Leading projects | Activity 2

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In my organization, for the last couple of years and due to business expansion, I have been involved in a large project of adopting and implementing a new Data Management System (DMS) in most of our newly acquired locations. These new locations were utilizing different systems that, while they were compliant with the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) requirements, were not compatible with our main DMS.

In brief, a DMS is what enables dealerships to perform their daily operations. From vehicle orders and entries, inventory management, accounting reports, cost transactions, automotive CRM, quotes, marketing campaign management, the configuration of the sales flow for authorizations, internal and external financing, managing the after-sales service, appointment scheduling, time control of mechanics with work orders, all of this integrated into the accounting and finances of the business, among others. Therefore, the importance of having one centralized and unified DMS is one of the main decisions and top priorities for any dealership. For this project, in my role and among other functions, I was in charge of the development and implementation of the new DMS in all our locations to unify, simplify and manage the entire operation of our automotive group within the province.

Knolskape (2013) described a project as something temporary, unique, and closed after attaining objectives. For this project, the goals were clear to me because of my understanding of the operations in our business and my years of experience in the industry, and not because the goals were explicitly outlined in a document or else. The stakeholders were our corporate executives who after analyzing the cost, benefits, and ROI decided to work with our current DMS provider. The ones that benefited from this decision were all employees and stakeholders.

On one hand, the transition to a new DMS has major technological implications, specific software and hardware requirements, and major initial training is required for all users. On the other hand, the reality is that implementing a new DMS is not merely a technological change. For the company’s employees, it represented a change in their work and in their way of doing things. Having said that, the biggest challenge I identified was the adaptation of all employees to the new system. Unfortunately, change is not usually accepted by everyone in the same way and many people face it with certain rejection. Technological changes are usually rapid, but people need some time to learn to manage in environments that are unknown to them. A good solution to overcome this barrier was to involve all users in the design and implementation process. After all, it was logical to make them participants in a process that will affect them directly; I also found beneficial their input since nobody knew better than them the operations of their departments.  I believe that the involvement of the end-users was essential to guarantee the success of the implementation of our new DMS system.

Watt (2014) claims that “a project is successful when it achieves its objectives and meets or exceeds the expectations of the stake­holders”. In retrospect, I would consider this project a successful one. The new DMS is in place in all our locations, employees’ training is complete, and communication between departments and in all aspects of the business in all locations is seamless and effective.

References:

Knolscape. (2013). Introduction to Project Management. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOU1YP5NZVA

Watt, A. (2014). Project Management. Victoria, BC: BCcampus. https://opentextbc.ca/projectmanagement/