Vol. 2 #8
The Celebration: Short-term Gains from Cutting Corners Can Result in Long-Term Losses
Everyone loves celebrating milestones. There’s something very satisfying about the marking of progress and hard work. Yet, when it comes to core banking transformations, such celebrations could be dangerous, carried out too early. Teams tend to rush towards the celebration without really finishing the required steps in their entirety. The outcome? That is, stuff that gets left undone only realizes later that important details have been overlooked. The result is setbacks that could very well have been avoided with more careful planning.
Anecdote: Team celebration at a regional bank during a core banking upgrade for the successful migration of customer data to the new platform. Well, it was celebrated too early. To begin with, there was an apparent success in the migration. At the same time, with the hurried deadlines, critical validation steps were skipped over. Later, these inconsistencies in the data popped up and caused large customer service problems, which finally resulted in a no-confidence vote in the new system. Lesson learned: The team should not have claimed victory until their work was properly validated.
Antidote: Defining Criteria for Meaningful Milestones
First, set clear criteria as to what makes up a meaningful milestone. Emphasize the elements of quality and thoroughness rather than the hitting of a target date or the checking of a box.
Regular audits make sure the process is being followed, and there aren’t any shortcuts. Encouraging a culture that places a premium on long-term success above short-term appearances ensures quality will truly be at the top of the list.
Successful projects are those that celebrate meaningful milestones—ones that truly represent progress and achievement. By taking the time to do things right, teams set themselves up for long-term success.
Found this article interesting? Check out these three related reads for more.
- Corporate Candor: Hasty approvals in project management lead to oversight and critical failures (A New Series)
- Corporate Candor: Risk management in core banking projects (A New Series)
- Corporate Candor: The importance of diverse perspectives (A New Series)
#CoreBankingTransformation #PrematureCelebration
