I’ve written, read, approved (and rejected) many business cases in my time. Jeff Bezos we once quoted as saying “any business plan won't survive its first encounter with reality”. And so it is with business cases – particularly those associated with technology or software investments.
Which is not at all surprising. Business cases are written at a point in time based on a set of assumptions, with some known facts and many unknowns. But nothing stands still and, by the time a project is delivered, time has moved on. The basis for assumptions will be different, market conditions will have changed and there will always be something unexpected that comes in from left field.
I’ve also observed that the human dimension is often lacking when it comes to Business Case assumptions. In the worst of cases, the human dimension is often ignored entirely. And yet, it is the human dimension that can make them difference between success and failure in any change programme - especially those regarding new technology.
What is the Human Dimension?
In simple terms, when I refer to the human dimension, I am simply reflecting the fact that, until that point in the future where AI and robotics do finally take over, systems are still built, used and adopted by people. People are therefore a critical success factor.
For example, one of the assumptions that is often incorrect (or not considered at at all) is the time it will take for a new system to be understood and fully adopted by internal teams. This is especially relevant to internal core systems – such as policy administration systems in the financial services sector. Shortening the lag between project delivery and full system adoption by your team, will shorten the inevitable gap between project delivery and benefit realisation. For example, if training on a new system is measured in days rather than weeks or months, then that has a meaningful impact on the business case. If that training is significantly shorter than what is required for new staff on your existing system, then that too is important.
Another important human factor often ignored is the power of advocacy. In very simple terms, if your people don’t like the new system or aren’t supporters of it then that will have an impact on benefit realisation. We need our people to be advocates from day one, so they will quickly adopt the new system, be active promotors internally, and thus help accelerate the realisation of benefits.
Incorporating the Human Dimension
Based on my experience, there are several factors that can help to ensure that the human dimension is brought into technology change projects:
Ensure Business Processes are understood first: Investing time at the front end of any project to understand existing processes and, where necessary, modifying those before any new system is built or software purchased, is always time well spent. The best system in the world will fail to realise its stated returns, and create internal dissenters, if it does not align with the reality of existing business processes. Involving those at the coal-face in this business process definition is critical.Bringing the team on the journey: It is a natural human reaction to fear change, however positive that change promises to be. Even those who express a dislike for their current legacy system will have a fear of change and the uncertainty that comes with change. It is also true that, in general, people don’t like having things done to them. The answer is to involve your people in the change from day one – and in particular involve those at the front line who are core users of the technology. Not only will this ensure that the system reflects the reality of what actually happens (not what those at the management level think happens), it will also create internal advocates and champions who have a personal stake in the success of the project.
Focusing on user experience: For any internal system (just as for any external customer facing system), ensuring the product has a focus on the user experience is critical. There are three reasons for this: (1) if the product is easy and intuitive to use then it will dramatically reduce internal training times (for new and existing staff), which decreases the lag between system launch and benefit realisation; (2) it increases the opportunities for achieving the efficiencies that most business cases promise – especially around processing time and error reduction; (3) it will create internal advocates and champions which is important for widespread system adoption.
These three factors are all core to the design philosophy behind OptiX and the approach that Optimation takes to the delivery of a systems implementation.
It is also factors like these which helps to ensure that the Human Dimension is considered when it comes to constructing technology business cases.