Getting a pet project off the ground - Part 3

Getting pet projects off the ground - Part 1
Getting pet projects off the ground - Part 2

Conduct a successful pilot

I can imagine what you are thinking. “Conduct a successful pilot? What kind of advice is that? How am I supposed to know if a pilot is going to be successful? That is why I am running a pilot!” Obviously, you can’t ensure that your pilot is successful, but you can (and should) do everything you can to make sure that the execution of the pilot is high quality. In my case, all I did was facilitate and try to ensure that as the business ran the pilot, that I could help them make good decisions. I went to the planning meetings, I kept abreast of the decisions the business made (but really just advised, they did all the work).

I also paid a lot of attention to the results. In my company’s case, the pilot wave had a good result. I put together a one pager with the results and am now using it to show other business units the impact that site testing could have.

Be patient

The last step is not really a step, it is more of an approach. I would counsel to be patient in all parts of the process. Rushing these things turns folks off. You really need to build support and get buy-in. It took probably 9 months from when I had my first discussion with the vendor and our first test. Let folks see the value and want to make the pet project their own. On that note, don’t hold onto the project too tightly. Let other folks take ownership. In my case, the first business unit, the one who piloted site testing is off and running. I am evangelizing site testing with other parts of the business.