Crew power: Why the best strategy fails without the right team

It may sound like a truism – but our experience shows that this perspective is often not sufficiently taken into account: In practice, it is often not tools or budgets that determine success, but people. After all, what good is the most modern tech stack if the team is not adequately staffed?

“You take it, I’ve got it” – what leads to conceded goals on the soccer pitch causes unnecessary costs and frustration in IT projects. Who takes on which role? What skills are missing internally? What does the interface with the service provider really look like? If you only clarify these questions during implementation, you are already in a back seat.

The 4 pillars of Crew Power

To get a team into performance mode, we at Shopmakers look at four crucial components:

Framework conditions & premises:
Are deadlines, compliance rules and milestones not just in the project manager’s head, but documented and approved for everyone?

Roles & Skills (RACI):
Who is responsible (responsible), who is Accountable (authorized to make decisions)? An active RACI matrix prevents the dangerous “vacuum of responsibility”.

Collaboration framework:
Scrum, Kanban or waterfall? Which tools such as Jira or Confluence are used and how? Transparency is only created when information black boxes (“Only Klaus knows”) are dissolved.

Quality standards:
What does “finished” mean? Without a clear Definition of Done (DoD) and a common understanding of error classes, the team is very likely to talk past each other at some point during the project.

The maturity level check: Where does your team stand?

The Shopmacher use a maturity model to make crew power measurable. Hand on heart: Where do you rank your current project?

Roles are poorly defined, collaboration is situational, documentation is superficial.

The core team is in place and initial responsibilities have been documented.

Roles and capacities are clear, working models (e.g. Scrum) are established.

Full transparency. Everyone knows what they have to do, when and how. Interfaces are binding.

Closing the “Gap to Good”

Honesty among the crew is the basis for budget compliance. Identifying the gap – i.e. the gap between the current status and the “ready” status – is not a sign of weakness, but the most important step towards minimizing risk. If you invest here in a structured way, you will save a lot of rework and nerves later on.

Checklist: Is your crew ready for the mission?

Is there a matrix that clearly separates roles and decision-making competencies (RACI)?
Is the working model (e.g. sprints, daily meetings) accepted by everyone involved?
Are the quality criteria (Definition of Ready/Done) set out in writing?
Do we have a plan for making Klaus’ knowledge available to everyone?

TO THE NEXT PERSPECTIVE

The other perspectives:

2 The initial situation: Why a foundation made of toothpicks brings down every project

A project never starts on a greenfield site. An honest inventory of the existing systems (ERP, PIM, CRM), data flows and processes is mandatory. If documentation is missing and only “legacy knowledge” exists in the heads of individual employees, this is a massive project risk. But who hasn’t been told in response to queries in projects: “Only Klaus knows that, and he’s not here today.”

3. clear target image: Where do we want to be at the end?

A target image is much more than a list of features. It defines the business vision, target markets and, above all, the KPIs by which success is measured. While detailed plans are often invalidated by the first problem, a strategic target picture keeps the project on course even in stormy phases.

More about the target image

4. solution: How do we build the bridge between ACTUAL and TARGET?

This perspective identifies the specific differences between the current status and the target image. It translates the black box “project” into a comprehensible roadmap with stages, decision points and clear next steps.

Further information

TO THE GUESSWORK TRAP

ALSO INTERESTING

IT skills shortage: ten tips for conflict-free offshoring

Instead of desperately looking for specialists in Germany who, for example, can further develop their own web shop, more and more companies are employing freelancers from abroad. However, this certainly harbors the potential for conflicts. SHOPMACHER Managing Director André Roitzsch knows which factors are important for successful cooperation.

gamescom 2025: The Shopmacher improve digital orientation, creator access and community feeling

Find better, trade fairly, celebrate stress-free: the gaming event gamescom has further optimized its digital platform in 2025. The e-commerce agency Shopmacher is responsible for this for the fourth time in a row. With an interactive hall plan, an update to the digital adventure game epix and a completely revised signing area tool, Shopmacher has improved the community feeling and user convenience.

Digitally accessible – or soon to be left out?

The countdown is on: On June 28, 2025, the Accessibility Reinforcement Act (BFSG) will come into force. But reality shows that many online stores are not yet ready. The new Accessibility Study 2025 reveals: The digital shopping world is still full of avoidable hurdles.