CRM Project Roadmap
Dmytro Stashchuk
Strategic Transformation Advisor | Trusted Business Partner | Ph.D. in Finance | Associate Professor at MBA
Speaking about the implementation of any system, the term Project Roadmap is often in use. What is it? Let us try to figure it out.
First, the road map is a deeply elaborated action plan, which, on the one hand, helps balance the company's priorities and initiatives, and, on the other hand, it balances the needs of different internal departments. As the proverb says, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
When creating a roadmap, split your project into a chain of several small-scale projects, put them on a timeline, and consider them separately. It is a so-called phased approach to implementation. In contrast to it, there is a "big bang," where all the CRM functionality is implemented as a single project. We do not recommend this approach because of the following problems:
The phased approach assumes that each phase is more minor in the scope and time of their execution and fewer stakeholders. When a separate stage is preceded by the successful implementation of previous steps, dealing with resistance within the company (there are some in every project) will be easier.
Another important argument in favor of a phased approach is the relative ease of collecting feedback – what went well and what did not. Lessons learned and leading practices allow you to adapt the methodology applied and gradually increase the quality with each new phase.
Consider in what way to build a project roadmap. First, a thorough analysis (diagnostics) of the current situation "as is":
After diagnosis, specify/validate your CRM vision and strategic objectives of the project. Here, as a rule, the necessary functionality CRM system becomes more explicit. The concrete initiatives of the project roadmap will be built upon the base of this functionality.
At an early stage, it is crucial to begin the identification of possible risk factors. It will give more time to build a plan to minimize or eliminate them. Gradually update the catalog of risk factors throughout the project. The most common risk factors for CRM projects (basically, any other system):
Once assessed the "as is," many areas for improvement have been revealed – regarding people, processes, and technologies. The next step in building the roadmap is describing a sequence of improvement initiatives and putting them on the timeline. It is a critical moment in the development of the roadmap.
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The only correct approach to the combination of initiatives in individual small projects does not exist. However, these methods of grouping initiatives can be beneficial:
It is essential to define what a successful result of small-scale projects is. What are the expectations of the system implementation at the departments involved? Ideally, each small project should provide clear and consistent success factors to do the ultimate calibration of success factors to a large CRM project (company-wide).
After conducting diagnostics and sketched large strokes of a roadmap, the work is yet not over. Next, you need to align the resulting roadmap with the perspective "People." It is necessary to conduct interviews with the heads of the departments that are affected by the CRM implementation to obtain the following information:
Projects of "Pilot" and "Proof of concept" types. These projects are to test the functionality of a general project idea on a small scale and with low risk before starting a large project. These two terms are often used interchangeably, but there are some differences:
Both "Pilot" and "Proof of Concept" projects are pretty helpful for the CRM project risk control, but it should be taken into account that, at the same time, it is additional time spend and cost.
Takeaways
Thus, the development of a roadmap must follow four essential tips: