Get all your process ducks in a row before hunting for a tool

IN THE corporate world, the application of project management technology to enhance operations gives companies an edge. But what approach works best? Is it wise to follow the notion of “technology first, then project management methodology” or do they prescribe to the “project management first, then technology” approach?

Anita Potgieter, of project and portfolio management solutions company FOXit, believes that a process should lead and the tool must follow.

Most of a process is place because of something that went wrong.

Say, for example, you are working on a project for a client and due to scope creep and the non-existence of a scope change process, you get burnt by the client and the project is delivered at a loss to your company.

What will you do? You will ensure that you set a proper process in place to prevent this happening in future. Once you have all the different processes defined, the project methodology is in place, and, most importantly, the maturity of the project office, project managers and resources are in a good space – you are ready to shop around for a tool that will help you automate and govern the processes.

As long as you purchase an easily configurable tool, you can easily automate your processes yourself without paying unnecessarily high costs to get someone in to make the smallest change to the process.

If you have young technosavvy employees who can handle a lot of change, implementing a tool while defining the process will not be a bad way to go. If your company mostly comprises older people who are set in their ways, you will have more difficulty. Adopting a system/tool and new processes at the same time is a recipe for failure.

Visit www.foxit.co.za or call 012 665 4655.