Developing the highly effective organization

Look at the table, and you will discover the simularities between the management-column and the way that IT-functions are being managed. Look at the typical IT-strategy, and you will discover that focus are on management, and leadership are as often as not mentioned.

A lot of tools are provided for IT-managers, for organizing their departments. Software-tools!  Weel, you can manage a lot with help from software, but to lead people you need leadership!

We have actually seen SAP-departments organized with SAP's solution space of mySAP as outlined on their website. Employees in corporate SAP-departments are (for real!) put in boxes - like SAP modules/areas.

How to get organized

As mentioned in previous articles by saporganization.com we recommend focusing on the broad profile of corporate SAP consultants. This will ensure effiency, security and synergy in the organization.

But how can we measure efficiency in a SAP department? For measuring we need some kind of KPI's. For defining Key Performance Indicators we need to have a stable foundation to measure on. Our foundation is the speed and the quality within our consultants are able to solve the tasks of the company. A task involving new functionality is almost impossible to measure. By a stable foundation, consider a rollout to a new subsidiary, which should be simular to previous rollouts.

In this article we will keep the rollout project as an example. To be able to measure the individual consultants efficiency we will have to split up the project in small parts. To be able to do that, we need to have everything documented. And thats were it all starts.

1. Document the procedures/flows and functional areas
2. Define Key Performance Indicators
3. Organize your organization
This article will explain in details how to walk through these 3 steps.

1. Document the procedures/flows and functional areas

There are many models and opponions about how to document the setup. The idea in this article is not to point at a specific model. The main focus is to use a model, which becomes a standard in the company and which descripes in details all relevant flows.

A good indicator for the level of documentation is to say: "The documentation for a flow must be described in a way, that any new 'outside' consultant knows exactly how this company is customized - and understands why - making him able to quickly understand the flow".

All the documented flows are the - by definition - the company's template! Well, there might be many warehouses, various factory's, different sales organizations, etc. that have their own customized flow, within the same company. In that case; its still a template. A template with version 1, 2 or 3 for setting up a warehouse, depending on the business flow in the warehouse. Imagine a new rollout/implementation to a new warehouse. In this case we can choose between our version 1, 2 or 3. No matter what version we choose, we will have a documented setup of the flows within any warehouseversion. A wellknown flow by the company and the corporate SAP-consultants. Making the new rollout/implementation much smoother.

2. Define Key Performance Indicators

When all flows are documented, its possible to group them into larger "bricks". A brick could be Warehouse Version 1, containing all the flows for this combination/setup of a warehouse. Another brick could be Quality Management, which may not have any versions, but is a choice to rollout - or not. Ie a new subsidiary which are supposed to have SAP, may have QM (or not) depending on the business proces within the subsidiary, legal requirements or the complexity and size of the subsidiary.

When all the bricks are defined we can start our ressourceplanning. Ie we must have some kind of idea, experience or feeling about the use of time, money and consultants for each brick. Example:.

Warehouse version 1. Simple setup. Customizing is like copy/paste. Customizing can be done in 5 days. Normal education and workshops are required: 10 days. Administration and meetings: 5 days.

Warehouse version 2. Larger setup. Identify requirement for warehouse setup with several picking strategy. Several flows is possible within same warehouse. Customizing 7 days. Workshops 10 days. Educatation 5. Adm. 5

Warehouse version 3. Complex setup. Needs use of user-exits. ABAP involved, 5 days. Several flows is possible within same warehouse. Customizing 7 days. Workshops 10 days. Educatation 5. Adm. 5

And sofort...

Whenever new rollouts or implementationprojects are known, the project manager can roughly analyze the new location, and quickly predict which of our building bricks that likely will be required. Ie its possible to extremely fast ensuring the ressources and come up with a detailed implementation plan.

Based on the expected ressources, we also have a key figure. We can measure actual time against expected. When the implementation is finalized we can measure the quality of each brick. Ie add another key figure, and being able to finetune our expectations for the next implementation.

A third option is to measure and summarize the activities within each brick. A activity could be customizing, workshop, education, etc. Ie activities are processes that are a part of all bricks. As an example, we might have a summarized (expected) need for ABAP-programming on 100 days in a coming project, that must be finalized in 70 days. But we only have one skilled programmer in our organization. Ie we have a bottleneck, that needs attention. We can analyze for each activity for over- or underestimating the ressources. Again adding the quality measurement. If Education are always underestimated and are critized for being to bad, then we have a good indication for a focus area and a higher use of ressources in the next project.

3. Organize your organization

How do you get a perfect, effective SAP-department? The answer are identical for all organizations:

Your long-term success depends on your ability to hire, develop, and retain the right people!

Its all about people, motivation and gaining synergy

Although general leadership are the topissue for any organization; this article will focus on the challenges a SAP-department are facing, which differs from other organizations. However the goals are identical for all organizations; be effective, proactive, gain synergy, etc.

Stability

We will have to take into consideration that the jobmarket for SAP-consultants are hotter than ever. Good SAP-consultants are headhunted like never before; both core consultants and consultants with firsthand experience in any new area. The corporate SAP-department need consultants that are loyal to complete the current projects in the company. Which of course requires that the company face the challenge and fight for having motivated employees

But somehow, someday the SAP-department will loose one of their SAP-consultants. The challenge is to minimize the loss of a key person. The previous articles in SAP Organization has allready been given some answers; by focusing on the broad profile. The broad core consultant have a broad knowledge of several modules. By having consultants "overlapping" each others workareas, a project will (anything else equal) be more stable, and will much easier be able to overcome the loss of a consultant.

The danger by loosing a consultant is that we loose a ressource. But much more dangerous is to loose knowledge, that cant be found anywhere else! Again; this is of course one more reason for having everything in your SAP-setup documented. Having everything documented (like descriped in chapter 1) is the best foundation for having new 'outside' consultants to quickly absorb and understand the setup

Another way to avoid need-to-have key persons, are to use SAP with a standard setup. Ie avoid ABAP-programming, and stick to best practise.

Finally, if your company can afford it, its a good advice to always have trainees. Someone close to become a SAP-consultant. Another approach for having upcoming corporate SAP-consultants on-hand, is to keep on developing superuses in the organization. A trainee might seek a job outside the company, but will then be a good ambassodor for the department, by telling about how attractive it is to work here.

Efficiency

Efficiency isnt something that we receive by having a single effective consultant, or a single department (like the SAP-department). Efficiency is the result that we receive by having synergy and efficiency in the entire organization. Synergy is a keyword in building effective organizations. In a organization with a SAP-department, synergy becomes even more important. Why? Because the SAP-department is (because of the jobmarket situation) both vulnurable and expensive.

Ie you cant afford having SAP-consultants spending their time on billing in travel expenses, filling out time registration schemes or making "Introduction to SAP"-courses for new employess, etc. SAP-consultants are experts in their own area. Use the expertise, and have superusers doing training for new users, HR-department doing travelling administration, and skip the timeconsuming functions that are non-valuable.

Gain synergy by having your SAP-department to work closely with the "business", to work together with Business Excellence Consultants. If you have a corporate SAP-department you can get better and faster results by having SAP-consultants with knowledge about the business. Otherwise, if you have only ABAP-technicians with no company-specifik knowledge; why not outsource?

The SAP-department will with broad core consultants, constantly in a proactive dialogue with the "business"; gain the synergy, stability and efficiency that are required today!

You might be interested in reading High Performers.