Speeding Up Your Primavera P6 Implementation
You’ve decided on Primavera P6 as the tool of choice for your enterprise project management needs. And now you want it installed and set up. Preferably as soon as possible!
But don’t rush in yet!
We’ve seen organizations try to take their first steps to deploy Primavera P6 EPPM without adequate support. Even experienced Primavera users might not have set up an installation from scratch before.
Here at Ten Six, we want you to start using your new software as soon as possible so you can reap the business benefits of this powerful enterprise tool. But let’s be honest: software implementations aren’t the easiest of projects to manage. A small mistake while you are setting up your system and you can be struggling to get those benefits in six months’ time – and that’s not to mention the rework required, the loss of goodwill amongst the user community and more training needed to ensure everyone knows how to do things the new way.
The good news is that spending even a small amount of time and resource on getting Primavera P6 set up the right way will save you a lot of time and money down the line.
We know you want to start seeing a return on your investment for Primavera. Here are some tips for speeding up your P6 implementation.
1. Set up your implementation for success
Ask your Primavera coach or implementation partner to hold a kick off meeting with relevant stakeholders. Discuss and agree the implementation strategy and the goals for using Primavera P6. Some problems fall away when everyone has clarity about what you are trying to do.
Your Primavera partner can carry out a gap analysis so you understand what problems are being addressed by the new tool and how to get the most out of it.
By the time you reach this point in your deployment, you’ve probably already invested many hours in software research, demos, sales visits and creating the underlying infrastructure for your installation. Your team might not feel like spending even more time on talking about what Primavera can do for you.
However, this part of your project is so important. We’ve seen a few extreme cases where the Primavera deployment almost failed due to a few small mistakes at the beginning of the project to install it. You don’t have to put yourself at that risk. Take the time here to work with a trusted partner and get your project set up for success.
If you spend time thinking about how you are going to get where you are going, you are more likely to reach your destination quickly. This is project planning 101 but it can be difficult to get right if you aren’t asking the right questions. A Primavera implementation consultant can help you focus on the things that will make the most difference.
2. Train your team
Primavera P6 is a powerful system and it pays to know how to use it properly. Train your project management core team so they have a deep and robust knowledge of the tool. They are the people you will be relying on to work with you and lead the change, so it’s important they can answer questions from their colleagues.
Your Primavera coach can direct you to authoritative, helpful training material, or help you create your own if necessary.
Tip: Remember to test your training materials – just like you test everything else in your new software rollout.
3. Invest in design time
Primavera for project management is a flexible tool that allows you to design and configure many aspects. Spend some time working out what that would look like for you. You want custom reports? What kind? How many? Who for?
A small amount of time spent critically reviewing the configuration and customization options will enable you implement faster.
Read next: 5 things to set up in your new Primavera system
Again, this is where working with an experienced implementation partner saves you time. They know all the features that can be customized and configured, and they’ve helped countless organizations before you to set those up. Use the experience that is available in the marketplace to streamline your own implementation.
4. Provide management process training
Change is embedded faster when people feel they know what to do. Train people on the management processes you expect them to use – including why the processes are valuable so they understand the ‘why’ of working in that way.
The processes that support your Primavera P6 deployment are not an after-thought. They are a critical tool for getting the most out of the system and standardizing the way projects are run. When you’ve designed your processes, create standard operating procedures or user guides so people have something to refer to when they need to use the process.
Remember that processes sometimes involve multiple systems. Integrate Primavera with other systems to make the process seamless for users.
5. Carry out health checks
OK, so this step comes after your implementation is complete, but one way to ensure your Primavera P6 tools work with you in the long term is to carry out regular health checks.
A health check looks at how the system is performing and whether it still meets your needs. You can focus on any particular aspect or take a rounded, holistic view of project management performance supported by Primavera P6. The objective is simply to continually improve and make changes in an agile way to get the best out of the system.
There’s so much more to setting up a Primavera P6 implementation, but taking the time to plan your work, train your team and review how you are doing will definitely ensure you can make faster progress. Drawing on the skills of experienced Primavera P6 consultants will mitigate many of the risks of introducing new software to the organization, so don’t hesitate to lean on the experts!