‘whose system is it, anyway?’ partnering with faculty in administrative system projects lea...
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‘‘Whose System is it, Anyway?’Whose System is it, Anyway?’Partnering with Faculty in Partnering with Faculty in
Administrative System ProjectsAdministrative System Projects
Lea Pennock and Rick BuntUniversity of Saskatchewan
CBUC 2005, Saskatoon – slide 2
‘Whose System is it, Anyway?’Partnering with Faculty in Administrative System Projects,EDUCAUSE Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 2, 2005, pp. 24-31.
CBUC 2005, Saskatoon – slide 3
Who We AreDr. Lea Pennock
• University Secretary• formerly Director, Student Information project• 15 years in the Office of the Registrar (experience at three universities)• sometime lecturer in English
Dr. Rick Bunt• Associate VP, Info & Comm Technology• Sponsor, Student Information project• 30 years as a Professor of Comp Science• formerly Dept Head, Associate Dean, ...
CBUC 2005, Saskatoon – slide 4
What We’re Doing Like everybody, we’re renewing our
administrative support systems. Identified as a strategic priority in our Institutional
Plan. “We are … committed to the renewal of our core administrative
support systems ... and to the delivery of integrated, role-based, on-line services to our customers, both within and outside the University. These new systems will provide exciting new functions and services, and the powerful workflow and integration tools that come with these products will enable the interoperability we require and help us achieve the cross-functional services that our users demand.”
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What This Talk is About It’s not about implementation of ERP
systems, from either the technical side or the project
management side It’s about the cultural dimensions of
administrative system implementation how the university community is predisposed
to view such projects how to cultivate the community readiness and
buy-in we need to be successful
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Our Thesis Universities are unique places of business
The collegial system The “faculty factor”
A university environment defies some of the expectations and assumptions upon which classical project management is founded A university project requires some different
approaches
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Outline Climate and soil conditions Preparing the ground Sowing the seeds Tending the crop Weeds and other pests Harvest Thanksgiving
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Climate and Soil Conditions
The climate and soil conditions at a university are far from ideal for the implementation of a large administrative system Universities are not particularly
supportive of new and innovative IT initiatives [ECAR, “IT Leadership in Higher Education: The Condition of the Community”, January 2004]
Faculty resist such expenditures
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Climate and Soil Conditions The climate can be especially cool for
initiatives seen to come from “the administration”
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Preparing the Ground Year-long Needs and Options phase Enormously worthwhile investment of time and money
helped us to identify the various stakeholders of the system
got us campus buy-in, but also buy-in from the Senior Administration and the Board of Governors (2 presentations)
gave us a chance to sell the idea that this was a university-wide project, and
Gave our fledgling project team a chance to establish credibility and confidence
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Preparing the Ground Site visits are very helpful during this
phase To learn about both products and projects To make contacts
Consultants and vendors can also help, but use them wisely They know about implementing software but
we know about what’s important to our community — especially the importance of consultation and process in a university setting
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Preparing the Ground:Project Governance Create a governance structure that
reflects your institutional values — collegiality, representation, accountability, ... Ensure you have academic representation
(faculty, students, deans). Start at the top: we made our Provost/VP
Academic our Executive Sponsor. Don’t duplicate decision-making structures and
bodies that already exist co-opt them.
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Preparing the Ground: It’s Not Just About Software A project like this presents opportunities
for re-thinking the way you do things for re-evaluating your institutional decision-making
processes for re-configuring your governance structures for identifying (and sometimes altering) the formal
and the “real” authority for your policies and processes
for discovering things about your institution that nobody remembers the history of, or the reasons for
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Sowing the Seeds
Product Selection phase Continued focus on project as much as on
product Developing an RFP is an exercise in refining
and thinking through your institution’s needs Site visits were (again) extremely valuable Invited broad campus participation and
comment on vendor visits/demos
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Sowing the Seeds:Some Early Lessons
The importance of faculty and student support
The importance of external advice The importance of being up-front about
what the project will cost and what the returns will be on that investment
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Sowing the Seeds:Communication Strategy Many messages need to be communicated
to get community acceptance of the project Develop a communication strategy:
Vision and goal for the project System will support the academic mission of the
university —teaching, learning and research. Can’t assume that the “goals of the institution”
are monolithic Different audiences have different goals and priorities.
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Sowing the Seeds:Communication Strategy More elements:
Need to build community trust in the project leaders and the project team.
Get the faces of project people “out there”. Build positive image of team in the community:
capable, enthusiastic, positive, committed to institutional goals and attuned to institutional values.
Put the project on the big stage — a university project.
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Sowing the Seeds:Communication Strategy Different audiences need/want different things:
Students: Comfortable with technology: want anytime,
anywhere access to services, and want it now Don’t want (or need) to know which office has
responsibility for what Faculty:
Comfort with technology varies substantially Like to do things for themselves but resist being
trained Don’t want to be taken by surprise
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Sowing the Seeds:Communication Strategy
Deans, Dept Heads, Committees of Council/Senate: Concerned about who has authority for what Concerned about “downloading” work, but sensitive to
institutional efficiencies Administrative Staff:
High level of technical sophistication Need to know which office/person has responsibility for
what Things like system speed and number of keystrokes are
very important
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Tending the Crop Implementation and Change Management
Avoid temptation to “hole up” during implementation
Continue to grow, nurture, and coax your community of support
not a task for the Project Manager, who is fully consumed with in-project responsibilities
Need an effective Project Ambassador/Evangelist who continues to communicate
Look for “quick wins”
CBUC 2005, Saskatoon – slide 23
Weeds and Other Pests: Myths, Misconceptions, Rumours
The system as tyrant: “the system is going to drive our academic policies”
Replace this perception with the proposition that we should make best use of the tool that we’ve invested in.
Emphasize project over product: project is providing an opportunity for change.
CBUC 2005, Saskatoon – slide 24
Weeds and Other PestsThe system as agent of corporate
control: “your system is turning our university into a corporation…we’re turning our control over to central administration” Quite the opposite: distributed web-based
systems empower users by giving them more control of their own data and processes
Distributing control can re-vitalize the collegium
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Weeds and Other PestsThe system as black hole:
“These funds could be much better spent on other things (hiring faculty, journal subscriptions for the library, lab or classroom renovations, …)”
Let faculty know that you understand and share their anxieties, that you are not uncritical. Be sensitive.
Talk about jointly-held goals/values rather than cost Find better analogies for costs
new buildings, utilities, … Inspire confidence, demonstrate the value of this
investment through the deliverables. Convince them it’s good for them!
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HarvestHarvest incrementally
Deliver in “tiny bubbles” rather than “big bang”
Look for quick wins Under-promise, over-deliver soft roll-outs
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Thanksgiving Celebrate, and think big
when you celebrate!
Invite the President, the Provost, your vendor’s CEO, everybody involved in the project, ...
This is an opportunity not only to thank the team and celebrate their success but also to let the university know that something significant has happened.
Sometimes the best way to tell the Provost or President that your team has done a good job is to get them to say so in a speech to the team!
Don’t wait until the very end to celebrate.
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Celebrate CreativelyYou worked long days and nights without solaceOn a product by no account flawless. Such a fabulous team You’re the cream-de-la-cream!Without you, U of S would be PAW-less.
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Revisiting Dictates of Classic Project Management:Adjustments for the Academy Dictate: Get buy-in from the top.
Be aware of the non-hierarchical structure of university decision-making.
Every bit as important to get buy-in from the bottom.
Dictate: Scope creep is bad. Don’t sacrifice opportunity in the name of scope. The academic community is accustomed to seizing
opportunities and needs to be assured that you will be equally flexible should circumstances arise.
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Dictate: Customization is bad. Yes, customizing a vendor system is expensive,
but not customizing can be costly too. If the system is perceived as an impediment, what you gain in going vanilla will quickly be lost in support and buy-in of users.
McGill’s approach: “vanilla with sprinkles”
Revisiting Dictates of Classic Project Management:Adjustments for the Academy
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Revisiting Dictates of Classic Project Management:Adjustments for the Academy Dictate: Project charters contain fixed
truths and can be returned to as an enduring reference. For faculty, the process of arriving at a
document often has more weight/value than the document itself.
An academic’s business is continually to examine, re-think the canon, and treat all texts as works in progress.
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Summary:Lessons We’ve Learned Cultivation is time and money well spent. Representativeness has its place. You know you’ve made a convert when you hear
your words coming out of someone else’s mouth. Be conscious of the academic rhythms of your
institution. Use existing structures and decision-making bodies
wherever possible. Learn from others — other projects, other
universities, user communities, ... Look for quick wins.
CBUC 2005, Saskatoon – slide 33
Lessons We’ve Learned Not all institutions are the same; be sensitive to
the formal and informal decision-making processes of your own institution, its tolerance for centralized coordination, standardization, consistency, and its mood. Can be a challenge for a vendor, consultant or
implementation partner Not all projects are the same either; you need to
be flexible about tailoring your approach to the project.
And not all phases of a project are the same; different approaches serve different phases.
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The Proof of the Pudding
We’ve had very positive response: from our students and faculty from Senior Administration (President, Provost, …) from our Board of Governors
Almost no pushback on cost Project has been a catalyst for change to
practices, processes and policy
U of S Students Applaud New Information SystemSaskatoon Star Phoenix, July 14, 2005
CBUC 2005, Saskatoon – slide 35
Questions?
[email protected] [email protected]
http://www.cs.usask.ca/faculty/bunt/presentations/partners.ppt