Nothing happens without leadership. It’s the staff at the helm of the ship that drives projects forward. Without them, everyone would randomly bump into each other, like bumper cars at the arcade.
Here are three important roles of leadership within a Center of Excellence.
1. Executive Sponsorship/Steering Committee
Nothing in life is free, so they say. Philosophical conversations aside, this definitely applies to Salesforce projects. Someone has to pay the bill for the work done, and someone has to steer the ship towards the desired business goals. The Executive Sponsorship is responsible for the former, and the Steering Committee for the latter.
These small teams also need to be involved with key milestones of a project, and make the tough business decisions when compromises need to be made.
2. Top-down Incentives
To help steer the ship, leadership needs to incentivize the rest of the crew. So it’s to be expected that for a project to be successful, the executives need to motivate the workers in some way. Keep in mind incentives don’t always translate to financial benefits. Other motivations such as publicly recognizing employee achievement, paid vacation, or promotions are also options.
It’s up to the executives to decide exactly what the incentives are and when they are distributed.
3. Product Owner
No matter the project size, the product owner is usually a single individual. This person may or may not be an executive or in senior management, but they need to truly own the solution. They are effectively signing-off on the deliverables. Everyone else on the project could be seen as sponsors, advisors, or workers.
It’s an exciting role with the largest single responsibility.
The takeaway
Although the idea for a project doesn’t need to originate in leadership, it’s up to leadership to take business responsibility for the project. After that, it’s their job to keep everyone motivated and aligned on the business goals.