People first, then Process, before Technology

The principle of 'People first, then Process, before Technology' is critical to successful enterprise IT project delivery, with each element guiding the project as follows:

People form the foundation. Success depends on a highly competent team that is knowledgeable and experienced in their respective disciplines. Problems arise from role uncertainty or a mismatch between skills and requirements.

Process guides execution. A structured approach, with a clear strategy and consistent methods, leads the team through each phase. Projects can lose focus without a solid plan—including a defined scope, realistic timelines, and a well-suited delivery model—resulting in fragmented progress and uncoordinated efforts.

Technology equips the team with tools to streamline workflows. However, proficiency in these tools is not a substitute for core project and discipline competencies. Tools aid efficiency but do not replace critical thinking, problem-solving, or the strategic oversight essential for success. Relying on technology without the right skills and processes will not deliver an enterprise IT project.

By balancing these three elements, enterprise IT projects reduce risks and improve the chances of delivering value and quality.

Background

Bank of Moolah embarks on an enterprise IT project to implement a new customer relationship management system. The project aims to streamline customer interactions and enhance service delivery while targeting a diverse customer base. However, the initial phases encounter significant challenges, including delays and budget overruns.

Challenges

The project has three main challenges:

• People issues: The project team, composed of participants with backgrounds in smaller-scale IT and business projects, faces a mismatch between their skills and the project's requirements. When project recruiters fail to recognise the necessary competencies for specialist roles in enterprise IT, roles and responsibilities become unclear and often redefined to fit the competencies of participants.
• Process challenges: The lack of a unified project strategy leads to reliance on high-level statements of needs rather than a clearly defined delivery scope. The presented schedules are visual aids for managing upwards but lack the detail needed to assess timeframe feasibility. Moreover, the delivery approach is developed by team members without the necessary qualifications and expertise in standards and best practices, resulting in inefficiencies.
• Technology decisions: The project prioritises adopting tools, such as requirements management software, without evaluating suitability or addressing participants' skill gaps. For example, a business analyst struggling to write a requirement statement on paper will not improve simply by using the tool. 

Corrective Actions

Adopting the principle of 'People first, then Process, before Technology,' Bank of Moolah restructured the project's approach:

People: To address the mismatch in skills, the project implements targeted recruitment that emphasises the necessary competencies for specialist roles in enterprise IT projects. Roles and responsibilities are defined, aligned with project needs, and communicated to the team to ensure responsibilities are understood.

Process: The project adopts a unified strategy by defining the scope and objectives from the outset. Detailed planning sessions facilitate agreement on deliverables, timelines, and methodologies, ensuring all team members have input. A standardised delivery approach based on best practices is introduced to guide project execution.

Technology: Technology decisions focus on selecting tools suitable for the project's specific needs that complement the team's existing skills. Training on these tools is provided to ensure that participants can effectively use them. Tools are assessed for their impact on workflow to avoid unnecessary overhead, ensuring they enhance rather than hinder productivity.

Outcomes

The reoriented approach significantly improves the project's path. By prioritising people, processes, and technology, Bank of Moolah successfully implements the CRM system, receiving accolades for its enhanced customer engagement, streamlined operations, and overall reliability, marking a successful turnaround for the project.

Metrics and Benchmarks

Having explored the foundational principle of prioritising people, processes, and technology, measuring how well this principle improves enterprise IT projects is essential. Benchmarks, derived from historical data, serve as reference points for comparing these metrics, providing a framework for assessing the principle's effectiveness and driving improvements.

This responsibility could be assigned to the PMO, including tasks such as data collection, metric analysis, and reporting to evaluate the principle's impact on enterprise IT projects.

Establishing Metrics and Benchmarks

Establishing metrics and benchmarks measures the effectiveness of the 'People First, Then Process, Before Technology' principle. The following guidance outlines the metrics to track for each component:

People

• Skill alignment: Measures the percentage of tasks completed without additional training, indicating the match between participant skills and project demands.
• Team collaboration: Assesses the effectiveness of cooperation within the project, including the frequency of cross-disciplinary meetings and the percentage of collaborative tasks completed on time. 
• Team satisfaction: Gather survey data on team morale and satisfaction, as these factors influence productivity.
•  Turnover and retention rates: Monitors team stability through metrics such as turnover rate (percentage of team members leaving) and retention rate (percentage of team members staying).

Process

• Delivery model effectiveness: Evaluate the clarity and appropriateness of the delivery model based on successful deliverables and feedback from team members.
• Role clarity: Assesses how well team members understand their roles, including the percentage of members accurately describing their responsibilities.
• Feasibility of schedule: Tracks the realism of the project schedule, including the percentage of tasks completed on time and the number of schedule adjustments needed.

Technology

• Adoption rate: Measures how quickly and extensively new project tools are adopted. Metrics can include the percentage of team members using new tools, the time taken to reach full adoption, and user satisfaction ratings for the tools.
• System downtime: Tracks the downtime of project tools due to technical issues, gets the tool set up for the project, and waits for support on operating the tool. Metrics include the total downtime in hours, the frequency, and the impact on project timelines and deliverables.

These metrics and benchmarks provide valuable insights for refining project strategies and driving continuous improvement in enterprise IT projects.

Following the early challenges in Bank of Moolah’s CRM implementation—delays, budget overruns, and resistance to change—the project team focuses on measuring key factors affecting success. The team establishes clear metrics to track adoption, collaboration, and operational efficiency to ensure the ‘People First, Then Process, Before Technology’ principle is applied.

People Metrics

• Skill alignment: Initial assessments reveal that 40% of customer service representatives require additional training on the new CRM interface. A targeted training program reduces this to 15% within three months, ensuring smoother adoption.
• Team collaboration: The project team holds weekly cross-functional meetings, yet only 60% of tasks involving multiple departments are completed on time due to miscommunication. A structured collaboration framework improves this to 85% within the next quarter.
• Team satisfaction: A baseline survey indicates that only 50% of employees feel confident using the CRM tool, leading to frustration. After additional training and role-specific guidance, satisfaction rates rise to 75%.
• Turnover and retention rates: During the first project phase, the turnover rate spikes to 18%, primarily due to resistance to change. Post-training and engagement initiatives reduce this to 10% by project completion. 

Process Metrics

• Delivery model effectiveness: Initially, 30% of project milestones are missed due to a rigid waterfall approach. A shift to a hybrid Agile framework improves milestone achievement to 90%.
• Role clarity: A survey finds that 40% of project team members struggle to define their responsibilities clearly. After role-specific workshops, this figure drops to 10%, ensuring accountability. 
• Feasibility of schedule: The original timeline projects a six-month rollout, but due to frequent schedule adjustments, completion extends to eight months. The new forecasting model aligns expected completion with actual timelines within a 5% variance. 

Technology Metrics

• Adoption rate: At launch, only 55% of employees actively use the CRM, with frontline staff resisting change. After an incentive-driven training program, adoption reaches 92% within four months.
• System downtime: The CRM system experiences an average of 12 hours of downtime per month in the first quarter, affecting customer service. Enhancements will reduce this to three hours per month by the second quarter. 

By tracking these metrics, Bank of Moolah gains critical insights, allowing the team to refine its approach and improve project outcomes while ensuring a balanced focus on people, processes, and technology.