I was just speaking with our leadership team and one topic brought something home I thought I would share.
We have a very defined implementation process in which we work through three stages of implementation:
- PM Staging
- Integration
- Implementation
We follow this process almost religiously where each step is followed so we know we have all the data, structure, and requirements for a successful implementation. Overall it works great but we occasionally need to deviate, especially for some of our larger customers.
As we were talking we had to reiterate to some individuals when it is appropriate to make those modifications and why. For example, we normally won’t assign an Integration Consultant until PM Staging is complete and an Implementation Specialist isn’t assigned until Integration is complete. However there can be value, especially with a strategic client, to deviate and assign both the IC and IS early so progress can be made even though we are still gathering initial documentation.
I am not trying to solve anything here, but have a discussion to see what others are doing that drives a deviation from your standard processes?