Implementation Plan

As John Wooden put it, failing to plan, is planning to fail. The planning process is critical to ensure a successful implementation. It is a rigorous exercise and it is almost like planning another project. Considerations to be taken into account in addition to a normal project plan include:

• New resource requirements
• Technology enhancement or new technology required
• Procedural and skills training for the new process
• Process documentation
• Communication plan to support change management
• Response plan to prepare for reactions to possible problems
• Visual controls to monitor performance

Piloting

The best plan in the world cannot predict what will really happen when the team executes ithe solutions. Unexpected glitches and unintended opportunities emerge as real people try to do things really differently. For implementation where failures have severe consequences, iit is good practices to prepare a pilot. The most sophisticated pilots can be used as ‘experiments’ to compare different approaches and identify the best combination of factors for effective, efficient performance. Broad choices for pilot strategies - which also influence how you eventually implement the process permanently include:

• Limited Time – Try the new solution for a few cycles only
• Stratify Customer Groups – Pilot with one set of customers
• Limited Scope – Just one representative location
• Limited Resources – Plan on using limited resources
• Process Real Work – Not a simulation

The purpose of a pilot is to learn what works, what doesn’t, and what changes or modifications could help improve the effectiveness of the solution. Be sure to capture these llessons by documenting the data you collect and lessons learned.