5 Key Qualities an ERP Manager Must Have to Succeed

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) personnel is integral in helping your company thrive. As usual it starts at the top with a manager who should possess leadership qualities that will ensure the process goes off without any hitch. What are the skills which every ERP manager should have in order to succeed? This is a question which can be answered by the following excellent qualities:

1. Good Communication from Your ERP Manager

Communication between a manager and his or her team members is significant. If there are hard choices, it is the responsibility of the leader to convince the unsporting members to come together. The individual manager also translates various stages of the processes to people who have a diverse level of knowledge. Therefore, it is necessary to break down the system itself. In addition to that, communication can boost the team member’s ability.

2. Flexibility

The manager should know how to manage an ERP project. Apart from that, discipline, scrupulous focus, and ownership are virtues which any executive should have. Moreover, he should know when to embrace and when to resist changing specifications without affecting the overall project implementation.

3. Team commitment

Communication and team commitment go hand in hand. The best ERP manager is one who builds obligations among the group. Starting by building interest in the project will avoid pretty struggles from within the team during implementation. Hence, team members will be willing to assist in tasks as well as pitch in for a delegation.

4. Decision making

Specific problems and questions arise during the execution of new solutions. Companies require somebody who is able to make inform choices diligently without hesitating. An outstanding ERP manager is a decision maker who is able to efficiently come up with a conclusion concerning the needs which should be done. As a result, the overall performance of the team is improved.

5. Organization

Another quality of the manager is the fact that he or she should be organized. This is to ensure that everything is well taken care of. Conference calls, meetings, decisions all of these require the manager to do some multitasking. Nevertheless, he or she will be able to keep everything under control.

How to manage risks in ERP Projects

Risk management is a very crucial process to the success of the business. A risk is defined as a potential point of failure. Some of the forms of potential failures include political landmines, nature’s fury and untested technology. The following are important ways of managing risks:
· Finding the potential risks and points
· Accessing the failure of the probability which occurs
· Analyzing the potential failure points used for determining the damage which might occur.
Basing on the above methods, it is the responsibility of the project managers to rely on the advice from others and their experience so that they can find their potential failure point. One of the simplest ways of finding the potential failure point of a company is by talking to other firms who are doing the similar projects.
A successful and efficient ERP manager is able to observe the guidelines highlighted. This will enable him or her to complete certain traits and skills smoothly. Thus, the ERP implementation will be both easy and organized.

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Marissa Hart is the Lead Author & Editor of ERPeople. ERPeople is a blog focused on all Enterprise Resource Planning business management platforms. ERP can be used by a company to collect, store, manage, and interpret data from many business activities, including: Product planning, cost, manufacturing or service delivery, marketing, and sales.