Holistic Goals How they help
take your Project Team's
Motivation to the Next Level

And why you are wasting Valuable Potential with “In Time” and “In Budget”

ERP projects are a pretty emotional affair, comparable to a rollercoaster ride of emotions, and that’s hardly surprising. A lot of people and an enormous amount of money are involved, the projects attract a lot of attention and once decisions have been made, they can’t just be thrown overboard. Now it is important that you communicate the goals of your project very precisely to your employees and your external service providers. However, this aspect in particular is often not the focus in practice. And yet it plays a crucial role on the road to success. After all, how can your team demonstrate the necessary motivation and develop synergies without knowing exactly what you want to achieve with your ERP project?

“Meeting Deadlines and Budgets”: the Ultimate Project Goal?

It’s that time of year again: a new project is on the agenda, and a project to implement new ERP software at that. But before we get down to business, the definition of the project goals is the first step. Unfortunately, most companies are not really good at defining what they want to achieve. This step is often dealt with in the same way - almost like brushing your teeth every day. According to studies, over 90 percent of all companies involved in ERP projects like to rely on “meeting deadlines and budgets” as an all-purpose weapon - the ever-popular evergreen that we’ve all heard umpteen times. You have probably also used it as a project goal in the past. Sure, the whole thing sounds pretty solid at first and there doesn’t seem to be much you can do wrong with it. But does it really make sense? Can’t it be done much better?

Without a Clear Goal, Motivation often falls by the Wayside

Spending money just to spend money can’t really be a goal. And what does it tell us when we realize at the end of the project that we were able to meet the deadline and budget targets? Does that make a project successful? Does it mean that you have modernized your business processes? And that you are a more attractive business partner for your potential customers? Another question: how motivating is it for your project team not to go over budget if only a few team members know how high this budget actually is?

The Budget for your ERP Implementation This is how you
plan realistically

We would like to point out that you should, of course, always bear in mind that time and financial resources should not go beyond the scope of your projects, but you should rather regard them as conditions for success and definitely not as the actual goal. Project goals such as “In Time ” and “In Budget ” are not appropriate.

Utilize Dormant Potential by linking your Project to the Corporate Strategy

So how can you do this better? It’s much easier than you might think. Try linking your next ERP project to your corporate strategy, regardless of whether it is a completely new project or an upgrade. Think about it independently of your project: what are the strategic business goals of your company? What are you working towards as a whole team - regardless of departmental and divisional boundaries? Day by day, week by week and month by month. The classics clearly include company growth, profitability, customer focus and compliance. And now bring these cornerstones into line with your project. A simple yet clever move that will benefit you in many ways.

The Project is no longer just a Matter for IT: From now on, Everyone is pulling in the same Direction!

What’s in it for you? Well, software projects were often completely isolated in the IT department because at first glance they seemed to have absolutely nothing in common with day-to-day operations. The logical consequence of this was that the motivation and commitment of the entire team was sometimes limited - and this also slowed down the success of the project to a certain extent!

But if each individual understands the overall strategy, you can count much more on internal support - even on the backing of your number one critic: the otherwise so success-critical management board! And in contrast to these “deadline and budget projects”, your new project will not end on the big go-live day. No, it will remain relevant to the business for as long as your company’s strategy remains relevant. And finally, it will be clear to the last person involved that this is not just an IT project where the responsibility lies solely with the IT department. From now on, the project is everyone’s business!

By clearly and comprehensibly defining what the success of your next ERP project looks like for the entire company, you have already passed the first important milestone on the road to success!