Rationally, you know that the results of your scheduled IT project will be of immense value to the organization. In fact, it has the whole-hearted approval of management -- it can't fail! Unfortunately, all too often these three little words are the epitaph of a worthy IT improvement project. Consider your next IT project to be planned organizational change and make these ten key points a part of your success equation.

Check the 'people effect'
The most important thing about any IT project is that it typically changes something about the way people work, as well as the technology they use to do that work. This means that you must insure the people who will be affected by your project know about it, buy into it, and are educated in the use of any new technology that will be involved. For example, your project may change a key manager's political status by altering the way information is handled. Or, your planned upgrade may be incompatible with long-established work practices or organizational norms. The list of opportunities to build resistance or to outright fail is always long when you do not consider the people who might be affected by your project, and management's blessing may not always be enough to insure a project's success.

Establish credibility
The success of any IT project is boosted by the credibility of its leaders. Credibility comes from many sources such as institutional position, technical credentials, previous successful efforts, being a trusted member of the established political network, etc. Often, an important criterion for selecting an IT change project leader is her or his perceived organizational credibility. Thus, it is wise to begin polishing your personal credibility early, as one ready to lead IT organizational change and improvement projects. Note that as a boost to your personal standing, gaining the support of a highly credible, often senior organizational champion can also give your project efforts a solid boost among those who will be affected.

Have a clear written plan
Make a detailed diagram for success. List the who, what, when, where, how and why for your projects, as well as how much it will cost. Also, ensure the plan details the inter-operability of your project with other systems and processes. Importantly, make sure it notes back-up considerations when a plan element is initially implemented. Be specific and realistic with the details. This plan must not only cover the technical implementation aspects, but also the people issues noted above. As part of your plan, it is often useful to identify "drivers and resisters," plus what to do with each. Drivers can be anything or anybody you believe is likely to support the plan's success. Resisters are the opposite. Your plan then needs to note how drivers are to be encouraged and resisters neutralized. This plan becomes your roadmap for change, which could be shared with your boss for the necessary approvals and also be used, as a briefing tool with others important to the process.

Create a 'felt need'
The psychological bread and butter of your plan are to convince those who will be affected that change is necessary. Be sure to figure into your plan how you expect to create positive feelings for the proposed change and why it is essential to individual and organizational welfare. Create a perceived need for change by offering a rational explanation, extended education in the new methods or technology, and also through simple involvement in the overall process. At a bare minimum, you must consider what you can to do to negate any apathy from those who are being affected by change or they may work to derail it. Furthermore, simply getting a boss to order compliance may just drive any existing resistance underground.

Help build a change culture
In modern organizations, persistent change and improvement may be the only true recipe for competitive or other success. IT professionals especially see the need for continuing system improvement. Yet many of your customers may be rooted in current methods and not be willing to roll with your improvement project right away so try to get a sense of the existing culture within any group where you plan to introduce an IT project. As noted above, you may need to appeal to the unit's senior leadership to encourage them to personally champion the need for this important change. In addition, culture change is often a long-term process, which you may be able to only modestly affect. If the culture barrier seems too great, you and your boss may have to discuss whether project timing is right. Know that many a worthy project has expended a good deal of budget only to ultimately fail at the culture barrier!

Explain what won't change
All too often, explanations of what won't change in an IT project are overlooked. It is common for most of us to value stability in our lives and this certainly carries over into the workplace. By defining what won't change when implementing a project, you provide partial support for those who are inclined to value stability.

Train for success
In addition to helping your customers come to value (or at least not resist) the changes your project will bring, you must train for success! Adequate training must be in your plan budget. Unsure or unable users will cause a project to crash faster than most other glitches. Simply put, adequate training is the critical step, which determines the success of the changes your project will bring to the organization. In this light, try to make your training complete and, whenever possible, at least a bit interesting and entertaining to the customer. Even highly technical issues and procedures benefit from positive, skillful presentation.

Stick to the plan
Try to stick to your plan. Deviation can bust budgets, deadlines and trust in your project management abilities. When unanticipated or unavoidable delays crop up, make sure your boss and your customers immediately know the details, any impact, and what you are doing to get back on track. One vital element of project management is that relevant others must sense you feel accountable for the timely progress and success of the plan.

Monitor and critique progress through completion
Ensure proper change project metrics are defined up front. If the project does not have natural metrics, work with relevant others to determine suitable objective progress measures. Among other things, proper monitoring can indicate lack of progress, user non-compliance and perhaps systemic barriers not previously identified. Another important change activity is periodic and post-project critique. Periodic critique expands on metrics analysis whereby project members and customers review not only progress, but how well the process is proceeding (for example, is communication, problem solving and collaboration satisfactory?). Post-project critique reviews the entire project stream to seek lessons learned for the future. To facilitate your monitoring and critiques, it is important to make notes or keep a log as change progresses. Memory is typically insufficient for keeping track of complex developments.

Manage by walking around
Simply said, too often ignored! Manage your change activities by walking around, personally communicating, and otherwise staying in touch with relevant others and work progression. E - mail and distance conferencing of change management are limited substitutes. Thus, if you are managing a remote IT change project, it is important to periodically get up front and personal.

Make sure you seriously consider each of these 10 keys to successful planned organizational change, particularly if this is your first IT project! And remember, you will not only be changing IT technical systems or processes, you will also be changing the minds of people who may not be, as eager, as you to embrace what you are promoting -- even if it's mandated from on high!