Every month, we meet the people who are shaping our customers' digital transformation. Today, we give the floor to Elodie Fournier, T&E Project Manager and Team Lead at Arago. She shares with us her career path, her business vision and the best practices that ensure the success of the projects she manages.
I'm Élodie Fournier, Project Manager at Arago. I began my career in the traditional travel agency sector, before specializing in business ticketing. These experiences have enabled me to develop solid technical expertise in the field of business travel.
I then worked as a Travel Manager for several years, which led me to work on the Concur solution. For six years, I deepened these skills by becoming an implementation consultant, first on Concur Travel, then on Concur Expense. I finally joined Arago as a consultant, and am now certified in both areas.
In my view, a key skill in project management is team coordination. It's essential to know your team members well, to organize tasks efficiently and to support them, especially when they run into difficulties. The project manager is a real support for his colleagues.
Concur is a solution for centralizing the management of business travel and expense reports within the company.
The main benefits for customers include simplified, harmonized processes, better control of expenses leading to cost savings, and high-quality reporting.
For more information on reporting, read our article.
The major difficulty lies in coordinating the functional and technical aspects of the project, in particular integrations, which are often the responsibility of the customer. These issues can lead to scheduling delays between operational and technical teams.
To avoid this, it is crucial to establish a clear framework from the outset of the project, and to ensure that the resources committed are fully invested. A strong commitment during the test phases is also crucial to maintaining the project's momentum and avoiding delays.
I don't have a rigid methodology; each project is unique and I adapt according to the needs and the people I work with. Nevertheless, I work mainly with Excel, an accessible and versatile tool, even if other tools such as MS Project can be used depending on the context.
Success depends first and foremost on the availability and commitment of teams on both sides of the project, including external partners. It's also essential to define clear requirements from the outset, avoiding special cases as much as possible.
When a core model is already in place, it's best to adhere to it to structure the requirement effectively and prevent unforeseen events. Last but not least, solid governance, with a decision-maker able to make quick decisions, is essential to ensure that the project progresses smoothly.
Elodie Fournier shows us that the success of a project depends not only on the tools, but also on the commitment of the teams, clarity of requirements and fluid coordination. Her rich, technical background fully reflects Arago's project management DNA. Interested in an audio version? Go to Spotify to listen to this episode of our Arago Voices podcast.
