What Good Looks Like

Two words: success factors; these aren’t just fancy buzzwords. Success factors are what’s needed to be successful on a project. Success factors can be defined as “any knowledge, skill, trait, motive, attitude, value or other personal characteristic that is essential to perform the job or role and that differentiates solid from superior performance.” Because projects can cost millions of dollars and often run over budget and time, success factors are something that you want to get right from the start. We met with Grace Gravestock, Change Management Expert and author, to understand how corporations can establish success factors for projects by determining what good looks like. 

Five key success factors  

Grace recommends living by the 80/20 rule, which is to focus on the 20% to get the 80% results, rather than focusing on the administrative tasks. These five success factors can help organizations determine what good looks like for a project:  

1. Demonstrate taking personal responsibility 

First and foremost, personal responsibility and ownership should start with the executive sponsor. When the executive sponsor has an attitude of personal responsibility and ownership, they set the stage for reporting leaders to do the same. Grace saw personal responsibility and ownership exemplified in a big way at a past client who had an executive sponsor with a “we’re in it together” attitude. For the weekend before go live, more than 70 project team members volunteered during cutover to get experience and understand how things would look, in advance of the switch over to the new system. In fact, the project was able to go live 24-hours early because of the high level of participation! As OCMers know, an early go live is almost unheard of. When ownership and personal responsibility is illustrated at the top of the company or project, it’s likely to be contagious for leaders and team members.  

2. Prioritize cross-organizational collaboration 

We all know that teamwork makes the dream work. This is especially the case on projects where technology and business team members who’ve never worked together have to suddenly work closely together. Once again, the executive sponsor should illustrate the importance of bringing people together, breaking down silos, and communicating. This attitude will likely trickle down to leaders and team members. Grace shared an example of a stellar executive sponsor who hosted a bi-weekly, cross-organizational status meeting. This meeting included representatives from every part of the project and team members shared what was happening on the project and worked together to remedy issues. The top-notch executive sponsor led this cross-organizational meeting which illustrated that teamwork was vital to the success of the project. And as OCMers know, consistent cross-organizational collaboration is critical for updating change management and communication plans.   

3. Choose the best project team members  

A common misstep on large projects is when leaders assign the weakest employees to work on projects. Leaders do this because they can’t imagine how the business will be supported without their best and brightest employees.  However, project team members will be expected to make strategic (and expensive!) decisions on how to tailor the project to meet the business needs. Additionally, the solution will be used by team members for years to come. Other benefits of assigning the best and brightest project team members are that leaders will have in-house subject matter experts that know the solution well and can continue to move the solution and organization forward. By choosing the best and brightest core project team members who really know the business, the new system can be developed to take the organization into the future. It also gives team members who weren’t staffed on the project the opportunity to step up and stretch their skills.   

4. Celebrate successes 

Celebrating success acknowledges people so that they feel valued. Feeling recognized helps people to feel content and stay at their organization. This is especially important during the “Great Resignation” where people aren’t satisfied with their work environment and are leaving their jobs. Additionally, taking the time to pause and recognize the progress that’s been made focuses on the positive aspects of the project rather than the challenges that will remain. Grace shared a great example of celebrating success on a recent project. The executive sponsor catered meals for team members in the weeks after go live to both recognize people and make things easier on team members as they worked long hours to help the business adapt to the new ways of working. 

5. Equip others to be change agile 

As change management practitioners, we should equip others to manage change. With most project system changes, the initial go live is just the start of a series of changes to come. If we can't help people to become more change agile, then we're not helping them in the long run. Change agility should be a key part of any change manager’s repertoire and process. Grace adds that new technology, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), will result in more change that comes faster. New, fast-paced technology means that organizations need internal change management capabilities to support team members and minimize business disruption. Through her second book, “Quantum Change: Building Agility for Utility Projects,” Grace helps cities and large utilities build internal change capabilities without depending on outside consultants.  

Establishing success factors can help organizations achieve their project goals. When time, money, and careers are on the line, it’s critical to establish success factors at the start of a project. By demonstrating personal responsibility, prioritizing cross-organizational collaboration, choosing the best project team members, celebrating success, and equipping others to be change agile, organizations can establish what good looks like.  

Contact ChangeStaffing to learn how to establish success factors for your next change initiative!  

A very special thank you to Grace Gravestock for her thought leadership and for collaborating with us on this blog. You can get a free copy of Grace’s white paper to discover the three key findings behind the two-time recipient of the American Public Power Association’s prestigious “America’s #1 Public Utility” award. Here you can dive into the City of Tallahassee's successful customer information system replacement project case study. Additionally, Grace’s newest book is available for pre-order on Amazon: Quantum Change Management.  

Written by Kylette Harrison