PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGIES

There are several development methodologies for projects. We will discuss Waterfall, Agile, DevOps, and Cloud-
based. You definitely want to understand the way the project is structured and managed so you can function well as
a member or leader of the project.
Welcome to Project Management and Development Methodologies.
THE WATERFALL METHOD IS A HIGHLY TRADITIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHOD.
that arose from the needs of the construction and manufacturing industries. In the first phase, customer
requirements are gathered and a requirements document is generated. In subsequent phases, activities are listed in
sequence. In fact, the technique is so named because all of the elements in a project can be arranged one after the
other to resemble a waterfall of activities. The Waterfall method is very structured. It is a phased, step-by-step
approach.
 Each phase has entrance and exit criteria.
 One phase must be completed before the next can begin.
 Teams work on various aspects of the project during the design phase.
 During the integration phase, all the parts of the project come together.
There are two key weaknesses of the Waterfall method.
1. First, you may only see the final deliverable to the customer right at the end of the project, meaning value
realization happens only at the final sign-off.
2. Second, teams may also work separately, in sequential silos, and may not be aware of their impact on one
another or be able to interact fully to pass along experience. This can be frustrating, time-consuming, and
expensive. Once delivery is made to the customer, the implementation team must make it work.
If you work on a Waterfall project, be aware of all deadlines, be sure to make your deliverables, and communicate
with your team. Try not to let yourself be siloed. Above all, resist the temptation to just pass problem issues along to
the next phase without addressing them.
If you are leading the project, some of your key responsibilities are building a business case for the project, setting
up the schedule, setting up methods for tracking and reporting progress, determining priorities, budgeting,
monitoring costs and communicating with and supporting your team.
AGILE IS A PHILOSOPHY AS MUCH AS IT IS A METHOD.
It emphasizes individuals and interactions over processes and tools. The people on the project have a significant
role in driving the project, more so than using a particular process or tool. In an Agile environment, work is done
collaboratively on cross-functional teams and carried out in iterations, that is, design is followed by customer review,
and then followed by improvement on the design.
The designers collaborate with the customer to build a product that satisfies or exceeds customer expectations.
With Agile, the plan is the focus, but the key is to be flexible, or Agile, enough to respond to change. Instead of
working in siloed groups, cross-functional teams composed of members from different areas carry out the work.
Work is often done in sprints of approximately two weeks duration.
o Your team may meet every day for a short “stand-up” style meeting to check on progress and
report anything that is blocking you from completing your work.
o Your team may use a Kanban board to track the completion of work.
A Kanban board visually represents the tasks, or items, where they are in the process, and who is working on
them. Agile usually includes continuous improvement. This means continuously iterating, testing, and improving.
It also means that a customer will be able to realize some of the benefits of the overall project at phases along the
way, not just at the very end.
DEVOPS IS A FAST-GROWING METHOD FOR MANAGING PROJECTS.
It grew out of the need to combine the efforts of the development team (Dev) and the operations team (Ops) on
software development projects. Consider it an extension of Agile. In the past, the Dev team typically developed a
product and then passed it over to the Ops team to implement it.
DevOps represents a significant cultural change in which Dev and Ops no longer work in silos and, instead, work
collaboratively over the lifecycle of the project.
DevOps encourages testing, learning from failures, and continuous improvement. To work successfully on a
DevOps team, you will need to work collaboratively with your teammates, sharing ownership of the project
outcomes. You will need to embrace change and be open with information.
If you are leading a DevOps environment, your primary role may be to remove blockers for the team.
You will also need to work cooperatively across functions and communicate with trust and respect with other teams
as well as your team.
Once the product is developed, it is not simply handed off to the Ops team to implement. Because the teams are
cross-functional, the Ops team has been working alongside developers throughout the process. This style of work is
generally more satisfying and successful. It is a great feeling when the project comes together, the customer is
happy, and the Kanban board is completely cleared.
CLOUD METHODOLOGY
The adoption of cloud methodology brings about a big shift in the way we think and work. Think about a common
service such as Google Maps. Examined closely, it is composed of many small services such as mapping, written
directions, voice directions, places of interest, hotels, and restaurants. Imagine the amount of data involved and the
coding it takes to build and support Google Maps!
With Cloud-native design, these services constitute a collection of small databases or microservices. This allows
horizontal and vertical scaling of these microservices instead of building and maintaining one large set of code.
o Upgrades or fixes are applied to the microservice rather than the entire system.
o Testing and automation help prevent human error and allow for very quick fixes.
For a project manager, cloud-based computing offers several benefits. For example, it is very easy to connect
team members worldwide and enable them to share plans, updates, and documentation.
o It is also more secure as it enables team members to avoid storing files on laptops that can be left on trains,
or on local PCs that can become corrupted.

WE HAVE DISCUSSED FOUR DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGIES FOR PROJECTS :

Waterfall, Agile, DevOps, and Cloud-based.
 Waterfall focuses on structure.
 Agile focuses on flexibility.
 DevOps brings cross-functional cooperation.
 Cloud-based projects enable scalability.

YOU COULD BE WORKING ON ANY OF THESE AND WILL WANT TO BE FAMILIAR WITH EACH ONE.

BUILDING EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS AND COLLABORATION

A known African proverb says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Building relationships at work and collaborating with team members, other teams, customers, and partners are all
key to reaching our goals. An individual may be able to achieve a great deal, but teams acting together are
capable of much more.
Welcome to Building Effective Relationships and Collaboration.
 What will you learn about working together?
You will be able to: Build effective relationships and collaborate with teams, customers, and partners.
Describe business acumen, political sensitivity, and cultural awareness. Collaborative teams are the bedrock of
consulting, and managing relationships between team members is, therefore, one of the most vital skills you can
develop as a consultant.
Let’s look at ways to build strong teams and the behaviors necessary for it.
 First, the team should align on common goals and objectives. Building strong relationships helps achieve
those goals. Common goals help position individuals in parallel so they all head in the same
direction, reducing conflict and wasted effort.
It’s vitally important to maintain clarity of purpose and pursue the right goals and objectives, and for the team
members to be clear on their own goals and how they can contribute to delivering results.
One approach in goal setting is to set an audacious goal — one that everyone can understand, is inspiring, and
opens up possibilities for the company.
An audacious goal completes this thought, “It would be fantastic if ….” This kind of innovative and transformative
goal has a greater scope and impact.
For example, instead of setting a goal for a workgroup to save $100 a month on office utilities, you could set a goal
to have everyone work from home and eliminate office utilities. In September 2015, Under Armour set a goal to
open over 1,000 Under Armour-branded stores in over 40 countries.
 What if, upon examination, the goal is too big?
Then you can create smaller “local” goals that are more achievable but that always guide you toward your ultimate
objective.
As Lao Tzu, a Chinese philosopher, once said,
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Effective collaboration is, of course, about more than just setting goals. It is about forming relationships with your
fellow human beings. Building trust is critical to this process of connecting to other people. Trust is the bedrock of
any relationship. Most people think, “I’m an honest person!” and they believe this alone makes them trustworthy.
Don’t you think that?
Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. Trust goes well beyond honesty. Consider these six components of trust.
The first is competence.
 What is your skill level in the topic being addressed?
 How has your judgment fared in the past?
Second,
 are you reliable?
 Can I count on you to do what you say you will do?
 Do you have a track record of delivering what you promised?
Third
 are you consistent in your work habits and general behavior?
 Have you consistently displayed good judgment and decision-making based on the available information?
Fourth
 is whether you are a caring person.
 Can you build solid, workable connections with people?
Fifth
 are you authentic?
 Are you who you say you are?
Authenticity has to do with emotional maturity and is related to being realistic, thoughtful, and true to yourself.
 Can you maintain appropriate levels of emotional response to any given situation?
Finally, shared experience.
 Have we shared an experience,
 I have evidence of how you think and behave?
Shared experience, particularly pulling through adversity together, creates bonds of trust. Building and maintaining
trust are invaluable skills for creating good working relationships and positive team outcomes.
Developing awareness of your own behavior is the first step. Then ask yourself periodically,
o “Am I being competent, reliable, consistent, caring, and authentic with others?
o Am I developing shared experiences in which I demonstrate these elements of trust?”
Trust also helps build psychological safety for the team. Think of a time when you worked with someone who was
always easy to work with, who seemed to understand where you were coming from, had your best interests at
heart, and never escalated a conflict unnecessarily or caused you to feel diminished in any way.
Some people are skilled at creating psychological safety. They look for areas of agreement and solutions, step out
of a conversation that is escalating into conflict, reflect back on what others are feeling, and behave respectfully
toward everyone. They apologize and clarify when appropriate and seek to fix misunderstandings.
 Psychological safety allows the team to thrive, take risks, share information, communicate openly, and
work together for the good of the team and toward achieving their common goals.
Other skills contribute to building successful relationships.
We have discussed building trust and psychological safety, but it is also important for you to develop business
acumen, political sensitivity, and cultural awareness.
As a consultant, you will have to develop an understanding of two organizations — your own and your client’s.
Business acumen is knowledge of how a business works.
 This can include understanding the revenue model for the company (financial literacy),
 who is involved in the decision-making for any given process (stakeholder awareness),
 and knowledge of the procedures and processes (organizational knowledge).
You won’t come by it overnight, but you can add to your business acumen. How?
 Be curious and committed to learning.
 Research your company.
 Go outside your immediate role and environment and develop an understanding of the big picture.
 Try to look ahead.
 Develop self-awareness as well.
 Know your role and consider how you impact the organization.
political sensitivity
At the same time, develop your political sensitivity.
When you’re in a discussion about change, it’s normal to think about how it will affect you.
Remember that an organization is made up of people, each with their own goals, careers, skill sets, and networks
of relationships.
 Who will be affected?
 How might stakeholders be affected?
 Try to think of it the way the CEO might see it.
 Keep your antenna out for information, changes, and decisions that may affect the political landscape of
your organization.
Cultural awareness
Cultural awareness is about being sensitive to the differences and similarities between cultures. It is awareness of
the impact of culture. This might include age, national origin, race, sexual orientation, religion, disability,
gender, education, work role or experience, personality, customs, geographic location, language, learning
style, family situation, and many more facets of culture.
How do you build cultural awareness?
 Learn, listen, be curious, be open to different viewpoints, and be respectful of differences.
 Be quick to take in information, but slow to make judgments.

Building relationships takes more than adopting a passive role of getting along with others.
Building relationships means working toward common goals, building trust and psychological safety, and
developing business acumen, political sensitivity, and cultural awareness.

THANK YOU

APPLYING FUNCTIONAL AND DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE IN CONTEXT

“Knowledge is not power, it is only potential. Applying that knowledge is power. Understanding why
and when to apply that knowledge is wisdom!” Takeda Shingen

Are you a specialist or a generalist? You are likely, in some ways, a specialist and, in some ways, a generalist.
Building a truly intelligent enterprise calls for a broad range of skills, such as specialized functional skills, as well as
some general knowledge of a business environment or domain.
Welcome to Applying Functional and Domain Knowledge. We will explore what functional and domain skills are,
how they are applied, and ways you can develop them.
functional skills.
If you have functional skills, you have knowledge, qualifications, and/or experience in a relevant field that enables
you to perform a function.
 Human resources, finance, and accounting are examples of functional areas of business.
We can also identify functions by their purpose or aim.
 For example, functions can be employee experience management, financial control, or enterprise resource
planning.
Functional consultants understand business processes and functions. They also have a fundamental awareness of
the features and capabilities of various software at the application level. They understand the fit between the client’s
business processes, their problems, and the software.
 The role of functional consultants is ultimately to understand a business problem and how to use technology
to resolve that problem.
Supply chain management (SCM) is a good example of a valuable functional knowledge area. SCM is the design,
planning, manufacture, distribution, and operation of a sustainable supply network to produce a product.
The SCM model starts with the raw materials that go to the supplier and then to the manufacturer. Once the product
is made, it goes to a distributor and from there to retailers, where the consumer purchases it.
Take a moment to look around you.
You probably see several complex products, notably a computer and a cell phone.
Imagine the raw materials, supplies, and logistics involved in going from raw materials, globally sourced, through
manufacturing and distribution, and arriving at your door.
The functional skills of a supply chain manager play a crucial role in ensuring the production and logistics involved
with all these components.
 “When a workman knows the use of his tools, he can make a door as
well as a window.” George Eliot

domain skills
Domain skills have to do with knowledge about the environment of a particular industry. These industries include
aerospace, auto manufacturing, retail, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare.
 With domain skills, you understand the dynamics and business processes of an industry.
 All businesses have pain points, which are persistent or recurring problems.

LET’S COMPARE FUNCTIONAL AND DOMAIN SKILLS IN RELATION TO BUSINESS PAIN POINTS.
Functional skills can give you insight into a particular aspect of business pain points relevant to your area of
specialization or expertise.
Domain skills can deepen your understanding of business pain points common to your domain.
If you combine functional and domain skills, you can place your understanding of functions in the context of a
specific industry.
For example, if an auto manufacturer has a pain point with sourcing parts, functional SCM skills could be applied by
analyzing their supply logistics. Domain skills could be applied by adopting best practices for sourcing auto parts.
Let’s look at how functional and domain skills apply to three consultants with combinations of functional and domain
skills.
Karl has knowledge and skills in two main functional areas, finance and analytics. His domain knowledge is in two
main industries, auto manufacturing and aerospace. He can analyze financial data in the auto manufacturing and
aerospace industries.
Rashi has considerable knowledge of analytics and functional knowledge and skills in SCM. Her domain knowledge
encompasses several industries. She can analyze supply chain problems in retail, wholesale, and pharmaceuticals.
James has deep knowledge and skills in one functional area, finance. He has some knowledge of analytics. His
domain knowledge spans many industries. He can analyze financial data in almost any industry.
Each of them has a unique set of skills and knowledge. All three are able to place their understanding of functions
within the context of industry.
 How can you develop more of these skills?
o You can, of course, pursue a degree in a functional area.
o Or you could narrow your focus somewhat and learn about a highly valued area such as
supply chain management.
o Or you could gain domain knowledge by learning about a growing industry or one that interests you.
An immediate step would be to take courses on learning.sap.com and openSAP.
In summary:
Functional skills are specific to organizational functions and apps such as human resources, finance, accounting,
supply chain management (SCM), and enterprise resource planning (ERP).
Domain skills involve knowledge about the environment of a particular industry, such as aerospace, auto
manufacturing, or healthcare.

IF YOU COMBINE FUNCTIONAL AND DOMAIN SKILLS, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO PLACE YOUR
UNDERSTANDING OF FUNCTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF A SPECIFIC INDUSTRY.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

"We cannot become what we want by remaining what we are."

This quote by distinguished leader Max De Pree universally underpins the need for transformation.
Transformation is a journey that begins with a challenge or a new opportunity, leads us to rethink our "why,"
redefine our goals, and assess the best way to achieve these goals—the "how." Deciding to transform is a way of
seizing an element of control in an ever-changing world.
Take a moment to reflect on how this applies to your life. When was the last time you defined a need to transform,
the approach you took, the process that ensued, and finally, how the transformation served you?
Hello, and welcome to Digital Transformation.
In this video, you will examine the various facets of digital transformation and how technology transformation
enables business transformation.
Historically, the world has seen massive transformations.
In the first of the four Industrial Revolutions, steam power was the disruptive technology that changed the world. In
the second, it was the assembly line. In the third, it was the computer. Today, we are in the fourth Industrial
Revolution, and it is digital.
The modern business world is in the midst of unprecedented change. And the technologies that are helping to
reinvent that world are digital. Technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced analytics
are powering today's business solutions. Businesses need to transform themselves to thrive in the digital age.
Digital transformation is a key component of the overall business transformation strategy. The right technologies
— coupled with people, processes, and operations —allow organizations to quickly adapt to disruption and
opportunities, meet new and evolving customer needs, and drive future growth and innovation.
Now, let's look at the three facets of digital transformation: business model transformation, business process
transformation, and organizational and cultural transformation.
1. BUSINESS MODEL TRANSFORMATION
The first facet, business model transformation, questions how a business operates and delivers value in its specific
industry. The entertainment and auto industries moving from traditional buying models to subscription-based models
are examples of businesses transforming to deliver their customers’ changing notions of value.
2. BUSINESS PROCESS TRANSFORMATION
The second facet, business process transformation, involves changing and adapting the business's core processes
and workflows to meet changing business goals.
For example, businesses implementing cloud-based supply chain management systems have achieved greater
profitability by lowering downtime and streamlining their production.
3. ORGANIZATIONAL AND CULTURAL TRANSFORMATION
The third facet, the key to successful digital transformation, is organizational and cultural transformation. Buy-in from
all teams impacted by the change is vital.
A pessimistic approach to adopting new technologies can cause missed targets and the loss of competitiveness,
revenue, and brand value.
So, how can organizations approach digital transformation? They can use one of two key approaches: the
greenfield and brownfield approaches.
Organizations can build and implement a brand-new digital landscape from scratch following the greenfield
approach. On the other hand, the brownfield approach involves the transformation of already established models
and processes in the organization. Every step an organization takes toward digital transformation makes its
business more resilient, predictive, and competitive.
Modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems that run the best businesses are like the brain; the other
systems, technologies, and processes that drive a business model are the eyes, ears, and hands.
 When information is seen, heard, or sensed, the brain receives and processes that data seamlessly and tells
the body what to do next.
 Customers, employees, operations, and the business’s supply chain are all sending and receiving a
continuous and growing body of data.
Digital transformation begins with the software and intelligent technologies needed to manage and process that
deluge of data, understand it, learn from it, and act on it.
In this video, you learned that digital transformation is a key component of the overall transformation strategy of a
business. You explored the various facets of digital transformation, the greenfield and brownfield approaches, and
how technology transformation enables business transformation.

SAP IMPLEMENTATION LIFECYCLE OVERVIEW

Our lives truly manifest the essence of what Thoreau said about change:

"Things do not change; we change."

Hello, and welcome to SAP Implementation Lifecycle Overview. In this video, you will learn how to describe the
four-step process that businesses can follow on their digital transformation journey. You will also learn about
the six phases of SAP’s Activate methodology.
Digital transformation is not an event; it’s a journey. And like any transformation, it is a step-by-step
process. Let’s look at the four-step process that is crucial for businesses to embark on their digital transformation
journey.
 I. The journey starts with determining the starting point.
Businesses need to evaluate their starting point by questioning where they are, where their people are, what
knowledge and skills their people have, and what kind of facilities and systems they have in place.
II. Once the starting point is determined, it’s important to establish priorities.
Transformation cannot happen overnight, and it cannot be achieved all at once. So, while an organization defines
the goals, it also needs to define what it considers a successful endpoint and what is vital or nice to have.
After determining the starting point and establishing the priorities,
III. the next step is to get the teams ready.
Getting buy-in from impacted teams, helping them navigate the change, learning from them, and listening to their
feedback will determine the success of the digital transformation initiative.
IV. Then, finally, the organization is ready to build its digital transformation roadmap.
SAP Activate is a framework for implementation used to deliver and deploy SAP innovations and solutions. To
understand what makes SAP Activate a next-generation methodology, let's compare it with the traditional approach
to software implementation.
 The traditional method was the "Can I take your order, please?" approach.
It was requirement-driven, customized, solution-driven, time-consuming, and costly.
 Activate is the "Let us guide you" approach.
It is an agile methodology enabled for the cloud that leads with best practices. Tools, templates, and predefined
content accelerate this process.
It is an iterative approach that enhances the project's quality. The six phases of the Activate Methodology are
Discover, Prepare, Explore, Realize, Deploy, and Run. And these phases are important milestones in a
customer's digital transformation journey.
1) DISCOVER PHASE
In the Discover phase, customers realize they need a solution to address business problems such as unexpected
delays and downtime, inventory mismanagement, poor customer service, and redundant information. They begin
searching for the best SAP solution to meet their needs. They can even get a free trial solution in this phase.
2) PREPARE PHASE
The Prepare phase includes finalizing a high-level project plan, roles and responsibilities, the project team,
project governance procedure, and escalation matrix. At this stage, the project is ready to kick off!
3) EXPLORE PHASE
The most defining characteristic of the Explore phase is a collaboration between the customers and partners to
finalize the business process that will be followed in the new SAP system. In the backlog document, note and sign
off all the customer's requirements regarding
WRICEF objects (workflows, reports, integrations, conversions, enhancements, and forms).
4) REALIZE PHASE
In the Realize phase, the project team and end users build, test, and validate the business scenarios and
procedures. They perform multiple levels of testing to ensure that the SAP system is configured according to the
customer's requirements.
5) DEPLOY PHASE
The new SAP system is deployed for business users during the Deploy phase. The key users and consultants assist
the business users if they have questions or problems. This phase is that milestone when customers and partners
celebrate their success as business operations finally switch to the new system.
6) THE RUN PHASE
And the last phase, Run, involves continuous learning, improvement, and change management. In this phase, the
customer project team is expected to continuously learn about SAP's current innovations and
technologies, specifically those related to the product they have implemented.
We have discussed the four-step digital transformation journey and the SAP Activate Methodology, which is a
modular, agile implementation framework used to deliver and deploy SAP innovations and solutions. We have also
discussed the six phases of SAP’s Activate methodology
KEY SKILLS FOR CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT, DISCOVERY AND ANALYSIS

Danish mathematician Piet Hein said,

“Art is solving problems that cannot be formulated before they have been
solved. The shaping of the question is part of the answer.”

Have you ever tried to convince a group of people that there is a better, more efficient way of doing things?
Imagine you are the new owner of a sports team that has been losing for years. As the new owner, you need to find
out what has been lacking in the team process. Maybe the playbook is too complicated. Perhaps it’s too simple.
Maybe there is a lack of leadership. You must engage with all team members to discover where the problem lies.
After analyzing the gathered information, you can provide recommendations to create a winning team.
Convincing a customer that a new technology consultant can improve their business is like a new sports team owner
who wants to turn the team around. When engaging with a customer, you must ask yourself,
 “How do I prove that my method will help solve their business problems?”
 You need to discover what it will take to achieve that goal.
Welcome to Key Skills for Customer Engagement, Discovery, and Analysis!
In this video, you will learn how to engage a customer, gather information, and analyze the information to produce a
coherent recommendation to the customer.
SAP has established the enterprise resource planning (ERP) software global standard. You need to engage
effectively with the customer to share all that SAP offers. This requires specific skills to guide a client through the
SAP ecosystem. When engaging, try to develop interpersonal relationships. Show empathy, understanding, and
respect. You need to listen effectively and understand the customer to respond to them accurately and show that
you understand the issues.
Engaging with the client requires being an effective teacher. You need to speak at different levels of audience
seniority and technical knowledge. And you must present all options clearly and simply.
Before presenting the SAP lifecycle, do all you can to understand the organization's business environment and
processes. After learning about the business, determine what the client hopes to achieve. A questionnaire
completed by different users is one of the most common first steps in discovering this information.
You can then combine this with live workshops and interviews that use the questionnaire and other forms of
documentation.
Once you collate the information from the results, you can understand the client on three levels:
the overall client level, the process level, and the activity level.
Again, compare this to a new sports team owner meeting with the general manager, the coach, the assistant
coaches, and the players. The new owner needs to know everything about the team and its members to understand
how to win.
Once you’ve gathered the customer's information, you can perform a gap analysis.
Investopedia describes a gap analysis as a "process companies use to compare their current performance with
their desired, expected performance. This analysis determines whether a company is meeting expectations and
using its resources effectively."
A gap analysis for SAP involves workshops with several key stakeholders:
the project leader, business process experts, configuration experts, technical experts, and the SAP service
center.
 Another key skill you need is the ability to manage the information you've gathered.
You must manage multiple inputs and collate large volumes and forms of information, including quantitative and
qualitative notation. You can use Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) to graphically depict the steps in a
business process.
Combine what you determine from the gap analysis with all the other information you’ve gathered. After gathering,
managing, and analyzing the information, you can then provide coherent, well-defined recommendations.
 After making your recommendations, you need to get a commitment from the stakeholders that everyone
agrees. This ensures the goal is clear and accurately represented.
Something important to remember throughout this process: be sensitive to culture, politics, economics, and legal
issues. You certainly don’t want to inadvertently insult the customer by misunderstanding their outlying issues.
In this video, you learned the key skills needed for customer engagement, discovery, and analysis. These skills
include being an effective teacher and listener. You also need to be able to manage the information you discover
from the customer. And finally, you need to thoroughly analyze the information to provide effective
recommendations.
to the customer. With these skills, you can help the customer achieve their goals and create a winning team.
KEY SKILLS FOR DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION AND TESTING

Once you have completed a project's engagement,

discovery, and analysis phases,
you reach the design phase.
Now you have an overall impression of
the client's objectives and requirements.
During the design phase,
the team writes a proposal for the client.
When the proposal is presented to the client,
this is referred to as the pitch.
Let's stop for a moment and consider
the significance of this pivotal phase of the project.
This is the moment when the client
decides whether they are ready to place
their trust in your hands
to successfully complete the project.
Welcome to Key Skills for
Design, Implementation, and Testing.
What skills are needed to make
the proposal and pitch a success?
What skills will be needed to
implement the solution and test it?
We will discuss the skills needed to take
the project through design, implementation, and testing.
First, let's break down our thinking into
functional domain and technical skills.
Functional skills will guide
understanding customer processes and
elements such as required resources and timelines.
Domain skills are the base for
fully appreciating customer needs,
requirements specific to the industry,
and unique challenges.
Technical skills guide software selection, implementation,
and testing to ensure a successful solution.
A guide for the proposal and the pitch is
captured in this quote from Pythagoras,
a Greek philosopher and mathematician.
Do not say a little and many words,
but a great deal in a few.
He speaks to the need to make
every word count in writing or speech.
Here is a mental exercise
designed to help you arrive at what is most
important and help you produce a proposal and pitch that
is clear, disciplined, and client-focused.
Try synthesizing your solution in 1-2 sentences.
Use this adaptation from a guide
developed by ACP AppHaus.
Think of a project you've worked on.
Fill in the information in the blanks for who,
the, is,
that, unlike, our product.
Here is an example of what it
might look like once completed.
For a mid-sized companies marketing and
sales department that needs basic CRM functionality,
the CRM solution is
a service that provides sales tracking and
lead generation that improve
customer relationships at critical touch points.
Unlike other services or products,
the solution provides very capable services
at a moderate cost.
Once you have this basic seminal statement,
you can build the rest of the proposal around
it and it will provide the focus for the pitch.
Exercises like this one will
help you become skilled at crafting
an effective message and prevent
losing it in information overload.
The team obtains feedback from the client and adjusts
the proposals until the client is ready to approve it.
The client expects to get the technology solution they
need as well as a trusting
professional relationship with the team.
What skills are needed here?
Listening, of course,
staying focused on the client,
and having the flexibility to change
something you have worked hard to produce.
Once the team knows what they are
building and why they are building it,
they must find the right people with the right skills.
Locating the needed resources, factoring in availability,
and then identifying the cost of obtaining them
or the time to train them are all key skills.
The team develops a project plan
for developing and implementing the solution.
Prioritization and communication are key.
The project team must stay alert
for dependencies and bottlenecks.
The team also needs to be able to
communicate freely about any problems.
The project team build a solution through
the collaboration of
different internal and external personnel.
The mix of the team,
the software vendor, the partners,
and the client's internal project or
IT team provides the alchemy
for producing the best solutions.
Several types of tests are
conducted throughout the project.
Once the solution is built,
it must be tested for
performance and then implemented and tested
to see if it operates well once
integrated into the customer system.
Technical skills include writing
good tests and accurately analyzing the results.
Once the system is operating,
the client tests the system.
The system should perform and
provide a good experience for the client.
The client may ask for additional functionality.
Wouldn't it be amazing if we could also do this?
Diplomacy and handling these requests
is an invaluable skill.
The project isn't complete until the client's end users
are trained to use the system
and all the issues are fixed.
A team may also work closely
with the client and the end users to
provide ongoing support,
maintaining long-term relationships.
Let's summarize the key skills.
In the design phase,
key skills include functional,
domain, and technical expertise.
Making every word count in writing and speech,
developing a focused pitch,
listening, and maintaining a client focus.
In the implementation phase,
key skills include locating resources,
leadership, budgeting, prioritization and training.
In the testing phase,
key skills include writing tests, analyzing test results,
and using diplomacy to manage client requests.
Clear communication,
addressing client needs,
and building client trust span all project phases.