The TARGET-method.
Six steps. No surprises.
ICT projects have a reputation: they overshoot scope, overshoot timing, overshoot budget. We built the TARGET-method to put that to bed, control, momentum, and clear focus, from kick-off to go-live.
What TARGET fixes.
Most Odoo projects fail in the same places: weak executive sponsorship, vague scope, hidden risks discovered too late, drifting meetings, decisions stuck in committees. Each letter of TARGET targets one of those failure modes.
The five places where Odoo projects die.
No executive ownership
When the decision-maker is not involved after kick-off, ambiguous situations get stuck. The team cannot move forward without sign-off; momentum stalls; deadlines slip.
Scope discovered too late
A requirement surfaces in week 8 that should have been in the fit-gap. Now it is either rushed custom work or a delay. Analysis upfront eliminates this category almost entirely.
Risks addressed in the wrong order
The safe modules get configured first; the hard integration gets parked. Then in the final sprint, the integration becomes a blocker and the go-live slips.
Meetings without decisions
Weekly calls that run long and produce only notes. No assigned actions, no owners, no deadlines. The project slows to the pace of the slowest attendee.
Knowledge stuck in one place
The only person who understands the process goes on holiday. Or leaves. Deep-dives with the right subject-matter expert, early, prevent this from becoming a crisis.
T · A · R · G · E · T
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Top management involvement
Real involvement from the owner, director or executive sponsor. Not just a kick-off cameo, through every phase. This is what keeps the project moving when something hard needs deciding.
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Analysis upfront
A Fit-Gap analysis at the start: every process mapped, every standard vs custom decision flagged, every priority set. Findings land in a shared table, not in a 60-page document nobody reads.
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Risk prioritization
We open every project by surfacing the three biggest risks: custom development, integrations, large data migrations, specialised process configuration. Resolve those first; the rest follows.
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Guided check-ins
Weekly or bi-weekly calls, max 30 minutes. Only two things on the agenda: action items completed, action items assigned. No status theatre.
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Expert sessions
Deep-dives with the right people in the room, often 1:1. Process owners, technical leads, finance, ops. Decisions made where the knowledge actually lives.
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Task management
Three time dimensions tracked in Odoo's project tool: client time, Radical Fanatics time, total project duration. Gantt-style visibility. Everyone sees the same view.
What a TARGET-driven project looks like.
- Weeks 1–2
Fit-Gap analysis
Every process mapped, every module decision documented, risks ranked. Output: a shared working document, not a 60-page report.
- Weeks 3–10
Configuration + build
Modules configured, custom development built, integrations wired. Expert sessions with each functional area. Weekly check-ins.
- Weeks 10–14
Testing + training
User acceptance testing, data migration validation, team training. Issues logged and resolved in the project tool.
- Week 14+
Go-live + hypercare
Phased go-live or big-bang depending on complexity. Hypercare period for the first weeks, faster response, closer monitoring.
These are ranges across 80+ projects. Actual duration depends on scope, custom work, and data migration complexity.
Questions about TARGET.
- Is TARGET a standard methodology like PRINCE2 or SAFe?
- No. TARGET is the practical framework we developed across 80+ Odoo projects. It draws on standard project management principles but is optimised for the specific failure modes of ERP implementations in Dutch SMBs.
- Do we need TARGET for a small implementation?
- Even small implementations benefit from the core disciplines: executive owner, upfront analysis, risk ranking, and structured check-ins. The overhead is minimal; the risk reduction is significant.
- What does "top management involvement" actually mean?
- It means the owner, director, or executive sponsor attends the key decisions, scope changes, custom build approvals, go-live sign-off. Not every meeting. Just the ones where a "yes" or "no" from the top actually changes the outcome.
- How long do the weekly check-ins take?
- We cap them at 30 minutes. The agenda is fixed: completed actions, new actions, blockers. No status updates, no discovery. Everything that needs discovery gets its own expert session.
Want to see it applied to your project?
Free scan first. We use the TARGET frame to map your situation in 30 minutes.
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