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Chapter 8 • Program and Project Management 227

PREVIEW
The project team, with a solid understanding of the concept of teamwork, will create a strong foun-
dation for implementing an ERP that will meet the business objectives on time and budget. This was
not the case with the ABC Manufacturing ERP implementation. The lack of project management
skills and experience and the make-up of the teams were problematic from the project’s start. Most
project teams are made up of a variety of staff and consultants. Each team member should have ex-
pertise in an area (i.e., functional or technical) and understand the importance of teamwork. Even
though the ABC Manufacturing teams were eager, they lacked the full understanding of the task in
front of them and the teamwork needed to sustain the implementation. Teambuilding exercises,
training, or both will make for a work climate in which progress and creativity will thrive.
The project management office (PMO) is responsible for ensuring that project teams are work-
ing well together and addressing the functionality issues in a timely, open, and efficient manner. The
PMO needs to make certain that team activities stay synchronized and that progress is made. If teams
become fragmented, it will often slow down an entire project, especially if teams are dependent on
each other for decisions. The PMO must manage scope, resources, and time, as shown in Figure 8-
1. If any one of the three sides of the triangle changes, then the other two sides will also need to
change or the sides of the triangle will never meet. In other words, if the scope changes, then either
resources or time will need to change (or both) for the sides of the triangle to remain connected.
The skill set of a project manager must be varied and robust. This was not the case for ABC
Manufacturing. In fact, their project manager had never before implemented such a large ERP sys-
tem. A project manager must be able to address issues related to how the system works, and have
good negotiation skills, work well with the teams, and be politically savvy to navigate through the
implementation. For these reasons and others, being part of the PMO can be both high risk and high
reward. Even though a project manager is mostly focused on tactical areas within an ERP implemen-
tation, a program manager or project executive is strategically focused. The role of the program man-
ager is to ensure that business goals are met. Both project and program managers must address areas
that are critical to the success of the project.
Although the PMO must focus on the implementation, it must also address the critical success
factors on a regular basis as they relate to the decisions process, project scope or changes to scope,
teamwork, and communications with the team and executives. There was not enough time spent on the
scope and developing user buy-in in the ABC Manufacturing example. In addition, the project manag-
er was not skilled enough to manage “scope creep” to ensure that the project moved forward. The
project manager may have avoided many of the issues around the modifications and scope through an

Resources Time
Project
Management
Triangle

Scope
FIGURE 8-1 Project Management.