Striking the Balance: Managing Operations and System Development

By: RPI Tech Connect   August 13, 2024

It’s a common challenge many organizations face when implementing new ERP software: how to balance the heavy lift of developing a future-state system while keeping day-to-day operations running smoothly. On this episode of RPI Tech Connect, we’re joined by RPI Senior Project Manager Spencer Lefevre, who shares his insights on how to balance operations and ERP project development.

With an extensive background in IT and project management, Spencer discusses the complexities involved in new system implementations, and the importance of having a dedicated management resources on the engagement. Tune in as he explains how a project manager can help leverage resources efficiently, ensure the right tasks are assigned to the appropriate teams, and adapt to the evolving needs of the project.

Whether you’re in the midst of an ERP implementation or planning for one, this episode provides valuable advice on navigating the challenges of keeping the lights on while building for the future. Join the conversation now and learn how to avoid common pitfalls to ensure your project stays on track.

Interested in listening to this episode on another streaming platform? Check out our directories.

Meet Today’s Guest, Spencer Lefevre

Spencer Lefevre is a Senior Project Manager at RPI Consultants. With over six years of experience in Project Management and IT Engineering Project Solutions, Spencer has delved into software design and implementation within the IT Infrastructure space. He leverages this diverse background to make informed decisions regarding project timelines and feasibility.

In addition to his technical expertise, Spencer is skilled in successfully managing large-scale projects, collaborating with various vendors, and overseeing budgets to ensure projects are completed on time and within budget. He relies on his strong communication skills to build trust and empower both team members and end users. His meticulous attention to detail has consistently contributed to the successful delivery of projects.

Spencer holds PMP and PMI-ACP certifications from PMI.

Meet Your Host, Chris Arey

Chris Arey is an experienced B2B marketing professional with nearly a decade of working in content creation, copywriting, SEO, website architecture, corporate branding, and social media. Beginning his career as an analyst before making a lateral move into marketing, he combines analytical thinking with creative flair—two fundamental principles required in marketing.

With a Bachelor’s degree in English and certifications from the Digital Marketing Institute and HubSpot, Chris has spearheaded impactful content marketing initiatives, participated in corporate re-branding efforts, and collaborated with celebrity influencers. He has also worked with award-winning PR professionals to create unique, compelling campaigns that drove brand recognition and revenue growth for his previous employers.

Chris’ versatility is highlighted by his experience working across different industries, including HR, Tech, SaaS, and Consulting.

About RPI Tech Connect

RPI Tech Connect is the go-to podcast for catching up on the dynamic world of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Join us as we discuss the future of ERPs, covering everything from best practices and organizational change to seamless cloud migration and optimizing applications. Plus, we’ll share predictions and insights of what to expect in the future world of ERPs.

RPI Tech Connect delivers relevant, valuable information in a digestible format. Through candid, genuine conversations and stories from the world of consulting, we aim to provide actionable steps to help you elevate your organization’s ERP. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or new to the ERP scene, our podcast ensures you’re well-equipped for success.

Tune in as we explore tips and tricks in the field of ERP consulting each week and subscribe to RPI Tech Connect below.

Transcript

Chris Arey (00:03)
So, you’ve decided to implement new ERP software. While development of new technology begins, how will you prioritize day-to-day operations? Keep listening to find out how to strike the right balance and make the best use of the resources available.

Welcome back. This is RPI Tech Connect and I’m your host, Chris Arey. In this segment, we’re diving into a common scenario when kicking off an implementation. Picture this: Your teams are geared up to tackle the heavy lift of developing the future state ERP. Whether it’s an application or a full suite, preparing the new system can be intense. Meanwhile, day-to-day operations start to slip and your teams naturally shift priorities to keep the lights.

This knee-jerk reaction often results in a stalled project. This situation happens all too often, but can be completely avoided with the right project management team. And finding the balance between operations and system development is key. And to help us walk that fine line, we’ve got Senior Project Manager, Mr. Spencer Lefevre. Spencer, what’s up man? Welcome to the program.

Spencer Lefevre (01:39)
Absolutely. Thanks so much for having me on. This topic’s certainly a really an important one and I’ve seen it often.

I’ve been a part of the team going through this as well on my own projects. And it’s certainly challenging managing the day-to-day operations with also what you need to accomplish for future projects.

Chris Arey (02:07)
Yeah, I know that totally makes sense and I can’t wait to dive into that a little bit more. But I think, you know, before we get into the nitty gritty details here, I’m curious to hear about your background because I think the additional context of knowing how you came to be in this position is gonna help in understanding the different priorities between, you know, balancing system development and current operations. So can you share a little bit about, you know, professional career and how you got to be where you are?

Spencer Lefevre (02:40)
Yeah, absolutely. I started out early on in my IT career handling server installs and running cables. Those were the early days and taking it all the way back and then slowly started working with a lot of software development and technical development and then making the full on shift into project management. I’ve now been working with projects for about six or seven years and have mainly focused on software implementation projects.

And I think really my background in tech gives me that ability to understand the complexities of each environment.

Chris Arey (03:18)
Mmm. I feel like that’s not a very common like career path to move from tech into project management.

Spencer Lefevre (03:25)
It can be, but it certainly is a different one to a different path to take.

Chris Arey (03:31)
Yeah, and I imagine there’s some, you’ve acquired some super useful skill sets there, yeah? Cool. Well, so yeah, thanks for sharing that. It’s great to know your foundation there. And so let’s shift gears here and take a closer look at the scope of a new system implementation. what does that look like? How involved is it? Like, you know, for those who are maybe gearing up for one, what can they expect?

Spencer Lefevre (03:37)
Absolutely.

Chris Arey (04:01)
What does that look like?

Spencer Lefevre (04:02)
Well, any new system or software that you’re going to implement is certainly going to be a significant effort. It’s going to take multiple teams, multiple months, and it’s going to span anywhere from 18 to 24 months and sometimes even longer. And you’ve got to factor in the complexity aspect of this because with software, there’s extensive customization required or development approaches that need to be taken for the organization.

Chris Arey (04:30)
Yeah, okay. So like, are there any examples that come to mind that kind of may, you know, determine the length and the complexity that you can speak to?

Spencer Lefevre (04:40)
Well, I think of a few, I think for a lot of reasons, payroll comes up commonly. We see that a lot with payroll implementations. If there’s one thing everyone knows, you don’t want a bunch of errors with employees pay or anyone’s pay.

So you want to make sure those pay cycles line up and that you can do several payroll parallels with testing. And even with finance, you see that a lot as well with finance, you’ve got to make sure that you have a hands-on approach with when it comes to fiscal year end and work those into the time frame as well so that they can close out.

Chris Arey (05:18)
Yeah, the payroll one especially, it feels like the kind of thing that once you do cut over, there is no room for error. No mistakes, 100 % accuracy, yeah?

Spencer Lefevre (05:29)
Absolutely, you want to make sure everything is buttoned up and if you catch any errors, you catch them early on in testing.

Chris Arey (05:37)
That all sounds pretty intense and something that is probably difficult for maybe an organization to navigate on its own. Would you agree? Like these implementation projects?

Spencer Lefevre (05:49)
I think so. I think it’s a balance sometimes of trying to figure out the right plan and the right path and the right approach.

Chris Arey (05:59)
Yeah, so what kind of risks do you think are involved in an ERP install without, if you don’t have the right project management resources, what kind of things can go wrong?

Spencer Lefevre (06:10)
Well, I think for one aspect of this is your project management team can kind of come in there and not fully have an understanding of the background of the technical team or the finance team or supply chain, etc. And having that third party PM kind of come in there and set some groundwork, set some neutral lines and set the framework of establishing clear boundaries and what does the day-to-day look like really helps kind of shape the way the project needs to flow.

Chris Arey (06:50)
So all that kind of happens in the beginning, would you say? Like, before you kick off or, yeah?

Spencer Lefevre (06:54)
For sure. Yeah, well, I would say actually, once you are kicked off, you’re going to meet with all the different teams. You’re going to have a really some set, maybe several meetings with each of those teams and understand what is their current day-to-day workload, what is something that they’re really good at. Sometimes the development team may be really good at SQL.

Other times they may be not as proficient in Excel really leveraging those strengths, kind of taking note of those, but then also having those meetings to establish what is their current bandwidth? What is the room for opportunities where the consultant team can actually step in and assist?

Chris Arey (07:38)
Got it. So you’re kind of documenting the strengths of certain team members and so that like, you know, in the future or down the road, like you can call upon those resources if there’s a need, is that right?

Spencer Lefevre (07:49)
Absolutely.

Chris Arey (07:50)
And so, you know, when you’re establishing this foundation for the project, I feel like you typically kind of create key milestones along the way to measure progress. Is that accurate?

Spencer Lefevre (08:04)
Yeah, for most projects, you have usually a set standard of milestones that are going to be delivered. However, usually we see the big one after the first initial build and the first data conversion process. However, that’s not to say we’ll take lightly the smaller or many smaller project milestones that are going to be taking place ahead of

Chris Arey (08:33)
Yeah, and so like, is that like documented somewhere or like celebrated on calls? what, how are those like checked off?

Spencer Lefevre (08:40)
Well, it can be multiple different ways, but for the big milestones, it’s usually a formal acceptance, whether that be through an email or a document repository. But then other times for the smaller ones, it’s a quick win or a quick celebration on a call or something highlighted in the weekly project management notes.

Chris Arey (08:58)
Got it. And is this third party PM kind of the role that’s responsible for overseeing milestone progress and how things are pacing with the project?

Spencer Lefevre (09:09)
I think it depends. Most times that is the case. However, there are certainly times where the client, project manager, and the project management team on the consultant side works together to identify whether that milestone has been effectively hit and whether there’s room for improvement or adjustments that need to be made.

Chris Arey (09:29)
So I appreciate you explaining how these projects evolve and what they typically look like. I’m wondering now if you can maybe talk about how to manage the day-to-day operations in tandem with system development and the role that the PM does in balancing those.

Spencer Lefevre (09:52)
Sure thing. Oftentimes it makes sense for clients to take on some of the development approaches when it comes to, know, initially they want to take on that development aspect. You know, they’re excited about the project. They’re excited about the implementation. They want to get their hands in. But where that happens is then operationally things start to slip or adjust or have to take a back seat. So.

Chris Arey (10:06)
Yeah.

Spencer Lefevre (10:19)
Sometimes we’ve found that, or I’ve personally found that bringing in the consultant team to leverage some of that development aspect, but still allowing maybe if the team is four, you allow two of them to kind of work on development, or two of them can then work on operational stuff, and then you kind of swap in between.

Chris Arey (10:39)
Do you think there’s ever a time, I feel like it, you you mentioned something there about the, you know, the, client getting excited about this new install and like, Ooh, I can’t wait to see it. I want to be a part of it. You know, they’re going to be the ones using it at end of the day. So there’s probably some interest there. I’m wondering, you said, you know, there’s a team of four, two of them are doing day to day and two of them are doing development. Do you ever see the kind of thing where like for six weeks, two people are doing one thing and two people are doing another and they switch to like get them all? Yeah.

Spencer Lefevre (11:07)
Absolutely. And I think that’s really good because it allows the both sets of the team to still keep learning and still keep refining what they need to know for the project and implementation or the new software piece. But it allows them to still focus on the day to day operations.

Chris Arey (11:27)
Okay, and so in terms of the third-party PM and the partner who’s assisting in this install, do you ever think that maybe one is better geared to do operations and the other is better for system development? Is there a right way to approach it?

Spencer Lefevre (11:48)
I think every client is different. However, the right way that or the most common way we see is where the client initially takes on small quick wins for development.

And then the client or the consultant team then takes on the large bulkier items for development. And then during that process of evolution and development aspects, then we bring in the client team to engage them in learning what we developed and how we developed and how we achieved the result.

Chris Arey (12:28)
So it sounds like then there’s this focus on understanding the client needs and kind of like just, I guess, allocating resources from that perspective, like to know what they need and to know what they want and then to kind of fill the gaps as they present themselves.

Spencer Lefevre (12:34)
Absolutely.

Yeah, you definitely need to understand the client’s needs and the client bandwidth and the resourcing. You know, if there’s going to be a certain month that is going to be particularly heavy in operational focus, that’s where you want the client team to actually do that piece. Because as consultants, we don’t do that every day.

We do development, we do implementation, we do refinements or testing, but we’re not going to know your operational aspects for your job in every capacity. So we can certainly give some guidance and frameworks, but ultimately we want the clients team to still be empowered to do their day -to -day job and keep the lights on.

Chris Arey (13:30)
Yeah. Are there any stories you can share from, you you’ve been doing this for quite some time. I’m curious to hear about maybe a unique situation where you, you you came in as the PM and the project was headed in one direction and, know, things got changed up or anything you can share

Spencer Lefevre (13:49)
Well, think on one of the examples that comes to my mind is when I was working with a recent client and we, as the PM, I was handling a lot of the aspects, the day-to-day tasks. But when it came to software development and the technical build phase of the project, the team’s really struggling to understand what was needing to be done within what timeframe.

And then trying to track that progress into motion. So what we did was I kind of stepped into that scrum master role and facilitated the development efforts and tracked the time and tracked the sprints and made sure development was moving in the right

Chris Arey (14:35)
So I got two questions for you there. First, the Scrum Master, the term I’ve heard dozens of times throughout my career, but could you explain what that is and how it differs from the PM?

Spencer Lefevre (14:48)
Scrum Master is often used for agile development and it’s the Scrum Master leads the development sprints and sprint isn’t a running sprint, it’s a sprint of development, usually a two to four week process where you assign workloads out to the different teams and track capacities and allocations that way. So the Strum Master kind of leads those meetings, keeps everyone focused on a tight circle and development cycle.

Chris Arey (15:20)
So when you made that transition in the middle of the project, was that like a surprise to people? they, this guy can do that too? Or like, yeah, what was that like?

Spencer Lefevre (15:29)
I think initially they were taken back by, OK, well, he knows his stuff with development as well. But that’s really where my background in technology and technical development, as well as having the Agile certifications on my end, really helps bring it all together and then helped it actually helped out the development team to get back on track and kind of really focus in on the work that needed to be done.

Chris Arey (16:02)
I feel like your particular role there is like, really captures the value of having that third-party PM. Like you truly were a resource gap fill. Like they needed something and you were able to like, you know, pivot away from the traditional PM stuff and do Scrum Master, you know, development stuff, right?

Spencer Lefevre (16:27)
Yeah, I think a lot of times that’s kind of one of those underrated aspects of a third-party project manager on the the on the client or on the team side is really making sure that they can look for opportunities and they can look for gaps that can be leveraged for some other resource or some other skillset that maybe that project manager has a really good knack for smart sheets and know, worksheets and all those different aspects. And other times maybe they have

They’re like me and they have a really good solid background in technology.

Chris Arey (17:01)
It sounds like this is one of those things that gets back to what you mentioned earlier about documenting the strengths and knowing where the resources lie in the event that you need them. That includes yourself, I guess,

Spencer Lefevre (17:12)
Absolutely. You got to know where you’re, got to hire the right resources and shift priorities depending on what your strengths are. You got to know internally and do a little bit of self -reflection as

Chris Arey (17:23)
Nice. Another question related to that. when you made that transition, how did that come up? Was it on a call and you recognized there was a need for the scrum master role and you were like, I can do that? Or how did that come to be?

Spencer Lefevre (17:39)
It came up in multiple aspects within our internal project team calls and within leadership. It also was talked about as far as how to get the development team back on track and how to get them back in focus and move them in the right direction so that we could meet our targets.

Chris Arey (18:01)
Got it, so it was kind of one of those like almost proactive in that like, hey, we see that development is not going, pacing the way it should be. And we think the addition of a scrum master role here will kind of get things back on track there, right?

Spencer Lefevre (18:16)
Absolutely.

Chris Arey (18:18)
One other question for you, and this is actually about something you mentioned earlier, and that was that like when you’re understanding, like gathering the information and the needs of the client, you know, to prioritize helping them balance operations and development, what kind of method do you deploy for soliciting that information? Is it like an interview? Is it just kind of a meeting? Is it a multitude of things?

Spencer Lefevre (18:45)
Well, I think for multiple aspects there’s different ways to do it. However, the first approach that I normally take is just having a kind of a casual meeting to understand their current roles and what’s going on, how the organization is handling X, Y, and Z.

And then if needed, we can send out a questionnaire and some, some skillset analysis, or if we needed to do a, you know, a skillset, you know, assessment, anything like but really kind of taking that first stab of just having a really informal conversation about the needs and then compiling that back in some of your data metrics to understand and looking at the timeline to then compare notes.

Chris Arey (19:29)
Yeah. And so I imagine the, I guess the, length and maybe not, maybe intensity is not the right word, but depending on what type of new system development you’re doing here, maybe those interviews and like stakeholder, like needs documentation processes, maybe more lengthy. You have to talk to more people to understand more needs depending on like the number of applications you’re installing. Or is that, is that true to say?

Spencer Lefevre (19:58)
Absolutely. You got to factor that into when you’re building that project plan and that project timeline. If you think it’s only going to be, if it’s once workstream and maybe it’s only a 12 month implementation, you certainly don’t want to be spending a month of that 12 months just doing interviews on building the skillset. You want to be able to take just, you one or two days and get that

Chris Arey (20:21)
So I got another question for you here, and this one’s a bit of a curveball. they say that if your implementation success largely hinges business user sponsorship, know, that’s understanding their needs, showing them that this new system is going to do that and how to do it. Do you ever run into situations where maybe there’s too many cooks in the kitchen? And if you do, how do you navigate

Spencer Lefevre (20:51)
I have run into that situation and typically I personally try to navigate it in a who makes the most sense to be in those meetings and try to cut down on the meeting attendees that are in in those meetings and then send out a notes after those meetings to ensure that everyone’s on the same page with what we what was discussed and what the plan of action was you know certainly talking about artificial intelligence it’s a tool to kind of summarize those notes and get that back out there. So that everyone’s on the same page, you get that buy in from all the stakeholders, and you’re also freeing them up in a lot of ways to do other projects and look at other meetings and other tasks that they have on their plate.

Chris Arey (21:36)
So it sounds like people are normally happy to not, we’ve decided that based on the scope of this meeting and this team and this project, maybe we don’t need these other individuals present and they’re usually receptive to that.

Spencer Lefevre (21:51)
Sometimes, but I think a lot of times if you can show that this individual is, their feedback is warranted and their opinions are very valid and their involvement is much needed.

However, if we can go ahead and continue to send out notes and keep that open dialogue after those weekly meetings or monthly meetings that cadence, it allows them to build that trust. But also early on, it’s also about building that trust to establish that you’re in this together and you’re here to achieve the ultimate success, which is getting the project live or post live. And you want to make sure that you have that buy -in early on so that it sets you up for success later

Chris Arey (22:39)
Nice man, that was very diplomatic of you and you’re really showcasing your project management skills here man. It sounds like some tough stuff you’re doing there and having those conversations I imagine isn’t always easy. So I appreciate that. Yeah, okay, so we are getting close to time and before we wrap up, this is becoming my trademark on RPI Tech Connect. I’d to ask my guest one question and it’s this, if you could offer today’s audience one piece of advice about balancing operations and system development, what would it be?

Spencer Lefevre (23:20)
I would say don’t be afraid to just jump right into the project and ensure you have a great team around you and you’ll set yourself up for success. You really want to capitalize on making sure that you surround yourself with a great team who is both complex and diverse in their technical abilities and their operational abilities. And you’ll set yourself up for success. And before you know it, you’ll be live with the

Chris Arey (23:45)
I like that advice, I appreciate it. I think it speaks to this having the right attitude about new things, right? Sometimes there’s some hesitancy and reluctance about new and different things, about change. So this sounds like it kind of speaks to that, is that right?

Spencer Lefevre (24:05)
Absolutely, change is hard and change is inevitable though as we all go through life, but each project takes on its own meaning and having that change built into the project itself really sets you up for success and understanding the complexity and the challenge that lies

Chris Arey (24:24)
And it sounds like then that having this open mind and diving into the project is going to help in maybe being more efficient with development. And then on the flip side of that, it allows for operations to kind of continue without any, I don’t know, guess roadblocks. Is that right?

Spencer Lefevre (24:44)
Absolutely. It allows you to set yourself up for success and allows you to understand what is coming and prepare yourself mentally that this is going to be a big endeavor and this is going to be a big project and it’s going to take a significant amount of

Chris Arey (24:59)
Awesome. Well, thank you, Spencer. It’s been a joy hanging out today. For those of you tuning in, we appreciate you stopping by. If you have a question about juggling system development and day -to -day operations or project management or anything else related to today’s episode, please email us at [email protected]. Again, that’s [email protected]. We’ll see you next time. Thanks

Spencer Lefevre (25:27)
Thanks so much.