MaxiMeyer.com

Here’s what a few of our challenges can be with our clients:

• No point person or driver.
• Timelines are set for the project(s) but the client is too busy in their day to day operations.
• There are users excited about the project but the owner/management is disengaged- key decisions stall out and project could be in peril.
• Hardware and software can be buggy. Some clients think it’s just plug it, install it, use it.
• To save money, some want us to “train the trainer”- the only problem is, no one has told the trainer that or the trainer is not really a trainer.
• Too many people at an organization have the ability to order our services with no internal controls. 60 days later the CFO is opening up a can…

The flip side when dealing with a tech firm:

• Appoint or create a project leader/team and give them your full support (leaders)
• Clear hurdles where you can so they have the time necessary to properly implement
• Stay engaged with your point person- hold them to their timeline internally
• Hire a reputable firm and check references if you don’t have tech’s in house to be on team
• Be committed to training. Don’t accept getting 90% there but not be fully trained. Be upfront and talk about this with your consultant.
• Create internal processes for approving consultant time. Don’t allow people to grab the IT tech to unclog the printer. Have a specified hit list and stick to the critical items first.
• Explore fixed bids with good, clear scopes of work. While the perception is that you may get a “padded” bid, the reality is many times a good firm is eating overages. It also gives you some opportunity to budget rather than deal with an open checkbook.
• Ask for quotes prior to work being done.
• On development projects, have a fixed monthly amount for regular progress to be made on your project/systems. Work from critical items then down the punch list.

Since the inception of the technology firm I’m part of, we’ve experienced an amazing 35% growth year over year. As the company continues to expand, maintaining that type of growth clip is going to be an increasing challenge with several dynamics at play. While the future is always an unknown, I hope to be able to capture the progress of our growth at our current number of 50 employees (actually 54 as we just brought on four more developers over the past few weeks) to 100 employees. It would be great to hear your stories and comments of similar challenges you face in your companies and organizations as we press in together….

Some key challenges as I see them today:

• As the project manager (and also involved in some operations), my drive has been to raise the bar in our customer experience and processes within our projects and company. Our ability to continue to improve in this area while growing with new people will be an interesting dynamic.
• Currently we have three Sr. Managers each overseeing one of our 3 groups (ERP, Developement, and IT). They are extremely gifted technology gurus who will have to learn to grow into more management function or reshape the structure of their teams. (Either shift from be a do-er to a leader or find some alternatives). This goes for me too, I need to be preparing for what 100 team members looks like…
• Our internal processes for leveraging information (task coordination, emails, budgets, scope, proposals, etc…) need to make critical improvements. Implementing and syncing the functionality of SharePoint, MS CRM 4.0, and Outlook with other tools will be essential. Gaps in communication will only grow without continual tightening of our systems…
• Outside leaders are going to have to be able to succeed and assimilate into our group. We’ll be able to pull some up from within our team, however, most are talented “do-ers” that should stay exactly where they’re at…already adding huge value…
• Management is going to have to look at the number of direct reports they currently have- typically 6-8 is the max- currently we’re exceeding this in all three groups…
• Without acquisition, finding top calibur talent to come to South Bend/Elkhart, Indiana will continue to be a hurdle. We may need to stretch our boundaries and be creative with work locations, mobility, and communications to bring on new team members…
• We will need to have a plan to help each individual grow in their expertise’, feel connected to the team, know how what they do makes a difference, and that they matter and are cared for…
• Our service needs to be at a level that’s remarkable… something worth talking about as Seth Godin would say….

I love this team. I look forward to this run. While I’ll be limited in some of what I can share, I hope to be able to report the core of the experience along the way… stay tuned….