IT Best Practices for Financial Managers

Chapter 5. Steering Clear of a "Crisis in Confidence" and Other People Pitfalls

Sharon F. Piech

Hilary Horn

Nancie W. Fernandez

A crisis in confidence will cause a financial system implementation to halt or fall significantly off schedule. A crisis in confidence is not a technology or financial issue; it is a people issue that can strike at any time during a project. Examples of crises include a severe project team morale crash due to a significant number of bugs uncovered during testing, a change of leadership within the company or project team that causes uncertainty around the project, a loss of momentum resulting from a delayed timeline, or a strident rejection of the new system by end users immediately after go-live.

To mitigate the risk of having a crisis in confidence occur, the financial executive needs to control five things:

1. Project team effectiveness. The project team must consist of the right people working in a supportive environment. In almost every case, the right people for the project are not the people easily available at the time of the project. In addition, the project environment needs to facilitate the team working together to get their jobs, and the project, done.

2. Leadership engagement. The leadership of the company must be actively engaged in leading the project, supporting the project team, and managing the changes necessary for realization of business benefits.

3. Stakeholder management. All internal and external stakeholders must be aware of and prepared for the ...