It is funny to think back to when we started on our journey towards international delivery, we heard at home and abroad all about ensuring that we have “globalisation” whilst also managing “localisation”. People made so much of us understanding “local” ideas in another country, but when it comes to IT I believe that “localisation” for a country is no different to your standard “localisation” for a client, and we shouldn't be afraid to bring forward the best practice of what we learn in delivery to every project whether it is in the UK, abroad or (for the future) on Mars!
Good practice in managing a project or delivering systems is the same the world over. A good system is a good system the world over. Now, any system or methodology needs a bit of tweaking for its audience, but that’s the same tweaks that you make for different types of clients it’s not like working in another culture suddenly means everything you know and do goes out the window. Your systems may need language changes, or you may need a new feature here and there, but in my experience take those things back to other clients and they will actually see a benefit. It may be that you need to adapt the way you manage the project, but the rules are pretty much the same. So just to remind you, here are some key points for a successful project:
- Agree a plan. This includes some dates. Even if you are not going to meet them you need the focus.
- Engage your users. You need to overcome worried users fear of online systems and the effect on their jobs.
- Review a plan and keep it relevant
- Engage users to think about how they will use the system.
- Keep a list for issues and changes so that you have something both parties can refer to.
- Use the best practice that comes from experience of others. It’s a very valuable asset.
Scott
