Impact
- Delays may occur as business requirements are redefined.
- Delays may occur as key personnel are briefed and engaged.
- Additional, unplanned licence costs may result as i-lign is rolled out wider than originally envisaged.
Mitigating Actions
- At the early stages of the implementation consider all areas of your business processes that could be impacted on by using i-lign. These could include:
- Overall risk management.
- Time recording.
- Workforce planning.
- Strategic planning.
- Business planning.
- Business as usual.
- Current methodologies / business processes.
- Current tool kits.
- Consider all functional business areas that could be impacted on by i-lign, even if rollout is only in one business area. There are many "service" groups in organisations that provide resources to projects. Both the resources assigned to projects and their line managers will therefore be affected by the i-lign portfolio/project approach.
- Consider involving key decision-makers and influencers early in the implementation process.
Lack of Support
Risk
Key people from the organisation don't support the solution, or actively oppose it.
Impact
- Delays may occur as individual roadblocks are addressed.
- Delays may occur as personnel are briefed and engaged.
- Key people may disengage from the project or fail to engage at all.
- Lack of genuine engagement may encourage users to disengage.
- i-lign will be populated with poor data and management / reporting benefits will not be achieved.
Mitigating Actions
- Appoint a strong, influential and supportive sponsor who is appropriately positioned in the organisation to champion the implementation.
- Ensure the sponsor is aware of the change management implications resulting from implementing i-lign and is prepared to address them:
- Through consistent and regular communications about potential changes, impacts, benefits etc.
- By ensuring there are suitable escalation and problem solving processes in place in the event of problems.
- Identify and engage with key decision-makers and influencers. Don't try to brand i-lign as a silver bullet which will solve all business problems. It is probably more accurate to think of i-lign as a framework which enables problems to be surfaced.
Further reading
Previous page: Plan deployment 4: Sort your branding
Next page: Plan deployment 5b: Manage your risks Part B
