The BluePrint Workshop
So you just spent six months creating a Request For Proposal (RFP), distributing that RFP to a list of 15 possible vendors, shortlisting the vendors, conducting oral presentations, selecting your implementation partner, executing weeks of contract negotiations and finally after thousands of person hours invested you are ready to start the implementation. So, what’s the first thing most organizations do? Ignore all of the planning they have just put forth and jump right into the details. Based upon many years of experience, I can tell you that is one of the biggest mistakes you can make before starting your implementation. Why put all of that up-front investment at risk?
Planning for your implementation actually started prior to putting together the RFP. You likely had to create cost/TCO/ROI justifications and multiple presentations for various levels of approval. The most appropriate activity is to continue down that path of planning and preparation. Let’s bridge the gap between the selection team and the project team. How? We encourage clients to keep the planning momentum and bridge that gap by executing our BluePrint Project Services workshop [PDF link].
A BluePrint workshop is a joint effort executed by the main members of the project team, typically the project leads and project manager. Through this facilitated workshop, participants will actively build thecontents of the project charter. The project charter contains elements such as project objectives, project risk, resources, mission statement and scope. The workshop builds on the content from the RFP andtranslates it into a charter which can be used to gain project buy-in and executive support. The project charter is a contract between the project team and the organization’s management team outlining what will be accomplished and what is required to accomplish it. It binds the project team to achieve certain goals and binds the executive management to support what is required to achieve those goals.
We often say that a project can be on time and on budget but if it does not achieve the objectives of the organization, then it still will be looked upon as a failed project. The BluePrint workshop helps avoid an unsuccessful project that was executed on time and on budget. You’d be surprised at how often this happens.
I know, it’s hard to take time out to do additional planning after spending six months or more going through the selection process. Well, it’s generally harder to ask for a timeline extension because the project was not properly planned and mitigated against risks early and often. We know that it is hard to visualize the benefit of a BluePrint workshop and the benefit of buy in from the project team, but I can tell you from experience that it works and it works well. Take an example from a recent customer we executed a BluePrint with and use their responses to gauge the effectiveness to support the value:
“Of 11 workshop attendees, 100% would recommend the BluePrint workshop to other projects within the organization. Eight of 11 gave the Blue Print workshop a 5 out of 5 and three of the 11 a 4 out of 5 rating.”
For more information about our BluePrint Project Services workshop, see here [PDF link] and here [web link]. Naturally, if you have any questions, please don’t be afraid to email me.
