Upgrading your finance system is a significant project and demands the right people and skill sets. Regardless of your service provider, there needs to be a go-to person on your end to oversee the project and be the main point of contact for all stakeholders.
This person could not be more important. If they manage their role well, their team will feel engaged, communication lines with the service provider will be open and honest, schedules will be realistic and the project outcomes will meet expectations. If they are poorly suited to the role, then no matter who the service provider is, everyone will face an uphill struggle.
It’s for this reason that we advise the client in the very early stages on the attributes they should look for in this project lead. These traits include:
#1 Superb Organisational Skills
With so many moving parts, the project lead needs to be an excellent multi-tasker. They need to avoid being dragged into the weeds each day, but rather keep a bird’s eye view of all the interconnected pieces, regularly checking in on progress and identifying bottlenecks.
#2 A Natural Calm
There are going to be times during the project where things become difficult. That’s true of any transformation project. It’s therefore essential that this person be in possession of a cool head, so that they don’t allow the drama of the moment to derail the broader project schedule.
#3 Excellent Soft Skills
With so many people involved, each with different goals, personalities and agendas, the project lead needs a natural ability with people. They need to be able to build rapport and trust, and be able to get under the skin of what really matters to each party. This trait becomes particularly important during times of heightened workload and stress, when the project lead needs to leverage this goodwill in motivating the team to find an extra gear.
#4 No Pushover
As important as the soft skills are, people also need to respect their position. They need the confidence to put their foot down and authority to drive decisions through when others are hesitating.
#5 Deep System Knowledge
The project lead cannot manage the implementation if they don’t understand the intricacies of the existing set-up. While the legacy system may appear clunky and outdated from the outside, it’s important to realise that the team have build their daily routines around this model, and a smooth transition will not be achieved by simply tearing it out and forcing a new, shinier one in. The project lead must understand both the eccentricities of the old system and the opportunities of its replacement, and combine that knowledge with superb people management to ease the transition through. Only then will the team benefit from all the leaps in automation and functionality offered by the updated technology.
