A Proof of Concept (POC) project begins when an organization starts a new or existing program. Usually, at the beginning of a large-scale effort, a POC should be a Testbed Project. A Testbed Project takes a smaller portion of the overall effort and contains it to see if it works with the company objectives.
Take, for example, a new financial system with multiple software components for each business area is in consideration. The company might create a small POC team with representative members from HR, Finance, IT, the solutions provider, and an executive sponsor. This team will be a separate entity dedicated to testing the software to see if it’s a good fit for the company.
A Proof of Concept project can also be created if a current project shows issues, is struggling to align with the corporate goals and vision, or is lagging in approach. Again, creating a small team of the appropriate players will expose the most complex areas in the project for testing.
Read more: Project Proposal Template & Examples
Why Implement a POC Project
Why should you implement a Proof of Concept project? A POC effort can work in any business or industry. Teams in finance, HR, sales, and marketing can all successfully use a Proof of Concept approach.
Many organizations make the mistake of trying to take on overly large programs that affect multiple departments of a company at once. Chunking a large program into smaller POC efforts — with an overall plan to complete — will save money, time, and aggravation.
Answer these questions first before beginning any strategic corporate initiative:
- Does the project align with our company’s core business?
- Is the program new on the market?
- What division is asking for the system?
- If there is an external vendor, what is their area of expertise?
How to Establish a Valuable POC Team
Determine the team structure. The POC Team should be relatively small. A good rule of thumb is 10 to 12 people. Determine who should be involved, and what, when, where, and how these people will be best utilized.
Limit participation to key stakeholders. Ensure that only the responsible business areas commit resources to the effort. While other regions of the company may want to be involved, the success of a POC depends on keeping the core team focused on the effort. Why? The focus of the POC is to determine whether the project should be adopted by other areas of an organization.
Always have a an executive sponsor. Why include an executive sponsor? Extensive efforts need someone to be a spokesperson that can communicate and help clear the way for the POC team. The organization’s leadership, especially in mission-critical rollouts, should be seen, heard, and supported by the team.
Keep the team independent. The POC team needs to focus its efforts on only the POC Project. If they are on other projects or have competing responsibilities, the POC will not be successful. Remember, a Proof of Concept Project is an encapsulated effort; a POC should not be or become a long-term exercise. The purpose is to determine if the project is viable for the organization.
How to Use the Results of a Proof of Concept Project
Understanding the importance and need for a POC Project will help an organization know if a more laborious or troubled project will work at scale. Creating a solid POC Team is vital for success, especially when it comes to the executive sponsor. The hardest part of a POC effort is ensuring the project meets the corporate goals.
If the POC team determines that the tested program isn’t a fit, consider a new approach or classify the effort as a sunk cost. Too many organizations start significant efforts and don’t realize it may be a bad idea. A POC project can help determine this success or failure early on, ultimately saving time and money. A Proof of Concept effort is an excellent tool for anyone responsible for corporate initiatives.
Read next: Establishing Meeting Cadence for Remote Project Teams
Featured Partners: Project Management Software
If you’re interested in learning more about top-rated project management software, project-management.com actively recommends the following:
1 Wrike
Wrike is the most powerful work management platform on the market, enabling teams to plan projects and collaborate in real time. Our award-winning software is trusted by 20,000+ companies across the globe, including Sony, Estée Lauder, and Siemens.
Wrike’s customizable features include Gantt charts, request forms, dashboards, cross-tagging, time tracking, and proofing. Integrate with 400+ apps from the likes of Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce. Automate repetitive tasks and achieve 50% faster planning. Work from anywhere with 100% access to your files via our mobile and desktop apps.
Whether you’re a small startup or an established brand, Wrike has the solution for you. Paid plans start at $9.80/user/month. Join our community of 2.3 million — start your free two-week trial today.
2 monday.com
monday.com Work OS is an award-winning no-code work management platform that helps teams manage projects and workflows more efficiently.
Used by 152,000+ customers worldwide, this fully customizable software lets you plan, manage, and track every project in one place. monday.com offers time-saving and easy-to-use features such as automations, time tracking, document sharing, and real-time collaboration. Multiple board views such as Gantt and Kanban help you structure and navigate tasks and projects the way you prefer, and dashboards give a high-level overview of your progress.
In addition, integrations with apps such as Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Gmail, and Excel, allow you to easily continue working with your favorite tools from within the platform. monday.com also offers dedicated solutions, such as monday dev and monday sales CRM, designed to answer the needs of specific industries.
3 Smartsheet
Smartsheet is a leading work execution platform that has real-time work management features, collaboration and automation tools. Users are presented with a familiar and easy-to-use spreadsheet-like interface. However, it has enterprise-grade capabilities that even Fortune 500 companies like Cisco, Bayer, HP, and PayPal are confident to adopt in their business. Strong project management features enable teams to utilize different views of real-time data, and switch easily from Gantt, card, grid and calendar views. Smartsheet has automatic update requests, and can be used for waterfall and agile projects, product launch, sprint planning, and more. The resource management feature provides users the visibility who is busy, and who is not, in real-time. They can also attach files, share sheets, get notified, view the activity log, export, email, and print.
