Move rehearsals are the best method for improving the confidence in your execution team, but this only works if you are vigilant about detecting the hand waving and false answers. Data center move rehearsals are usually met with one of two reactions: apathy or resistance. Yet these rehearsals are essential because they reveal flaws and expose areas requiring “deeper dives” to understand.
What makes a good rehearsal?
- Writing a clear agenda
- Declaring expected outcomes
- Seeding the audience with outside subject matter experts
- Encouraging dialog
- Recording the session for accurate follow-up
- Documenting action items for follow-up
Why the resistance?
- Most firms don’t actually have a written move plan. Rehearsing an undocumented move plan quickly exposes the dangers to everyone. And this exposure is typically avoided at all costs.
- Another reason for skipping the rehearsal is poor schedule management. In other words, the magnitude of the data center move was underestimated, the project is behind schedule, and inadequate resources are struggling to meet uninformed milestones.
- Finally, the inadequate budget for the move has been exhausted and often all manner of shortcuts are taken including skipping the critical move rehearsal.
Do it Wrong, Do it Over
Skipping a data center move rehearsal means that your team will attempt maneuvers for the very first time during the critical move window. Do you expect everything to go perfectly in that situation? Rehearsals can mean the difference between having to do the move over and doing it successfully.