2014 C5 Insight Best Of Blog Round Up

Everywhere you look on the internet these days, you see Best of 2014 lists. And rightfully so – as we prepare to embark on 2015, it’s natural to gaze back across our most recent journey around the sun. In the spirit of helping you navigate through the more than 80 blogs we published in 2014, we’ve compiled a quick round-up of some of our most helpful and popular entries.

The 7 Habits of Successful Technology Projects – Habit 7

Measure twice, cut once. You’ve heard the saying, right?  For this final habit, I wanted to take that saying and use it to illustrate a phenomenon that we often see in technology projects – lack of testing.  I call it a phenomenon, because it often defies logic. 

The 7 Habits of Successful Technology Projects – Habit 6

Most organizations today believe that if you simply implement “the new technology”, that everyone will immediately and automatically (and of course without any prompting) begin to use the new system(s).  On the contrary, our experience has shown us that once a new solution has been implemented, there is still much to do to ensure it is truly successful. I would like to directly address a few areas where we see most organizations struggle to cross the finish line, and practical ways to correct these issues.

The 7 Habits of Successful Technology Projects – Habit 5

Let’s face it - no one ever tells you to focus on the past.  In fact, we’re all told, from very early on, to stay focused on the “here and now” and to look ahead to our future. While it may be a bit of a stretch, I would like to encourage those who are currently working on a project or getting ready to start a project, to take some time to reflect on the past.  Let me to explain...

The 7 Habits of Successful Technology Projects – Habit 4

Technology is wonderful thing, but never forget that it’s not the only thing.  What I mean is this - while technology can provide us with new ways of doing things, automation of tasks, and analysis we could only dream of doing on our own, technology should never be a substitute for your people and your process.

The 7 Habits of Successful Technology Projects – Habit 3

Trips (or projects) do not complete themselves.  It takes “unseen” things to make it all happen, and that is where this habit will focus.

The 7 Habits of Successful Technology Projects – Habit 2

There are many opportunities for projects to veer off of course, not due to the unexpected, but due to completely avoidable items such as forgetting the definition of success, lack of focus, an individual personality, or a new technology coming to market.  Think you’re immune and that “This will never happen to my organization!”?  Unfortunately, in our experience we’ve seen it happen to the very best organizations, which is where this habit comes into play.  No one has the intention of taking a cross-country road trip to Santa Monica, only to end-up in Fargo (no offense), or worse yet, to simply stop driving somewhere in Arkansas (again, no offense), and say, “Let’s do something else now.”  At the end of the day, technology projects are no different.  My guess is, you started the project in order to actually finish the project (and on time and under budget would great too!).

The 7 Habits of Successful Technology Projects – Habit 1

Habit 1: Chart Your Journey

Before you begin your project, define what a successful project will look like, and you have set yourself up for success from the start.