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From SAP consultancy to digital sparring partner: We invest in our project and process management

“Get agile or go down tryin'”. What reads like the title of a new rap album is the motto of our time. Because if you want to continue to exist as a company, you have to be agile and remain flexible. In other words, welcome, allow and manage change. And for this to succeed, it is essential to take a more holistic view of projects, to analyze processes, but also to say goodbye to old ways of thinking and to explore potential conflicts. The topic of the hour is therefore: project and process management, including change management. And for this reason, we have also been dealing with this for a long time. We will tell you what this new path looks like at scc and more about the professions of project and process manager.

Holistic guidance

Let’s start with the “why” – why has agility become a key competence and why are we therefore sharpening the path we have already taken and thinking bigger? Quite simply, because digital transformation is omnipresent and change is the order of the day in companies. The question, however, is: How will these be managed? And this is where we come in. We know that it’s no longer just about having the right tools and instruments, but also about everything that goes with them:

  • Every change – for example a switch to SAP, but also every other (digital) project – must be accompanied holistically.
  • For example, it is important to create the right framework conditions in advance or to ensure the necessary acceptance in order to be able to initiate the change process in the first place. Later on, agile methods and new technologies are required, as well as a great deal of empathy and the ability to work in a team – after all, we humans are still the main players in any project.
  • A changeover is not complete once it has been implemented; after that, it is important to ensure that everything runs smoothly and to identify further potential for improvement. Or to initiate the next change.

And that is precisely why we are strengthening and accelerating our project and process management, including change management. This will enable us to provide customers with even better and more comprehensive support for every change in future. And we will move from being a pure SAP consultancy to a digital sparring partner for IT and digitalization.

We invest in the future

We are therefore investing in our project and process management. And, at the same time, in the future of our customers. We are convinced that this is a win-win situation. And that is why our project and process managers continue to develop in order to meet current requirements. These require, for example:
1
Technical understanding:
It is important to use digital technologies and agile methods correctly and to find the optimal solutions for customers. To do this, it is important to develop an understanding of the underlying business. Skills for managing projects remotely - the keyword here is remote working - are also becoming increasingly important.
2
Entrepreneurial thinking:
Nowadays, project managers and process managers can no longer manage without leadership qualities, entrepreneurial skills or an awareness of moderate and sensible risk management. They also need analytical thinking, time management, organizational talent and problem-solving skills.
3
Structured & sustainable way of working:
A structured way of working and an eye for the big picture, coupled with a certain love of detail, are also essential. At the same time, there should be a certain environmental awareness in order not to hold every appointment on site in the interests of sustainability.
4
Communication skills:
Whether as a project manager or process manager, strong communication skills are essential in order to lead discussions, get to the heart of the matter or derive measures.
5
Soft skills:
Closely related to this are other social skills such as the ability to work in a team, empathy and persuasiveness, as well as the innovative spirit, flexibility, adaptability and interdisciplinary skills needed to lead different teams.
6
Training and further education:
Finally, project and process managers must be prepared to undergo continuous further training. This is the only way to respond optimally to dynamic market conditions.

Change management as a key element

Change management plays a key role here. After all, every change also harbors potential for conflict - first and foremost, there must be a willingness to embrace the innovation in question. And this almost always requires old thought patterns to be discarded. This calls for empathetic change managers who are able to build the necessary acceptance among all those involved, analyze processes, identify potential conflicts, ensure transparency, justify the methods and tools and also deal with resistance. And it is essential that the change manager is not the same as the project manager. Because if both roles are performed in the same role, conflicts of interest are inevitable.

Our team is growing

What is needed for this? An agile team. We can already draw on a large project management community that is continuously expanding its knowledge. We are also currently training specific process managers who also deal with the topic of change management. In the long term, we want all scc employees to have the necessary basic knowledge of project and process management, and there will also be experts for more specific topics. And: we are always on the lookout for interested people who find these developments just as exciting as we do and want to become part of our team.

The professions briefly explained

We can only roughly outline what exactly an (SAP) process manager or project manager does at our company due to the wide range of customer projects in the most diverse areas. This is because no two jobs are the same. We can assure you that both are varied areas. And both require skills that take account of rapid change and digital transformation. Nevertheless, we would like to give you a rough overview:

1
What does a (SAP) project manager do?

This person is responsible for the correct implementation of a project. This includes planning, leadership, communication, risk management, quality management, time management, reporting, completion, debriefing or an evaluation with regard to profitability.

2
What does a (SAP) process manager do?

Process managers document sequences and tasks in a company, are in close coordination with all parties – including across departments and sometimes across companies – and try to continuously improve processes. Process modeling always pursues goals such as cost savings, simple processes or greater efficiency.

We think bigger, we think more holistically

We will therefore remain primarily an SAP consulting company, but we are venturing - together with our customers - into a holistic (consulting) future. In order to give customers the best possible ability to act, to achieve learnings that will help us all move forward, to get the best for everyone involved, to further develop every company, and therefore also ourselves. And to walk this digital path together. In doing so, we rely on methods recommended by SAP, for example, as well as on our wealth of experience, skills and expertise. This makes us a holistic sparring partner when it comes to digital transformation.

Every change requires movement and the use of new methods and tools must be accompanied by continuous and structured change management, starting from management downwards.
Harald Slamanig
Project and process manager
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