How to Identify and Manage Internal Systems Sponsors: A Practical Guide
Internal company systems are a key tool for efficient work of employees and stable development of business. But managing these systems is difficult, especially when it comes to making strategic decisions and coordinating with many sponsors and stakeholders. My name is Alexander, I am the head of the internal projects group at Kokoc Group and today I will tell you about the main challenges and solutions based on our experience in project management.
In Kokoc Group, as in many other companies, the problem arose that tasks were set by anyone and everyone, while no one wanted to bear responsibility for making decisions or informing the business. The question arose: who is the stakeholder (the decision owner – the person making decisions) and the budget holder (the person who allocates money for the project). Who can really set tasks and who should bear responsibility for what part of them?
There is always one more stakeholder than you know, and those you know have at least one more need than you currently know.
Tom Gilb
Kokoc Group is unique in its structure. We use standard market systems for everyday tasks, but we customize them as much as possible to our needs, and sometimes even too much. Here is what we currently have in our arsenal of internal projects:
1C
It is necessary for financial management and accounting in the company. It is a multi-level system with documentary approvals and integrations with external and internal systems. It allows you to control financial flows and make operational decisions.
Bitrix24
It is used not only as a CRM, but also as a multi-level system of modules:
Informational portal: for surveys, news and important information.
Internal services: to register absences, vacations, coordinate documents and familiarize yourself with regulations.
Document entry and approval system: for legally significant documents.
Knowledge Management System: for training employees and planning their development.
Problem book: to control the execution of tasks.
CRM module: for managing clients with additional add-ons.
WHALE
This is a customized ERP system that has been developing for 13 years, which includes an archival CRM (we do not use it now), a task manager and a database for storing client projects. The system is very functional, but due to its bulkiness and regulation, it sometimes complicates the operational work of employees working with clients.
Despite the connection of all these systems (processes can be in one or all three tools), their integration turned out to be a difficult task. It was necessary to make them convenient for business, while taking into account legislative requirements and aligning the interests of business, the administrative vertical and IT. The main problem was finding a balance between the simplicity of processes and compliance with all necessary restrictions, as well as determining who initiates these changes, who will be responsible and generally participate in the implementation of the task. Anything can be done, the only question is in resources, benefits and process drivers.
When I joined Kokoc Group, I quickly realized one important thing: you can know everything about agile methodologies, but living them is a completely different matter. We all know about the benefits of Agile in managing product development and project management, but in reality, things do not always correspond to the guidelines.
It would seem that nothing could be simpler: introduce sprints, form a backlog and work calmly. But the problem was revealed already at the stage of forming the first backlog. It turned out that we were all initiators of tasks and wanted changes, but no one wanted to take responsibility for the product as a whole. Here came the understanding of the need to identify product sponsors and stakeholders. We took the first step in this direction using the Bitrix24 product and implemented two methods for forming a product backlog: MoSCoW and RACI.
Identifying product sponsors has proven to be a key aspect for making internal systems management decisions.
Identifying Product Sponsors
Sponsors help set priorities and allocate resources effectively. This allows you to focus on what really matters and direct resources where they are most needed. They also take responsibility for making decisions. Without this, the system would become chaotic and inefficient, since everyone wanted to set tasks, but no one wanted to be responsible for them.
Each company may have its own products and sponsors, but it is important to determine who is most interested in developing the product and apply the influence matrix. So, to begin with, we “assigned” products to our departments.
1C: Finance department, and sponsor – CFO.
Bitrix24:
CRM is a business vertical and the head of the vertical.
Service processes are a synergy between the heads of administrative and business verticals.
WHALE: Allocating this system to a specific department or vertical proved to be a challenge. We assessed the level of system usage and its impact on business functions. Ultimately, we decided to have the system managed by the administrative department, but took steps to simplify the system and move some functions to the business department.
Key Issues in Managing Internal Systems
Managing internal systems is often accompanied by a number of problems, especially conflicts of interest between different parties. For example:
Differences in priorities for completing tasks from the backlog
Different understandings of the business value of new functionality between the finance department and the business
It is important for a business to generate profit and make the process of working with clients fast and efficient. For the finance and legal department, the priority is to comply with all formalities when drawing up and coordinating documents, correctly setting analytical metrics of income and expenses, and correct accounting.
A problem of two mutually exclusive requirements arises: the business wants to minimize data entry for fast customer service, while the finance department requires the most detailed data entry for analytics and counterparty verification.
An example of one of the conflicts and its solution
The conflict of interest was especially evident in our case when drafting and coordinating contracts. Businesses prefer to enter only basic data (for example, taxpayer identification number and terms of cooperation), using automatic information pulling for convenience. The financial department requires detailed data entry for analytical purposes in 1C, including expense items and information about counterparties. IT managers and systems development teams care about data reliability, structure, and the need for regulations to minimize failures.
This situation is a classic example of the need to take into account the interests of all parties. The demands of all participants are logical and understandable, but lead to confusion and a decrease in the efficiency of the teams, since no one wants to give in. We decided to approach the problem from a service point of view. Priority was given to the business, financial and legal requirements remain important, but secondary and can be improved. This approach proved successful and is now used as the main one.
To ensure the successful functioning of the project, we implemented two methods of working with the backlog and product, adapting them to our needs. These methods – MoSCoW and RACI – helped us increase efficiency and improve the organization of work.
MoSCoW — methodology allows you to prioritize your product backlog by dividing all activities and tasks into 4 categories (Must, Should, Could, Won't). This significantly increased work efficiency and prioritized all the “wants”.
RACI is this methodology helped us distribute responsibility between process participants when performing and implementing tasks, which also improved the organization of work.
Application in internal projects
Over the course of two weeks, high-level functional requirements for new developments are recorded, and who will be responsible is determined according to RACI, we distribute who is responsible for the task from the business side, who acts as an expert and consultant, who provides data and who should be informed during the task. We assign responsibility from the development team: who is responsible for technical implementation, testing and cross-team interaction. This helps us to specify and identify those responsible at all stages of task implementation, eliminating the situation when “everyone” is an initiator, but no one is responsible.
Definition and assignment of responsibility
When preparing to implement a task, in addition to defining and assigning responsibility to each participant, we also define a set of steps aimed at informing about new improvements, for example:
The person responsible from the business side defines stages and adjusts business processes;
The analyst creates and publishes instructions;
The project product manager ensures that all participants understand the development goals and objectives.
Application of MoSCoW
The MoSCoW methodology divides all tasks into four categories: Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won't haveThis approach allows us to clearly define which tasks require immediate attention and which can wait for their time.
For example, the task of implementing the process of planning and coordinating vacations has a high priority and belongs to the category Must haveThis is critical to maintaining a clear and transparent workflow where each employee knows when and how much time off they can expect.
On the other hand, improvements to notifications for employees in the corporate messenger fall into the category Should have. They are important, but not so important that they distract the team from more pressing tasks. They can wait until we have dealt with more critical aspects.
Finally, the task of automatically filling in data can be postponed and falls into the category Won't haveThis means that we have higher priority tasks now, and we will return to this feature when we have more time and resources.
In project teams of complex systems, it often happens that everyone wants to change, improve, add something, but without a clear system of priorities, this leads to a loss of focus and a decrease in efficiency. Thanks to MoSCoW, we can concentrate on what is really important for the company at the moment, taking into account both business requests and the capabilities of our development.
Thus, the implementation of the MoSCoW methodology allows us not only to maintain a balance between numerous tasks, but also to achieve high results.
For the business and administrative vertical and our business units, we have appointed a responsible person who coordinates and collects business requirements from stakeholders. This responsible person informs and works out the requirements with Group Head. In the structure of the IT department for internal products, we use the following model:
Head of Internal Products Group (Group Head): responsible for all internal systems and coordinates the work of project managers and development teams, interacts with the business.
Project Manager: responsible for specific systems and their development, interacting with the business team.
Development Team: deals with technical implementation and support of systems.
This approach allowed us to centralize requirements management and improve the efficiency of interaction between business and IT.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Identifying and Managing Internal System Sponsors
Identify internal systems and their functions
Identify all internal systems used in the company and document their main functions. This will help you understand which systems are critical to the business and which require the most attention.
Identify and/or assign a project sponsor and stakeholders
Identify or assign stakeholders who will make key decisions on the development and support of each system. Identify individuals responsible for strategic development of the system, for communication, gathering business requirements and their approval.
Create a process for developing and agreeing on tasks
Create a clear process for developing and agreeing on tasks. Define the order of forming the backlog, prioritizing tasks, and distributing responsibilities between teams. Implement MoSCoW and RACI methods (or those that suit you) to effectively distribute tasks and responsibilities.
Set performance metrics
Develop and implement metrics to evaluate the performance of internal systems. These may include performance, user satisfaction, and financial indicators. After a certain period (e.g., 6 months), audit the performance of internal systems. Assess how effectively the changes were implemented and the set goals were achieved.
conclusions
Sponsors help set priorities, effectively allocate resources and take responsibility for decision-making. Without them, the system becomes chaotic and ineffective. Creating a single structure for coordinating business requirements and interaction between different departments allows for a faster and better response to changes and business needs. Kokoc Group has implemented a structure that includes a head of internal product group, project managers and a development team, which centralizes management and increases the efficiency of interaction between business and IT.
Using MoSCoW and RACI methods helps to effectively distribute tasks and responsibilities, accelerating the process of development and implementation of changes. MoSCoW allows you to divide all tasks into four priority categories, and RACI distributes responsibilities between process participants. Regular collection and analysis of user feedback allows you to quickly identify problems and implement improvements, which increases employee satisfaction and the efficiency of internal systems.
