How to Align Your Software Project with Business Outcomes

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If you want your business to run like clockwork, you have to make sure all the moving parts are in alignment. When the cogs are out of alignment, you’re bound to experience some hiccups, if not a complete shutdown of your project.

This is especially true when it comes to aligning your software projects with your business outcomes. It might seem like the world relies on technology more and more every day–and that’s because it does. Consequently, your relationship with your software developers can make or break your business. So, making sure everyone is on the same page can lead to getting the software features that lead to better business outcomes.

Poor Communication and Effective Project Alignment

Often miscommunication, or a complete lack of communication, gets in the way of effective project alignment. To prevent this problem, you have to have an understanding of how it happens in the first place.

A recent study by Lucid Software found that 41% of respondents reported taking one to three hours to achieve consensus around work to be done and 22% said that it took up to half a day. These teams reported having meetings together, but that those meetings did not translate into effective decision-making or clear action plans. When asked what would help reduce the time to achieve consensus, 45% said improved communication and collaboration tools.

The communication issues between tech workers and business teams are often even more pronounced. Sometimes it can seem like the two speak different languages entirely. Even Forbes points out that business teams and software developers have two very different goals. On one hand, business teams often want to focus on rapid development of features that generate revenue, while developers often lean towards more interesting and challenging features or perfecting their code. Without good communication it can be difficult to get past these fundamental differences in objectives.

In particular, poor communication between tech workers and business teams prevents project alignment by:

• Spending too much time trying to make sense of goals. When goals aren’t stated clearly, teams can flounder while trying to get clarification on their objectives.

• Not understanding what a realistic workflow looks like for the other team. Business teams may not understand feature functionality or viability, while developers might not fully understand business goals and timelines.

• Misunderstanding the difference between output vs. outcomes. Confusion between output vs. outcomes (i.e. rate of activity vs. actual things achieved) can lead to a lot of work being done without any real value. Business leaders should clearly lay out what good business outcomes look like in order to get software that can actually achieve those things.

• Garnering resentment due to unmet needs. Business teams might begin to feel the stress of not meeting their business goals when technical issues arise and tech teams might feel overpressured to complete tasks under unrealistic circumstances or constraints.

• Insufficient final products. If business leaders don’t provide clear details about what they need or aren’t involved in the intermediate steps, they might not like what they end up with in the end.

Getting Tech and Business Teams on the Same Page to Achieve Your Desired Business Outcomes

Getting to a state of harmonious project alignment requires the alignment of your software developers (whether they are vendors or in-house software developers) and your leadership and business teams. This means making sure your developers understand business goals and your business teams appreciate the value of data and technology.

If you have a software developer/engineering team it can be helpful to have cross-functional team members who can understand and communicate both sides and achieve synergy between teams. You can also create metrics that track progress toward goals for both teams and regularly discuss them. On the other hand, if you are using software vendors for your projects, you can ensure project alignment by making sure their business approach aligns with your goals or taking a look at their track record.

Another important step toward achieving better business outcomes is to create a more data-driven culture among all workers. Integrating data-driven decision making into all aspects of your company will help give your software project a much better chance of success by creating an understanding of the value of data.

When business teams have a better understanding of what the software developers are trying to create, they can feel more comfortable speaking about how certain features might help or hinder them in their own work. Maybe even more importantly, it will set them up to use the data more effectively long after the software is implemented. Once the people involved are on the same page, they can start working on how to get the job done.

Learn How to Implement a Good Software Development Strategy

To maximize your results, some amount of strategy must go into developing the right software for your business. But what counts as the “right” software will vary from business to business; this is why it’s crucial to understand and communicate the specific goals you want to achieve in order to get a custom software solution that will address your business’s unique challenges and provide features to help keep your finger on the pulse.

So, what should the strategic software development process look like?

• Laying out clear goals and expectations. Business leadership should hold meetings where they can clearly define the problems that need solving and lay out their vision of what success looks like. This might be specific KPI targets, explaining what kind of features are needed for workers to complete tasks, or what kind of data visualizations are needed. Allowing plenty of time for developers to ask questions can ensure they fully understand what you need.
• Regular stakeholder involvement. Stakeholders should meet with developers regularly to make sure the progress made fits with their goals. This way tweaks can be made along the way, instead of finding out that the end product isn’t at all what they envisioned.
• Open and understandable discussion of ideas. Developers should feel comfortable providing valuable input of ideas that might build upon leadership’s original ideas. Both teams should be able to explain their goals in a way that avoids jargon and inspires innovation.
• Testing and getting user feedback. Even the best software solutions need to be tested in real situations. Both tech and business teams can learn a lot from real-world feedback. 
• Using tools like project charters and Agile methodology. Project charters can set up a more tangible process and timeline by detailing explicitly stated goals, objectives, and resource requirements. The Agile methodology allows for constant evolution and optimization to make software more seamless. It focuses on delivering immediate value, then building and adding more features as needed.

How CSG Can Help

CSG Solutions is a software company that specializes in helping businesses achieve their goals. We have a deep understanding of what can be accomplished when business and technology are aligned. CSG believes in leveraging your company’s own data to harness long term success.

We have experience helping companies from a range of industries for over 30 years. Contact us today to find out about our enterprise assessment for unlocking your business’s potential.