Supply Chain Management For Dummies. Daniel Stanton

      FIGURE 4-7: The six responsibilities of a leader in the DIRECT model.

      Define the objective

      Every project should start with a charter that clearly describes the scope, schedule, and budget of the project; identifies the project sponsor; and explains why the project is important. The charter helps ensure that everyone has similar expectations for the project and can prevent scope creep (new work added to the project later).

      Investigate the options

      Before running down the path of a particular solution, it’s usually a good idea to consider other ways to accomplish your goal. Investigating your options early reduces the chances that you’ll suffer buyer’s remorse and ensures that you take into account the many points of view that can affect decisions in the supply chain.

      Resolve to a course of action

      When the options are clear, the team needs to make a decision and move forward. Supply chain projects can be stalled by analysis paralysis when teams get bogged down trying to collect data rather than making decisions and taking action. On the other hand, supply chain projects can collapse because the team gets busy working too soon — before they properly understand all the interdependencies and risks.

      Execute the plan

      When the plan is in place, the team needs to focus on executing the plan. Moving projects forward, keeping them on schedule, and keeping them on budget require special skills. Surprises will always occur, and surprises take time and money to address, but the credibility of the team and the value of the project depend on getting the work done on time. Executing the plan takes focus, a sense of urgency, and good communication among team members.

      Change the system

      Projects are about changing the way that the supply chain — the system — works. You must understand how a system works, the current state, before you change it. That understanding comes from the work that your team does to define and investigate the project. You also need to know how you expect the system to perform when the change is complete — the future state — which comes from the work the team does to resolve and execute. The change from the current state to the future state doesn’t happen instantly or by magic. The implementation of the change needs to be planned, too. If you’re starting a new distribution center on Monday, for example, consider whether you should shut down the old one the Friday before or run both centers in parallel for six months to make sure that the new one is working properly. You should also plan for the issues that are likely to come up during the change, such as shipments that get misrouted or equipment that doesn’t work as expected.

      Transition the people

      You need to think about the people who operate the system and how your changes will affect the routines of your customers, your employees, and your other stakeholders. If your project is going to affect those people’s experience, you need to help them prepare for the change. Any time something changes, people need to process and accept that change. Organizational behavior expert William Bridges studied the process that people go through when responding to a change in their environment, and he called this process transitioning. The key point is that managing the transition is just as important as managing the change. Whereas the change is about the system, the transition is about the people.