Picture this: You’re in the middle of a massive, large-scale initiative and things are unfortunately going off the rails. Teams aren’t aligned, senior leadership hasn’t allocated the resources you need, and now you’re stuck wondering how on earth you’re going to move forward.
Large-scale initiatives are complex undertakings that can significantly impact a company's operations, resources, and overall success. But navigating through them requires a deep understanding of the project, effective communication, and strong advocacy on behalf of the client.
That’s why a third-party client advocate can make all the difference! They’ll help your large-scale initiative stay on track while guiding you around any pitfalls and increased risk you may encounter along the way.
Understanding the Role of a Third-Party Client Advocate
So what exactly does an advocate do? They serve as a trusted, and unbiased, advisor and representative for the company during large-scale initiatives. Their primary responsibility is to ensure your interests are protected and that the project aligns with the established goals and objectives. They also act as a bridge between the company and other project stakeholders, providing valuable insights and guidance from start to finish.
More specifically, a client advocate helps with:
Project oversight: They’ll provide comprehensive oversight of the project, keeping it on track and within budget, and ensuring it’s aligned with your expectations. They monitor project progress, identify potential risks or roadblocks, and proactively address issues that may arise.
Communication facilitation: Effective communication is critical, and a client advocate will keep everyone in the loop, including project stakeholders, vendors, contractors, and internal teams. They ensure the flow of clear and timely information, while fostering collaboration and reducing the chance for misunderstandings.
Risk management: An advocate will assess and manage project risks to help you make informed decisions and mitigate potential pitfalls. They’ll also develop risk mitigation strategies, conduct risk assessments, and provide recommendations to minimize disruptions and delays.
Quality assurance: Client advocates stay focused on quality throughout the entire project. They establish quality standards, perform regular audits, and monitor deliverables to ensure the project meets your requirements. This helps maintain the integrity of the project and ensures that final outcomes align with expectations.
Issue resolution: If conflicts arise, client advocates will serve as mediators, working towards amicable resolutions that protect your interests. They facilitate negotiations, provide objective advice, and help reach a consensus among stakeholders.
Pitfalls of Not Having a Client Advocate
When you’re deciding whether or not to involve a third-party client advocate, it’s important to weigh the risks of opting against one. While it might seem easier and more economical to attempt a large-scale initiative on your own, doing so can actually cost you much more in the long run.
Here are some risks you’ll assume when not engaging an advocate:
Lack of alignment: Misalignment between the company's objectives and the outcome of the project is a significant risk. The absence of an advocate can lead to decisions that prioritize the interests of other stakeholders over yours as the client, resulting in suboptimal results.
Poor communication: Communication breakdowns are more likely to occur, resulting in misunderstandings, delays in sharing information, and misalignment among stakeholders, all of which can hinder progress and negatively impact the project's success.
Increased risk exposure: Without proactive risk management and mitigation strategies, issues may arise that threaten budgets, and/or cause delays and even project failure. As a result, your organization could be left vulnerable to unforeseen risks and challenges.
Inadequate issue resolution: Disputes or conflicts may escalate and lead to prolonged issues, increased costs, and damaged relationships among stakeholders that could even extend beyond the project.
The AXIA Difference
Built on a foundation of integrity, honesty, and quality, we bring both depth and experience to solve your most pressing business and technology challenges. Our Client Advocates offer an unbiased viewpoint to keep businesses and integrators on the same page. We work closely with you to gain perspective on challenging issues and then develop effective solutions.
Our Client Advocates can help you:
- Structure and run your program successfully
- Proactively identify risks before they can negatively impact the project
- Ensure that all parties understand requirements, staff needs, and timelines
- Facilitate constructive problem solving vs. counter-productive finger pointing
- Keep expectations in line with project goals
- Create win-win scenarios with the integrator
Here’s how we do it:
Independent governance: We provide an objective third-party viewpoint that promotes successful collaboration between clients and integrators. Our Client Advocates help you develop effective solutions to challenging problems including project alignment and scope, staffing needs, requirements, and deliverables.
Alignment of expectations and goals: We promote continual alignment of business and project expectations and goals, keeping all parties focused on delivering the business case. We facilitate the tough discussions that are often required to maintain alignment and keep the project moving in the right direction.
Transparency & QA: We help you gain visibility into the metrics that really matter, and we know how to ask key questions that will uncover issues before they become real problems. As an objective third party, we ensure that everyone is held accountable to pre-defined success criteria with agreed upon “decision tree” contingencies and associated impacts.
Proactive risk mitigation: Our Client Advocates bring deep experience to identify risks before they impact the project, along with the expertise to address problems with constructive solutions.
AXIA’s Client Advocates have decades of experience leading complex programs including global programs, programs with multiple integrators, and broad business transformation programs.
With deep expertise in Oracle, Microsoft D365, NetSuite, Infor, SAP, and more, we work with you to achieve meaningful results for your technology implementations and transformations.
As your Client Advocate, we act on your behalf to provide an objective viewpoint on your most challenging issues, mitigate risks, and give you clear strategies to align perspectives.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.
