Too much planning, too little progress

How IT projects in SMEs can move from the strategy trap to a measurable ROI

Many SME business owners are familiar with this situation: an important IT project gets off to a start with high expectations. A new ERP system is supposed to improve workflows, a CRM system to boost sales, or to digitise internal processes.

This is followed by workshops, consultations, concepts and meetings. Weeks pass, then months. The budget is committed, staff have invested time, yet there are no visible results to show for it. After six months, much has been planned but little has been implemented.

The problem is rarely a lack of expertise. In most cases, what is missing is not further planning, but an approach that generates progress faster than new rounds of consultation. This is precisely where many companies fall into the strategy trap: there is preparation, discussion and evaluation, but too little delivery.

Those who recognise this mechanism can also break it. To do so, it is worth first taking a look at the status quo of numerous projects within organisations.

Why projects often stall

Many projects start with good intentions. The aim is to minimise risks, fully capture requirements and safeguard investments. In principle, planning makes sense. It only becomes problematic when it replaces implementation.

For years, studies have painted a clear picture: a large proportion of all IT projects run over time or over budget, or only partially achieve their original objectives. [1] This has a particularly strong impact on small and medium-sized enterprises, as resources are scarcer and delays have a more immediate effect on day-to-day operations.

Typical causes include:

• unclear or constantly changing requirements,
• too many stakeholders without clear decision-making authority,
• overly ambitious overall projects,
• a lack of user feedback in the early stages, and
• insufficient implementation capacity in day-to-day operations.

Added to this is a second effect: the larger a project is, the more difficult it becomes to manage. Long planning phases increase complexity rather than reducing it. The result is often rising costs, falling motivation and projects that still fail to generate any real benefit after months. Behind these problems lie mostly recurring errors in thinking.

The four cognitive biases behind the strategy trap

Many companies fail not because of technical issues, but because of false assumptions about successful project work.

1. Perfection over progress

Work only begins once everything has been fully planned. In dynamic markets, however, this planning is often already out of date before implementation begins.

2. Analysis over feedback

In the vast majority of cases, concepts developed over months appear professional and convincing. However, an early prototype usually provides more insights than a hundred pages of planning.

3. Consensus over decision

If every department is to be fully satisfied, the project keeps growing. Speed and clarity are lost.

4. Scale over focus

Everything is to be resolved simultaneously: systems, processes, interfaces and special requests. This significantly increases the risk and the effort required for coordination.

I fear that if two or more of the following points apply to you, there is an urgent need for action:

• The project has been running for months without any visible results.
• There are more meetings than decisions.
• Costs are rising continuously faster than the benefits.
• Requirements are constantly changing.
• No one feels ultimately responsible.
• The specialist departments are losing interest.

What can you do in such a case? Focus on short implementation cycles!

The 14-Day Playbook: Short implementation cycles instead of lengthy planning

The basic principle is simple: instead of spending months planning, you work in short implementation cycles. After each cycle, there is a concrete result that can be utilised within the company. This means you may soon be able to report progress on the following areas:

• digital recording of new orders,
• automated process approval,
• the first sales dashboard,
• mobile stock posting,
• a simplified quotation process, or
• improved scheduling.

Why 14 days? Two weeks have proven to be a workable rhythm in many projects. The timeframe is often short enough to maintain focus and momentum, yet long enough to achieve tangible results.

It is important to note that 14 days is not a rigid rule. Depending on the initial situation, a different rhythm may be appropriate: one week for clearly defined tasks, or four weeks for greater complexity or limited resources. What matters is not the exact duration, but a rhythm that regularly makes results visible and avoids long phases of pure planning.

This offers clear advantages for managing directors:

• Progress becomes visible quickly,
• risks remain manageable,
• decisions can be adjusted on an ongoing basis,
• budgets become more controllable and
• motivation increases thanks to visible results.

For this approach to work, no major overhaul is needed, just a clear start.

How to put the playbook into practice

You can implement the playbook in three steps:

Don’t start with a long list of requirements, but with a clear question: Which problem is currently costing us the most time, money or growth? Then select a small, effective team with clear responsibilities. Large groups delay decisions; small teams create momentum. Then define an outcome that is realistically achievable in the first cycle. Not a complete project, but visible progress with practical benefits.

The lesson from practice is surprisingly simple: small, measurable progress delivers benefits much faster than large-scale projects with lengthy planning. After the first cycle, review together:

• What has been achieved?
• What is already having an impact?
• What should be adjusted?
• And what is the next sensible step?

This leads, step by step, to genuine implementation rather than further planning.

A good first cycle often already delivers:

• a working prototype,
• a simplified process,
• measurable time savings,
• greater transparency and
• clear feedback from the specialist departments.

Above all, however, the project regains momentum. To ensure that this momentum translates into real business value, success must now be clearly measurable.

How to make ROI measurable

I am aware of numerous IT projects where there is no way of measuring success. Unsurprisingly, many of these projects come under pressure to justify themselves when the benefits of the project are not apparent.

I therefore strongly recommend defining the ROI in concrete terms right from the start. The following key performance indicators can help with this:

1. Financial indicators

This concerns the direct economic impact:

• additional revenue,
• reduced process costs,
• lower error costs or
• faster return on investment.

Example: A CRM implementation costs €50,000 and generates an additional contribution margin of €75,000 within twelve months. The ROI is clearly demonstrable.

2. Operational metrics

These metrics show improvements in day-to-day operations:

• shorter lead times,
• fewer manual tasks,
• greater automation, or
• faster quotation and delivery processes.

Example: By digitising the approval process, the average processing time for quotations drops from three days to one day. At the same time, the manual coordination effort per transaction is reduced by around 60 minutes.

3. Strategic metrics

Indirect effects are also relevant:

• higher customer satisfaction,
• better scalability,
• greater employee acceptance, or
• faster response to market changes.

Example: Following the introduction of a cloud-based ERP infrastructure, a manufacturing company can integrate a newly acquired site into existing processes within four weeks, rather than the previous three months. This makes purchasing, stock levels and reporting significantly easier to manage.

It is not the number of key performance indicators that matters. In most cases, a few metrics reviewed regularly are sufficient. A simple ROI dashboard providing information on project progress, budget utilisation and time savings, as well as error rates and revenue impact, may already be sufficient. This allows you to identify at an early stage whether the project is delivering real value.

Conclusion: Less planning, greater impact and a measurable ROI

IT projects in SMEs rarely fail because of technical issues. More often than not, they stall due to overly long planning phases, increasing complexity and a lack of prioritisation. Yet SMEs are particularly well-placed to do things better: they have short decision-making processes, pragmatic structures and the ability to implement changes quickly.

Those who break projects down into smaller, manageable steps, clearly assign responsibility and regularly measure results, benefit in several ways:

• Implementation is faster,
• project costs are lower,
• acceptance within the company is higher,
• there is greater transparency, measurable productivity gains and a faster ROI.

The 14-Day Playbook is not a rigid model, but a pragmatic way out of the strategy trap. What matters is not the exact timing, but that planning once again serves implementation and not the other way round. Start with a specific problem, a small team and a clearly measurable goal. Often, a few weeks are enough to turn stagnation back into progress. The best time to realign a stalled IT project was a few months ago. The second-best time is now.

Notes:

Would you like to simply test the 14-day playbook in a project? Then simply contact Merlin Mechler on LinkedIn or visit his excellent website.

[1] PMI: Puls of Profession – The Future of Project Work

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Merlin Mechler has published two more posts on the t2informatik Blog: