In recent Workshops with LeapGreat global customers from very different industries, I had the privilege to experience project leaders in flashes of sudden insights. The so-called “Aha!” moments.
“Aha!” moments are impactful and memorable. These are critical points of connection when stakeholders realize the value that we bring to them.
In a nutshell, the insights that our customers expressed were the realization that with LeapGreat’s unique approach (Hub, FrontLoad™, Phase Zero), we are creating, in project implementations, a solid bottom-up governance in full support of the traditional top-down governance.
LeapGreat is in 100% alignment with the literature on SAP projects published by all the renowned credible sources such as Gartner, Deloitte, IDC, … These analysts and reports document the need for strong governance in ERP implementations.
For instance, one of the leading Global SAP SI highlighted in their recent report (Top 10 Change Management Challenges for Enterprise Resource Planning Implementations) republished in this SAP White Paper:
“ it’s critical to ensure that the entire organization understands the reasons and strategy behind the move… If project members and end users don’t understand the objectives, confusion can prevail over purpose and commitment, increasing resistance to change and reducing the chance of success.”
Closer to home, here in Montreal, I have been following with eager eyes, the next chapters in the press about the perfect storm at a major public sector project failure. In simple words: the failure of this digital transformation wasn’t about (SAP) technology. It was about governance — weak oversight, poor risk management, and lack of staged accountability that created the perfect storm.
As a reminder, what is a good definition of project governance?
Project governance is a framework of rules, processes, and decision-making structures that guide how a project is planned, executed, and controlled. It’s about who decides what, how decisions are made, and how accountability is ensured. [Several Sources]
Key elements usually include:
- Clear roles and responsibilities (who is accountable for success, who provides oversight, who executes).
- Decision-making structure (committees, steering groups, approval gates).
- Transparency (how information is reported and shared).
- Risk management (how risks are identified and mitigated).
- Performance monitoring (tracking budget, timelines, benefits).
- Alignment with broader strategy and public interest (especially in government projects).
LeapGreat’s Hub focuses on providing centralized control and transparency through a central cockpit, a dashboard for managing project charters, scope, documentation, issues, and testing. The FrontLoad™ approach integrates testing from the start to align business needs with SAP S/4HANA capabilities, ensuring early visibility and reducing risk. This proactive, business-driven strategy aims to simplify ERP transformations by fostering collaboration, ensuring alignment between workstreams, and allowing for early user engagement to drive successful adoption.
Key Elements of LeapGreat’s Governance Approach
- Centralized Cockpit: LeapGreat provides a central platform to manage the entire project, including the project charter, structure, methodology, scope definitions, and documentation.
- Transparent Role Mapping: users understand their future roles and responsibilities by mapping their positions to specific SAP roles and processes, accelerating adoption.
- Integrated Testing and Validation: testing is embedded from day one with LeapGreat’s FrontLoad™ methodology, allowing for early requirement validation and problem resolution.
- Business-Driven Approach: the strategy prioritizes real business needs and operational reality, using simulations and real-world data to ensure the SAP S/4HANA system is aligned and delivers business value.
- Collaboration and Alignment: the platform stimulates horizontal and vertical collaboration, providing a unified view of data and processes to ensure workstreams remain in sync.
Benefits of the LeapGreat Approach to Project Governance
- Reduced Risk: by moving away from a disordered and fragmented approach to ERP projects, LeapGreat minimizes surprises and provides a clear, transparent path for transformation.
- Accelerated Adoption: stakeholders experience their future roles and system functionality early, leading to better familiarity, training, and faster acceptance.
- Enhanced Control and Transparency: the central cockpit gives the project team one place to manage all aspects, ensuring full control and transparency across the corporate value chain.
- Proactive Issue Resolution: embedding testing and validation early helps catch and resolve issues before they become critical, saving time and costs.
- Greater Business Value: the focus on user experience, agility, and alignment with actual business needs ensures that the implemented system delivers significant business value.
In conclusion, LeapGreat enables bottom-up governance by bringing “reality” into the project from day one through our FrontLoad™ methodology and a working Phase Zero, allowing project members to test and provide early feedback on tangible processes rather than waiting for conceptual designs.
This hands-on, iterative approach ensures that decisions are taken supported by operational realities and business needs, leading to better-aligned outcomes from the ground up in conjunction and alignment with the overall top-down traditional project governance.
Simone Spiller, M.Sc. – Project Success Lead @LeapGreat and University Lecturer
