Begin with the end in mind - if you want to have a successful initiative, it is important to have the right players on your team! Depending upon what your organization is setting out to accomplish, the right players may.. or may not already be in your company.
Once you’ve defined your initiative or project, complete a SWOT analysis to determine what additional resources you’ll need to get the right mix of skills on the team. Ideally, you’d conduct this SWOT not only with the management team, but also with key stakeholders and the initial picks for your team. You might be surprised with some of the strengths as well as limitations that are identified in the process.
While a project or big initiative can be a growth opportunity for someone with the right mix of raw talent, be cautious about expecting inexperienced resources to fully get the job done. They will only succeed if they have the right level of support or mentoring to help them get to the next level.
What skills are you missing? Be brutal in assessing the skills and knowledge of your staff. While they may be fantastic at what they do today, do they know the latest technologies? Do they have the perspective to see opportunities that new technology can bring? Are they excited about learning new things?
Who will keep the team on track? Your team may be great in handling smaller projects or the day to day, but how well can they stay on track when the initiative has a broad scope or many moving parts? Who will work with the defined initiative leadership team to modify priorities as the initiative unfolds?
Who has the perspective to transition the initiative from the high level strategy down to the many details? Your leadership team has done a great job in outlining the vision, but is there anyone on your team who has the perspective to translate the vision to the many ways you might work to accomplish it? Not looking at all the ways an initiative can be accomplished may lead you to stick with today’s solutions when you really need to figure out the best solutions for the future. See my post: Build a Strong Foundation - The Importance of the Discovery Phase.
Do you have enough resources to get the project or initiative done in the time frame you are shooting for? Remember, less experienced resources will take longer to get the job done; experts may (or may not) be able to wade through work more quickly. If you don’t have enough resources to get the job done, no amount of late nights will pizza will be able to get the job done with the quality you’re looking for.
When working with a vendor, it can be helpful to have an outside resource serve as a go-between. Sometimes vendors needs to be reminded that a client requires some specialized help. Vendor objectives do not always align with company objective - an outside resource can remind a vendor why the company picked them! In addition, an outside resource may be helpful in providing overall perspective or having those difficult discussions that can come up, navigating the path forward when faced with a serious issue or resolving a misunderstanding between the client team and the vendor.
With the right team, your chances of success are greatly improved! Next, makes sure everyone on the team knows their role on the team (see my “Who’s on First” post)