Successful project implementations are at the core of every IT consulting firm’s business objectives. To do so, we often witness such firms undertake several initiatives and do what needs to be done in order to serve their customers in the best way possible.

To achieve successful project implementations, IT consulting firms must pay close attention to every stage of their project delivery cycle and invest effort in several other steps to help implement projects successfully.

With careful thought, firms can structure their project implementations for successful delivery. Ensuring this would require an understanding of several tips that boost the success rates of project implementations. In this article, we will talk about how IT consulting firms achieve successful project implementation. Let’s begin.

  1. Realistic Milestones

IT consulting firms set up realistic and measurable milestones before beginning with their work. Although it might seem like an obvious suggestion to make, its importance at the ground level cannot be undermined.

Setting up clear measurement criteria and realistic milestones that all stakeholders agree upon is essential to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts at every step of the way. You’ll clearly know your sources of information, availability of resources, and how much you need to achieve right from the beginning.

IT consulting firms also schedule regular meetings to track progress. It helps in two ways:

  • Project teams get to know the organization they’re working for and quickly show value.
  • Clients gain more confidence and indulge in more constructive dialogues for effective problem-solving.

Hence, setting up realistic and measurable milestones is essential for successful project implementation.

  1. Clear Communication

IT consulting firms ensure to consistently provide updates to clients in a simple and an easy-to-consume manner. Whenever any information is required, they clearly line out what is needed. At the time of problems or questions from the client’s end, IT consulting firms quickly respond and try to resolve issues. Audience familiarity with technical language is never assumed, as IT consulting firms always communicate clearly as if communicating to a broad, non-technical audience. Clear communication is always ensured at every step of the way to achieve successful project implementations.       

  1. Accurate and Timely Documentation

IT consulting companies always ensure accurate internal documentation for successful project implementation. Accurate documentation, particularly about time, is critical for profitability. It encompasses the complete account of the project’s success and also allows firms to use it as an excellent tool for informing clients and providing them with estimates or work plans. Time can be tracked with the help of relevant systems and tools throughout the project pipeline.

Having access to real-time and reliable information about the project’s progress can convert a delayed and messy project into a successful delivery. Teams must be able to instantly access different aspects of a project’s progress to support informed and effective decision-making.

  1. Use of Onboarding Methods

Many times, certain key team members or highly experienced workers join a project later than required, primarily because they have been working on a different project already. So, it might take time for them to get up-to-date with the ongoings of your project if they have to start everything from scratch.

IT consulting firms often employ specific onboarding methods that help such members catch up quickly without spending much time and guarantee they’re on the same page as the rest of the team. Such onboarding methods or processes may include prior set up of emails, access to performance standards for the final delivery, and access to proprietary templates or tools.

Although onboarding methods may differ from firm to firm, the need to set them up remains the same. It can help save a lot of time and energy in the process, allowing you to increase the chances of successful project implementations.

  1. Quality Assurance

Stating the obvious, quality assurance is significantly critical for successful project implementation. When teams are smaller in size, it becomes easier to ensure as members can simply support each other’s efforts to build upon them and provide high-quality deliverables. On the other hand, if you have larger projects or teams, you must develop a well-defined quality assurance process. Use your past failures or mistakes as checkpoints for quality assurance on new projects. Also, you can invest in third-party partnerships for quality assurance.

  1. Create an IT Project Management and Implementation Playbook

You’ll find that IT consulting firms that deliver successful project implementations almost every time have pre-decided sets of all guidelines and information regarding the implementations. You can also create a playbook for your teams to go by so that a standard is maintained throughout your projects and the chances of failure are reduced.

To develop an IT project management and implementation playbook customized to your firm, ensure to create a checklist through which you can go. Keep critical phases in a sequential order and provide a simple & straightforward flow of information in the said documentation. The playbook should be easy to follow for every single team of yours that takes on a project, so it must communicate all non-negotiables clearly. Your teams can later build upon the set processes and expand them more if it translates into better executions.

Conclusion

IT consulting firms that ensure successful project implementations invest time and effort in documenting everything clearly and following a well-structured approach with effective checklists.

A checklist for successful project implementation should cover several points like:

  • Presence of a robust methodology with all external constraints and dependencies clearly mentioned.
  • Clear definition of escalation paths.
  • Clear mention of client estimates.
  • Clear communication plan for regular updates and dialogues with the client as well as within the team.

Several other points must be covered as well, customized to your projects to ensure successful project implementations.