Wednesday, December 07, 2016

Three Cartoons With a Useful Message

On the third day of Christmas, my truelove gave to me... A few things to make me smile and yet still learn about CRM!


It's Christmas and so I feel one of my twelve tips (well maybe two, but the other post comes later...) should have some jollity. So here are three cartoons which I think are funny but they can also be used to explain a useful (serious?!) message:

1. Dilbert - my favourite cartoon series and I could use a dozen of them to emphasise different aspects of CRM procurement and implementation. But here's the one I have chosen:


(Just in case the cartoon does not embed properly, then try refreshing the page or click here to see the original).

I guess the message is pretty clear! As I often comment on this blog, it doesn't matter how good your software is: if your staff aren't trained, or if processes aren't clear or they are not followed, or if your supplier isn't paying attention to your requirements (and you haven't noticed) then you can have the best CRM System in the world and people can still be the fly in the ointment.

2. The Cloud. Ah, that wondrous and magical thing, the answer to everything. But...


It doesn't mean it is always the right thing to use for everyone every time. Yes, there are tremendous benefits from the Cloud but don't think it always has to be that way. What if you have large volumes of data? What if you already have a well structured and well supported on-premise IT infrastructure? What if the software you like isn't actually cloud-based?! Just make sure that the Cloud is considered as one of your options, not the only option.

3. Project Management. This cartoon was originally created in the 1960s and rather sadly it is still as pertinent today as it was then!

I'll leave it to you to interpret it for your future projects, but the bottom line is that you need business understanding, consistency, documentation (as you can see!) and project management structure, whatever your project management methodology is.



2 comments:

Unknown said...

Great set of cartoons and messages. I first encountered the 3rd one when I started my IT career in Andersen's consulting practice, and I still use a version of it when I teach a class in business MIS.

Tony Fendt said...

It doesnt matter how perfect your processes are, how diligent your 'people' follow them, if your objectives are not congruent with your client's business plan, you will fail.