Hi Everyone,
I have had the unique opportunity to simultaneously hold two critical roles over the last twelve years: (1) Director of HR and (2) Director of IT. This situation gives me a unique perspective on creating success with ERP projects. Many integrators are extremely technical; however, they often lack the soft skills needed to help teams visualize and create success. If I were to offer my best summarized advice to integrators and companies, it would be this:
Regarding ERP systems: you want to achieve accountability and insight! This means helping people create the plan, hold people accountable to the plan, and gain the insight to constantly adjust the plan to help guarantee success. This concept applies to the ERP project itself AND to what the ERP delivers to the company.
Regarding people: followers need only four things from you!
- Trust
- Compassion
- Stability
- Hope
Managers must find their skills that help them uniquely provide all four requirements. Those who are not good at touching, should not touch. Those who are not good at giving pep rallies, should not preach. The critical questions are:
- What are you great at?
- How do those skills relate to building trust, compassion, stability and hope?
The one resource that I believe represents your fastest path to ERP project success is a book called ‘Strengths based Leadership’ by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie. To keep things extremely simple, I recommend that you buy the hard copy, read the introduction on page 1, read the first couple of pages starting at page 77, read the couple of pages starting at page 19, then read the couple of pages starting at page 5.
If after reviewing the above details you believe we should continue this discussion, let me know…
I hope this helps!
About Chuck Boecking: I am an ERP educator. I believe that open source ERP have achieved mainstream capabilities, and as a result, more companies can create greater efficiency across their organization. I started using the iDempiere code base in 2003. Back then, it was called Compiere. In 2006, I started my first multi-million dollar installation. Since then, ADempiere has helped me create great success with distribution and manufacturing companies all over the world. My vision of success is to find companies that can best use open source ERP to help them achieve a single, global instance that drives a discontinuous increase in profitability. I believe that organizations win when they own their technology.
If you have questions, comments or concerns, let me know. I definitely want your feedback.
You can contact me by phone using 512.850.6068.
My email is chuck@chuboe.com.
You can complete the form on this page.
Thank you for taking the time. I look forward to speaking with you.
Regards,
Chuck Boecking
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/chuck-boecking/10/970/17b