By Alden Cuddihey "Build it and he will come." Those who've seen the movie Field of Dreams are obviously familiar with the phrase, which has grown beyond its origins in W.P. Kinsella's novel Shoeless Joe. "Build it and he will come" has now taken a life beyond its popular culture beginnings, and has become part of the business lexicon for having the faith to create a project of some scope and scale. If you have the faith to build it, the logic goes, then it will find a purpose and people to use it. In truth, no one wants to see their field of dreams sit empty. And such is also the case when it comes to government information technology projects—just because you build it doesn't mean anyone will actually use it. One can demand through mandated policy that government employees can get on board before the train leaves the station, but they may still decide to stand unmoving on the platform or the train may just go at a very slow pace. Accenture's research shows that high-performance organizations in government are highly efficient. They are also are exceptionally aware of changes in their environments, and able to translate insight into action. Any technology can be said to improve a government's operations and inefficiencies, but it doesn't matter how sophisticated the programming or equipment is if it is left underutilized. There are great ideas for how technology can change the way government operates, but without appropriate consideration to adoption, a project can be destined to fail. The truth is that most IT projects fail not because of the inherent technology but because of people-related issues. This is true both in the private and public sectors. The barriers to success in government projects include some clearly defined hurdles:
- Politics: A new system might look good on paper but in practice it doesn't work for the users.
- Lack of Value: The perception of lack of value in IT projects by employees and management can disable a project before it even begins.
- Skills Gap: It is the responsibility of those involved to ensure that everyone knows how to work within the new system and can quickly determine skills gaps within an organization.
- Organizational Change: A well-established culture may not encourage change. As well, there may be challenges in sustaining the change as the system starts getting adopted and new work habits are put into place.
- Project Management: The strength of the team and leadership of a project will help ensure that the outcomes are met and that the people factor is addressed up front. The importance of this must never ever be underestimated.
Despite these issues, if properly managed and promoted, IT undertakings can transform any organization—from the back office of a government ministry to citizen delivery—into a high performer among government organizations. This is especially important considering the demands for accountability and service delivery the public is placing on its government agencies. How can leadership ensure that a government information technology project will perform and achieve the adoption level necessary to ensure its success? There are clear indicators that drive a program to success or failure. Of course, a number of these can be determined by investigating previous projects and determining why they achieved or failed. While each company or government organization has different goals for their specific information technology project, there are also similar characteristics that can be developed that create a better chance of success. All of this should begin from a clear starting point: make certain everyone in the leadership team has a clear understanding of the new solution and a clear view of the workforce that will implement this project. Every project must have decisive leadership that believes in the project and imparts that belief to the organization. This is called "executive engagement." In essence, executives need to have plans and key messaging that help make employees accept the project. These managers need to have engagement opportunities and exploratory activities that are organized and lead them through each phase of the program, to ensure acceptance. A key component of this is managing business objectives to project management. Basically, stressing a systematic and organized focus on achievable goals in order to attain the best possible results. Additionally, it is focused on increasing organizational performance by aligning goals and subordinate objectives across the government department. In order to align interests, management must be certain employees receive strong input in identifying their objectives. But government managers need to be careful to avoid becoming to involved with daily activities and taking their focus off their objectives. To avoid this trap, a government agency or department should require all managers to participate in the strategic planning process, thus improving the plan's implementation. But in order for a project to become a successful part of an organization, it needs energetic and visionary leadership in the top team with a particular focus on target behavior and outcomes. Without a strong leadership team, the likelihood of a project succeeding within any market segment—let alone the government—is far from certain. Of course, these leaders will need a well-articulated, understood and widely adopted strategic intent that matcheds the purpose and vision. High-performance organizations in government are headed by courageous leaders. They need to understand the importance of the so-called "burning platform"—a major issue central to the organization that needs to be rectified. This can only be done through appropriately defined business drivers. Once this is established, an organization and its key management can determine how to focus resources and develop further understanding of the importance of the IT project to the entire operation. From the beginning of the project continuous attention needs to be given to interpreting, understanding and influencing the organizational situation that will result in the desired change. This starts by the organization identifying who the key influencers will be within their operation. In any organization, there are people who are strong personalities that can help be advocates for the IT project. This will also help with the ability to set, navigate and adjust a change management path by taking into account the unexpected external and internal events along the way. An organization's executive leadership of the IT project must be disciplined throughout the course of the project, including post-implementation. If this is done appropriately, it will become a significant part of a company's culture or way of life. This will ensure that there is continual focus on systems and "big picture thinking" about the project's role in achieving corporate objectives. Additionally, this will help align intent with behavior; strategy with operations; rewards with performance measures; and structure with intent. Once executives and key leaders within a government organization understand the benefits of the information technology project, they need to take the reins and lead. They must lead by example. They must become advocates and evangelists for the program. This will help promote understanding and awareness at the highest levels of an organization and the trickle-down effect should see these beliefs become accepted throughout the operation. Furthermore, throughout the project's implantation and rollout, "journey management" will be vital to assure the project does not become derailed. In essence, journey management is making certain that team leaders are keeping the project aligned with the its key business issues. One key step in the journey of a major IT project is the creation of a climate of readiness for change, an ability to break out of "business as usual." Some organizations falter in their attempts to establish a viable value-centered culture because, after an initial push, not enough work is done to sustain the culture over the course of the project. Throughout all of this, a strong analytical framework is necessary—one that measures value creation and that shows how each facet of the enterprise contributes to the project's overall value. This is perhaps even more important for government organizations that need to be able to determine compliance levels. In order to truly get to the root of adoption problems within an IT project, leaders must be able to determine who is buying in or pushing the project forward and who is not. The areas of an organization that are driving the project ahead are doubly valuable; they provide leadership and support for the IT project and they also provide an example that can be followed by other departments within the government division. In the end, it is executive leadership that helps fundamentally drive the success or failure of an information technology project within the government realm. Yes, you can build it and hope they will come. But if you are careful, monitor each step, gain support through the implementation process and determine which areas of the organization are fully supporting your project, your field of dreams can be a reality too. For more information, please contact alden.cuddihey@accenture.com. To Top |