Eighteen months into a company-wide ERP implementation, the organisation was 20% done.
Not behind schedule. 20% delivered. Budget blown, the plan in pieces, and the people meant to use the new system didn't believe it was coming.
It was successfully delivered. Here's what changed.
Start with what's true, not what the plan says
The plan was still being reported against, even though everyone close to it knew it didn't reflect reality anymore. First job wasn't a new plan. It was an honest one. That meant talking to the people doing the work, not just the people managing it, and finding out where things actually stood.
Fix the structure before the schedule
20% done after 18 months isn't a scheduling problem. It's structural — no clear ownership, no one accountable for decisions, governance that wasn't governing. Getting the right people making the right calls mattered more than a new timeline.
Project sponsorship had been passed around the executive team like a hot potato — never quite landing anywhere. A key turning point was the Chief Executive stepping up to take on sponsorship directly and actively. That single move shifted focus on the project right across the organisation.
Changing the conversation and approach to delivery
Building trust was the first priority. Everything else followed from that.
The go-live was one release. Getting there wasn't. We brought the team together and worked backwards from where we needed to be on launch day, breaking the remaining work into stages from there — so the focus was on the next stage, not the whole project.
The team were sceptical at first — another new approach, after 18 months of one that hadn't worked. But we hit the first stage on time, and that changed things. From there it was stage by stage, on time, within what we'd agreed.
An important part of the shift was to change the conversation. Instead of talking about what had gone wrong, we asked a different question: what's missing that would make a difference? That keeps a team looking forward instead of back. It's what kept this one on track.
Projects and change management go hand in hand, and a core component of change is regular communication and engagement. We built a change and communication plan designed to engage everyone across the organisation. Just as important was involving key staff from each area in testing, so they felt heard — and gave feedback we actually actioned.
Fix the team, not just the plan
18 months of a stalled project takes a toll on people, not just the numbers. This team was set up in narrow, specialised roles — everyone doing their one piece, nobody able to flex to where the work needed them. That was part of why it had stalled.
We sat down with each person individually. Not to reassign them — to understand where their interests and strengths actually were. What came out of it was a shift to cross-functional working, built around the people, not the org chart.
That mattered more than the reorganisation itself. A lot of them were worried the project's failure would reflect on them, could cost them their careers. Part of the job was helping them let that go and giving them something to work toward instead.
It created a future for the project team as well — every one of them stayed, picked up new skills, and moved into new roles within the organisation. The culture shift showed up directly in delivery.
The result
Fully delivered in six months. On budget from there. An organisation that was engaged and excited about the new system — and, more importantly, a system that worked, with no major Day 1 issues.
The pattern holds beyond ERP
This isn't really about software. It's what turning around any stalled transformation looks like — HRIS rollouts, restructures, culture change that's stalled. Get honest about where things stand. Fix who's accountable before you fix the plan. Break the work into stages the team can actually hit.
If that's where your organisation is right now, let's talk.
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