#140Friday talking point: How important is the human factor in IT System implementation?

18 Mar 2013

      #140friday <http://140friday.com> » How important is the human factor in
IT system implementation?
March 18, 2013
  How important is the human factor in IT system implementation?

In #140Friday over the past several days we have been discussing issues and
challenges that face the implementation of IT systems, with special focus
on “Public Service” IT systems. This attention has largely been triggered
by the failure of Kenya’s Independent Election and Boundaries Commission
(IEBC) Results Transmission System (RTS). Last week #140Friday had a
face-to-face meeting at the Nailab which brought together a diverse group
of professionals from various backgrounds to discuss the subject. As the
group talked about “what went wrong” and “what could have been done better”
with regards to various Public IT systems one key point that consistently
came up was the importance of the human factor.

[image: godfinger]<http://140friday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/godfinger.jpg>Most
IT system implementations apply project management techniques in order to
have a higher success rate, better performance management, efficient
management of time and resources and better communication amongst key
stakeholders. But research and experience have shown that tools, processes
and analytics only show about half of the picture, the most critical (and
least obvious) is what we can call the “human factor”. All projects consist
of people with needs, wants, desires, issues and time constraints. This
“human factor” must be addressed in order to ensure higher levels of
project success.

As more details emerge about the IEBC RTS project it becomes evident that
the human factor probably contribute to most, if not all of the problems
that led to the projects failure. There appear to have been a number of
blunders, both big as well as small which affected the entire process from
beginning to end. Ranging from personal pride (or should we call it
obstinacy?) amongst key members of IEBC top management, who turned away
advice and offers of assistance to address problems that became evident
weeks and months prior to the election.

The lack of electricity at tallying and polling stations and the failure to
take appropriate measures to ensure that electronics being used had stable
power supply points to poor planning and preparation. The locations where
tallying and polling stations would be located were known many months prior
to the elections. It would have been a simple task to allocate a team the
task of ensuring that there was reliable power in each and every room that
would be used for the election, unfortunately this issue was never
addressed or came to the fore too late for anything meaningful to be done
about it. This is a perfect example of an oversight that comes as a result
of the human factor.

It has been humorously stated that all project failures have 6 phases:

   1. Enthusiasm
   2. Disillusionment
   3. Panic
   4. Search for the guilty
   5. Punishment of the innocent
   6. Praise and honors for the non-participants

Interestingly enough, the IEBC RTS projects seems to be going through these
phases with the entire country acting as judge, jury and executioner. While
all the details are still not in the public domain, it is safe to say that
this particular project shall go down in the annals of Kenyan ICT history
as a classic example of how *NOT* to do things.

Some recommendations on how to address human factor challenges (from Kim
Resch “Using The Human Factor To Launch Products”)

*Management Buy-In*

   1. The larger the project the more management support is needed
   2. Get and keep management involved in the right projects at the right
   time – don’t wear out your welcome
   3. First thing, gain the clear understanding of the manager’s highest
   level goals and desires
   4. On a regular basis meet one-on-one with management to up-date and ask
   for support
   5. Meet with, face-to-face, each manager of each person assigned to the
   project – gain commitment
   6. When priorities shift re-commit with all levels of management
   7. Gain outward signs of approval & support from management

*Team Dynamics*

   1. Get to know each person on your team, including personal likes,
   interests, etc. & share about yourself too
   2. Get buy-in – sell hard when necessary
   3. Trust the people on your team and show them you trust them
   4. Give them a chance to shine and get recognition – ‘relinquishing
   power’
   5. Define their strengths & weaknesses
   6. Spend time explaining the importance of the project – to the bigger
   picture
   7. Write thank-you notes and take time to have a snack/lunch with the
   team
   8. Go out of your way to care and be personal
   9. Never let family or the individual come second
   10. And at the same time, push them through example and challenge them
   beyond what they think they can do

*Essential Communications*

   1. After leadership the second most important role you will play
   2. Watch for issues, build-up and possible explosions – only way to know
   is via talking, seeing and sharing
   3. E-mail is the scourge of proper and effective communications – great
   for documentation, horrible for getting the right out-come
   4. Communicate often with the key team members and (on larger or fast
   projects, do so every day), with the larger circle of members at minimum
   weekly
   5. Utilize all forms of communications
   6. Involve upper management in formal & relaxed moments
   7. Restate the mission, goals, business impact, etc.
   8. At start of program develop a scope document that includes the
   business value and the ‘why it is important’
   9. Handwrite thank-you notes along the way

*Convert Mountains into Molehills*

   1. Obstacle remover
   2. Work the team to bring expectations into alignment
   3. Shut down gossip and trash-talk
   4. Address problems head on – first to the immediate person then go up
   the chain
   5. Clarify, define and bring into prospective
   6. Feel the pain, but move beyond to the result – generate a positive
   outcome
   7. When a person is blocking the project’s success, after attempts to
   correct the behavior, have them removed – nothing and no one is untouchable
   8. Keep the mission visible and the end result alive
   9. Don’t let scope creep & ‘fix all the ills of the business’, change
   the project’s desired result

 *Keep spirits up*

   1. Utilize recognition & incentives
   2. Non-cash rewards are better
   3. Both team and individual rewards & recognition
   4. Reward for each milestone or important result
   5. Say thank you, in writing and in group settings
   6. Hold up performers
   7. Hold a kick-off meeting followed up with an activity
   8. Reward positive behaviors openly, handle poor behaviors privately and
   one-on-one (use as a learning experience)
   9. Get management to ‘stop by’ performing individuals’ cubes/offices or
   meetings to say ‘I heard and wanted to say…’
   10. Create performance legends & stories
   11. The positive spirit begins with you

*Velocity & Vision*

   1. Determine upfront how much or little the specific project requires –
   the tools, tracking and formal processes
   2. Create a vision the team can believe in, including how fast and why
   3. Create a sense of urgency and action (if it can be done now then do
   it)
   4. Important means speed – velocity only comes with a clear
   understanding of where you started and where you are going
   5. Make it real, make it tangible
   6. The pace of the leader sets the pace of the pack!

Brian Munyao Longwe

Edith Adera

Brian Munyao Longwe

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