The importance of strategy and planning for a successful project

Perfectly designed software will accelerate your performance and even inspire employees and stakeholders to do more. How often do you see software do that? It is so rare, mostly because analysis and planning failed.

Checklist to consider when starting the project and identifying success factors:

• Avoid analysis paralysis. Work closely with service provider and let them guide the way when things start to be overanalysed. It is okay to leave details uncovered – in the early stages of the project focus must be on the big picture, not on each part of it.
• Business first, technology second. Team must first focus on understanding business needs and how to accomplish them. Only after goals have been clearly defined can we make an informed decision on technology that suits the needs best.
• Define long-term and short-term goals. It is essential that the service provider and the client are both completely clear on the aim of the project. Right from the start business benefits that are expected of the project must be communicated. A system to track and evaluate performance should be defined.
• Plan client’s resources and schedule. Service provider must provide expertise and support, but the client needs to evaluate their own capabilities as well. Client's employees will need to dedicate time to various tasks, which, if not planned properly, can delay the project. Considering sub-contracting at an early stage can be beneficial later on.
• Establish marketing strategy. When it comes to website projects, planning marketing strategy has a key role. Understanding visitors, what they actually look for and how they consume content is critical. Synchronizing outbound and inbound marketing efforts will lead to a product loved by the users and with a higher ROI.
• Identify processes and automate them. Identify time-consuming operations for people who use the software. Plan how to make them more productive by automating tasks and simplifying processes.
• Agile planning and project management. Complex projects take time and energy to plan and execute. Along the way priorities will change, team will change and even project scope or goals may change. “Agile” ensures better use of budget and time by breaking the project into a number of smaller phases, each with a clear timeline and goal. At start, whole project is defined only on an abstract level while details are planned as the project progresses, one phase at a time.