Warning! Implementation Trauma Ahead

Here I am, sitting in hotel room in Indianapolis, where the task popped up reminding me to write my weekly (okay, okay, sometimes not quite weekly) blog post.  And I have to admit I am a bit uninspired for some reason. Maybe it's just the natural slow start that comes off of a holiday weekend.  Or maybe it is a symptom of being in a training state of mind for an end-user training tomorrow.  Whatever it is, I hope our legions of fans will indulge me a bit :)

Lately I have been spending a fair amount of time training and conducting study halls on Microsoft Dynamics Sure Step.  The conversations in class and afterwards bring to mind the so-called "sins" that seem to repeat themselves again and again.  So, here is my list of implementation "sins", I have created two lists-- one for customers and one for consultants.  I know this is a bit self-indulgent (I warned you earlier!), and I am not suggesting that I have not committed each and every one of these sins once or twice (or more often!), but I thought I would share the list and see what else you all would add.  In no particular order...

Top 5 Consulting Sins

1. Assuming you are the sole reason for the success/failure of the project
2. Forgetting that customer service is important even during the heat of an implementation
3. Ignoring risks as a way to avoid difficult conversations and/or to not "rock the boat"
4. Forgoing proactive change management for many of the same reasons as #3
5. Losing yourself in the "weeds" and forgetting the reasons/goals for the implementation

Top 5 Customer Sins

1. Assuming that the consulting team is the sole reason for the success/failure of the project
2. Approaching the consulting team as adversaries instead of partners
3. Underestimating the organizational change associated with implementing software
4. Not placing value on the time spent by employees on an implementation
5. Inadequately voicing/sharing your goals, whether due to limited budget, resources, or time (or energy!)

Later this week, I will give you more background on each of these.  They are all common themes that come up in class after class, study hall after study hall, conversation after conversation.  Please share your own as well!

Christina Phillips is a Microsoft Certified Trainer and Dynamics GP Certified Professional. She is a supervising consultant with BKD Technologies, providing training, support, and project management services to new and existing Microsoft Dynamics customers.