Over the past three years, I have helped lead the implementation of a cloud-based tool for managing contingent workers at my organization. The tool is intended to simplify and streamline hiring, managing, and paying contingent workers for our managers. Unfortunately, our organization did not have a consistent process for hiring contingent workers across its many divisions and sites worldwide. Therefore, our procurement department in North America collaborated with the IT team to find a solution to this issue, which resulted in the introduction of a cloud-based tool. However, we may have rushed the implementation process without defining the issue and creating a realistic plan.
According to Watt (2014), 44% of projects are “challenged,” 32% are “successful,” and 24% “failed.” Therefore, the author recommends understanding the correct business requirements early in the process, applying project management techniques, and monitoring project activities. We could have done a better job of defining the issue and creating a realistic plan. Although we implemented the tool within budget and on time, it was only for a small subsection of our global organization, which has multiple locations, Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) systems, and regulations to consider. After watching a video on project management by Knolscape (2013), I learned the importance of distinguishing between a project and a program. In addition, our implementation only focused on one ERP system, leading to confusion among managers and contractors working in different ERP systems. Thus, to ensure consistency and avoid confusion, we should have implemented the tool simultaneously across all ERP systems and locations while establishing an overarching policy and procedure for managing contingent workers worldwide.
As a result, to approach this implementation as a program, we needed to create a better strategic plan, conduct stakeholder meetings, and collect data across all ERP systems. As Zettelmeyer (2015) emphasized, the most crucial skills in analytics are thinking skills rather than technical skills. Therefore, we should have defined the issue more clearly, created a realistic plan, and taken a strategic approach based on the problem we needed to solve. By doing so, we could have successfully implemented the tool across the entire organization while ensuring consistency and avoiding confusion.
Today, we are reassessing our approach and developing a more strategic plan to ensure the success of the remaining implementation of the cloud-based tool for managing contingent workers across our organization. In hindsight, a program would have been better than a project. It should have included stakeholder meetings, data collection across all ERP systems and locations, and the establishment of a comprehensive policy and procedure for managing contingent workers globally. Taking a more strategic approach would have made the implementation more successful.
References:
A Leader’s Guide to Data Analytics. (n.d.). Insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu. https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/a-leaders-guide-to-data-analytics/
Introduction to Project Management. (2013). [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOU1YP5NZVA
Watt, A. (2014, August 14). Project Management – The Open Textbook Project provides flexible and affordable access to higher education resources. Opentextbc.ca; Pressbooks. https://opentextbc.ca/projectmanagement/
Hey Michal!
I loved reading your blog post about your organization implementing a cloud-based tool for managing contingent workers. It was cool to hear about your team’s challenges and how you’re adjusting your approach for success. I do have some questions, though! Firstly, what caused the rush in the implementation process, and how could it have been avoided? Also, I’m super curious about the project management techniques you mentioned – can you give more details on which ones were used and how they could be improved? And lastly, I found your thoughts on thinking skills in analytics intriguing. Can you share examples of how thinking skills played a role in the implementation process?
Thanks so much for sharing your experience.
Hi Jess,
Thank you for reviewing my blog and asking insightful questions. The contractor management system was implemented quickly due to budget constraints and a commitment to executives. Our change management efforts were unsuccessful due to insufficient support from the change management team. As the project team, we tried to manage it alone, which wasn’t ideal since it was not our area of expertise. In my blog, I emphasized the importance of logical thinking, focusing on the right aspects of a project, and involving all stakeholders to avoid rushing, making assumptions, and looking only at tools without analyzing the process. We need to step back and analyze the project thoroughly to achieve greater efficiency.
Thanks,
Michal