"Unfortunately, I am unable to attend the project kick-off due to an important appointment"
The company was about to start their most strategic project ever, as they put it themselves. A successful international organisation with over 3,500 employees. Active in 5 countries in Europe. Grown rapidly in recent years through acquisitions. As a result, they had different systems and different business processes per country. A real patchwork!
The purchase of a new ERP system and the standardization of all major business processes across the countries required a huge investment in time, energy and money.
Fortunately, they had learned from previous implementations that ERP is not so much a technical, but mainly an organizational project. That is why they had organized a kick-off event of no less than 3 days. For which they had flown in more than 100 people from all their offices.
I was asked to deliver a workshop during that kick-off to inspire the team on their behavior and willingness to change.
At the preliminary meeting, the executive sponsor apologized for her absence.
I asked her whether she realized what the non-verbal message of her absence was.
She didn't understand my question.
To which I said: "You shouldn't be surprised if your people don't show enough discipline during the implementation. If they don’t have their agreed homework ready on time. Or if they’re not showing up at meetings and training sessions. Because apparently it's not such an important project at all?"
Actions speak louder than words.
If your management believes they can be absent from the kick-off of your strategically important ERP project, it might be better to just postpone the implementation. Until they realize that these projects also require sacrifices on their part.
In my ERP Masterclasses I teach and inspire executives on how they can contribute to ERP project success. Check this link.
The executive sponsor ultimately decided to cancel her appointment and delivered a great presentation during the successful kick-off.
How do you prepare your executive team for their contributions to project success?
