Utility Technology Project Success Series - How to Avoid Common Pitfalls that Put Projects at Risk
The Right Tool for the Job
“We’ve used this platform before — it should be easy.”
We’ve seen it again and again. A new business process, compliance requirement, or opportunity arises and our team members do what they’ve been trained to do, use the tools already in place to meet the new requirements. In a lot of cases this is a great thing. But when the change has financial implications, impacts multiple departments, large numbers of customers, or even the company’s brand, team members working in good faith within the scope of their role can really miss the big picture, and utility projects get derailed.
The tools utilities know best are often the ones that introduce unexpected complexity when they’re applied to a business problem too quickly.
Here’s where that tends to happen:
We’ve seen it again and again. A new business process, compliance requirement, or opportunity arises and our team members do what they’ve been trained to do, use the tools already in place to meet the new requirements. In a lot of cases this is a great thing. But when the change has financial implications, impacts multiple departments, large numbers of customers, or even the company’s brand, team members working in good faith within the scope of their role can really miss the big picture, and utility projects get derailed.
The tools utilities know best are often the ones that introduce unexpected complexity when they’re applied to a business problem too quickly.
Here’s where that tends to happen:
1. The Tool is Known, but the Use Case Isn’t
- A platform might be well-established, but that doesn’t mean it’s ready for a new operational workflow or compliance requirement.
- The challenge is figuring out what to keep, what to adapt, and what needs a closer look. Defining the use case can help. A good use case answers the questions:
- What specific business problem or objective are we trying to address?
- Who benefits?
- What is the outcome desired from this process or workflow? How do we know when it is successful?
- Are we aiming for efficiency, scalability, compliance, user satisfaction, cost reduction, etc.?
- What systems and humans will be involved in the process?
- What regulatory requirements are applicable?
With a defined use case in place, you’ll be in a better position to assess whether your existing tools can satisfy your users’ needs, or if it would be best to augment or even replace them.
2. Teams Assume Alignment Between Team Members that Doesn’t Exist
When people believe “we’ve done this before,” they often skip foundational conversations—about solution ownership, exception handling, or what success really looks like. Taking the time to clearly define these foundational topics will help to head off issues prior to execution.
Sometimes we feel like our teams are pulling in the same direction, but in actuality different teams have their own objectives and goals. A team may be looking to add more value to the organization because they’re afraid of being made obsolete by technology changes. Another might be trying to avoid work because of their already huge backlog of requests and mountains of technical debt. Others still might be very enthusiastic but not used to collaborating cross-functionally.
It can take a very short amount of time to clearly state the goal and constraints of the effort, seek feedback and input from the right experts, and clearly articulate back to project participants and stakeholders how and why key decisions were made. Getting assumptions to become facts that can be easily shared will eliminate hours of needless emails, meetings, and project manager time. Better yet, the smart people on the team who clearly understand the goals can add their experience and perspective, addressing issues before they arise and setting the organization up well for ongoing support once the project is over.
Sometimes we feel like our teams are pulling in the same direction, but in actuality different teams have their own objectives and goals. A team may be looking to add more value to the organization because they’re afraid of being made obsolete by technology changes. Another might be trying to avoid work because of their already huge backlog of requests and mountains of technical debt. Others still might be very enthusiastic but not used to collaborating cross-functionally.
It can take a very short amount of time to clearly state the goal and constraints of the effort, seek feedback and input from the right experts, and clearly articulate back to project participants and stakeholders how and why key decisions were made. Getting assumptions to become facts that can be easily shared will eliminate hours of needless emails, meetings, and project manager time. Better yet, the smart people on the team who clearly understand the goals can add their experience and perspective, addressing issues before they arise and setting the organization up well for ongoing support once the project is over.
3. Integration is Treated as Routine
Existing systems usually have established data paths. But adding new workflows or outputs can break old assumptions about how data is defined, where the source of truth is, and even how and where data is stored.
Sage brings a systems-level perspective that keeps new logic from creating unintended impacts. Often this means leveraging our experience to avoid problems before they show up. With a mix of business and technical know-how we can help you make sure that the right data is available for the right decision or outcome, without replicating it in a way that leads to duplication, disagreements, or misuse of information taken out of context.
Sage brings a systems-level perspective that keeps new logic from creating unintended impacts. Often this means leveraging our experience to avoid problems before they show up. With a mix of business and technical know-how we can help you make sure that the right data is available for the right decision or outcome, without replicating it in a way that leads to duplication, disagreements, or misuse of information taken out of context.
4. Institutional Knowledge Isn’t Always Accurate
The team from the last implementation may not be the team today. Information might live in memory or outdated documents. The loudest voices on the team might not be those with the most to add to the conversation, or the right people might not be asked the right questions at the right time.
Using stakeholder interviews, discovery sessions, and reviewing prior project experience, missing knowledge can be captured and leveraged in an efficient way, without bogging down the overall timeline. Reflecting the insights gained in the work being done will increase the credibility of the project team, its sponsors, and the business. With increased confidence and legitimacy, the employees who will need to adopt and own the result will have an easier time implementing the change and driving success.
Using stakeholder interviews, discovery sessions, and reviewing prior project experience, missing knowledge can be captured and leveraged in an efficient way, without bogging down the overall timeline. Reflecting the insights gained in the work being done will increase the credibility of the project team, its sponsors, and the business. With increased confidence and legitimacy, the employees who will need to adopt and own the result will have an easier time implementing the change and driving success.
Familiar tools are often the right tools. But they still deserve a second look, especially on complex projects. Taking the time to understand how new uses impact existing systems and the paradigms they are designed around will help you know when to reuse, augment, or strategically replace your technology platform. Most importantly implementing the project will be easier and faster, adoption will be smooth and effective, and ongoing operations will be integrated quickly, allowing your organization to move on to its next challenge.
We’re not here to over-engineer. We’re here to help teams see the full picture before they commit. Want to get scoped right the first time? Let’s talk.
Questions to ask to ensure you're selecting the right tool for the job.