This week's "Friday Big So What" episode focuses on Practice, along with a discussion of following points:

• What makes a good Practice?
• What a Practice is?
• Five areas of Practice.

This week's "Friday Big So What" episode focuses on Agility, along with a discussion of the six key factors for managing agile projects for optimal results.

This week's "Friday Big So What" episode focuses on Predictability, with a quick look at why it's important, how it can put people at ease, and a review of what's entailed with creating it.

One of the critical success factors of any SAP project is having clear definition around the roles and responsibilities for each project participant and key stakeholder. Regardless of how thorough and detailed a project plan may be, misunderstanding of team member roles and responsibilities is bound to cause significant issues.

A basic and effective practical approach to remedy this common problem is to define and document project roles and responsibilities via a RACI model. Integrating the RACI model into your projects deployment approach creates a powerful combination that boosts and expands project results. Further, incorporating a RACI model in your SAP services Statements of Work (SoW) can help support compliance with implementation partner contractual boundaries.     

In my previous blog I suggested that there are three things that we must do if we are to succeed at anything.:  Focused preparation that is aligned to our corporate vision, excellence in execution and thoughtful follow through.  The crucial first steps are to create a clear vision of success and then setting goals to achieve that vision.  Embarking on any project be it a presentation or an IT project such as Revenue Accounting without a vision and roadmap/goals is insanity.  It is akin to getting in a car and driving with no destination in mind, no map, and no idea of when you plan to get there.  Then add a mud-covered windscreen and you have a recipe for disaster.

Bill was right.  When I joined SAP, then head of the US Sales Bill McDermott used to tell us preparation begets the event.  He was right.  The more we prepare the better ready we are to execute.  

Whether it is a foul shot, a three pointer to win the game, or a penalty shot shoot out at the end of World Cup or putting to win, or lose, the US Open… preparation is crucial. 

But in the world of sales and consulting, I would argue preparation is not enough.   Winning is about three things:  Preparation, Execution and Follow-Through.