Technology Project Challenges: Where’s the Breakdown Happening?

When taking on a tech initiative, you’re dealing with a lot of moving parts, and they can often cause the project to veer off course.

In a two-part series on the DelCor blog, the company’s president, David Coriale, breaks down  (opens in a new tab) seven different issues  (opens in a new tab) that can arise with big, hulking IT projects—and poor communication is only one of them.

Perhaps the most interesting one is user disengagement, which Coriale says  (opens in a new tab) is often caused by a lack of information about the purpose of the project or its benefits, or by a lack of resources, such as time or leadership.

“Staff may not fully cooperate if they don’t see the need for change. You have to listen to concerns, ask questions, and understand why they’re resisting change,” Coriale writes. “When fear, anxiety, and ego are involved, you need communication and, especially, empathy.”

Ultimately, associations need to be ready for the possibility that things may go off the rails. “Take the time at the start of a project to understand what can go wrong—do the necessary risk analysis,” Coriale writes.

Check out part one  (opens in a new tab) and part two  (opens in a new tab) for more issues to keep an eye on. (He covers a lot of stuff!)

Create the Habit

Your member onboarding strategy is a key part of what turns a new member into an engaged one. How do you keep them on the hook? A blog post over at MemberMan’s website offers suggestions  (opens in a new tab) to get the relationship up and running. A pithy tip: “The main thing is to not drop the ball.”

Other Links of Note

Guess who’s revamping their content strategy? Google. The company launched a new blog platform  (opens in a new tab), Blog.Google, on Thursday.

Make the most of 15 minutes. Fast Company contributor Lisa Rabasca Roepe offers suggestions for staying productive  (opens in a new tab), even when you don’t have much time.

Innovative approaches to email probably aren’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think of AOL, but the company just introduced a groundbreaking mobile  (opens in a new tab) strategy for managing the beast, Wired reports.

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