I haven’t written too much about the role that an implementor plays in an AP Automation project, but it’s significant. In the beginning of my career I had the honor of implementing 89 projects without any help. Doing that many project you can imagine some were good and some were just the opposite of good, but with all of them I learned something, so much that I had enough material to write The 8 Pitfalls.

Personality?

So what does a person’s personality have to do with implementation… well a lot. Even though it is software, and as you may know software doesn’t have feelings and therefore it can’t have a personality. The people who direct the software, however need certain traits that make them better than others.

The Bad

Although not really a trait, the lack of experience creates most problems and shows up as traits. There is a thought that if you have excellent or a skilled project manager then executing on an AP Automation will be no problems… Just use the principles of good project management. It helps but not having AP Automation experience will create way too many starts and stops in the project where roadblocks are rammed into that could/should be avoided.

The Good

Here is a list of traits that a good AP Automation implementor should have.

• Excellent listening skills – there is nothing worst than a project manager that won’t shut up and talks because they are impressing themselves with their own knowledge.
• Change Agent – someone who knows good change management and can use that skill is an excellent trait.
• Ability to teach – I know this one seems obvious but it goes beyond just good communication. In order to be a teacher you have to communicate in a way that people can understand. The real test, however, is if those people who learn can learn in a way where they can teach others.
• Empathy – on the EQ (Emotional Quotient) scale, empathy is the top trait. This trait gives a genuine quality to the implementor that when dealing with change like Accounts Payable Automation goes a long way.

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