A few years ago, we started to notice a pattern in organizations that was affecting project Return on Investment. Organizations were very good at installing new software and all other kinds of business changes. The problem was (and is) that the project ended once the change was officially launched. Yes, installation is very important, but it just isn’t enough to produce adoption of behavior changes and project Return on Investment. You will see this pattern played out on all types of changes, including ERP and other software implementations, business process management changes, organizational restructurings, and virtually every other type of business transformational change.
This is what we call the difference between
installation and implementation. When projects are stopped at the point of installation, the project team is disbanded, and the budget ends. This means that there is no oversight or management to make sure that sponsors are reinforcing the right behaviors at the local level. Change management stops short and barriers to change are not addressed.
It’s pretty easy to see why this pattern is so prevalent. First, most organizations are under high stress with far too many competing priorities for resources and budgets. There is a lot of emphasis on adhering to project schedules and budgets, but less on achieving change. Second, the formal organization reinforcements are all around installation, not implementation. Third, senior leadership is usually focused on the next business change and don’t want to invest the time and energy required for full implementation.
We are finding that the installation versus implementation dilemma resonates with project teams and business sponsors. If you are interested in our mini guide on Installation versus Implementation, contact Paula Alsher at
paula.alsher@imaworldwide.com.
Labels: business process re-engineering, installation versus implementation, software implementation