Afiong Afuape’s journey shows how project managers can balance innovation with enterprise strategy to champion tools that drive meaningful change.
Digital transformation in large enterprises creates a unique challenge for project managers: knowing when to drive change from the ground up and when to align with top-down directives. For Afiong Afuape at Dell, this balancing act played out across two parallel stories of technology adoption. After watching her team transition from Smartsheets back to Planview based on enterprise strategy, she took a different approach when discovering AI capabilities in Microsoft Teams. Her journey shows how modern project managers can successfully champion innovation while respecting enterprise needs.
Tool transitions in large organizations rarely follow a straight path. "We just tried out Smartsheets as a way to consider another tool," Afuape explains. "But now we're just sticking with Planview based on leadership direction." This back-and-forth between exploring new solutions and maintaining standards is a familiar challenge for many project managers.
Quick Win: Before exploring new tools, map out how your current systems connect to other teams' workflows. This helps identify where there's room for innovation.
Sometimes alignment with enterprise strategy means changing course mid-stream. While exploring alternatives can help teams understand their needs better, large organizations often need standardization across departments. With team members distributed across Texas, Malaysia, Tennessee, and Massachusetts, Afuape emphasizes how tool consistency becomes even more critical when managing globally dispersed teams.
Quick Win: Document specific examples of where your current tools help or hinder cross-team collaboration. This evidence helps inform future tool decisions.
The landscape of available tools continues to evolve, especially around AI capabilities. "Initially we were only using Copilot," Afuape shares. "But once I learned about Teams Premium, I jumped on it." This initial testing led to broader opportunities. "I discovered ahead of my team that we had an ability to try out Teams Premium in pilot mode. Once I learned that, I shared that with my team about 'hey, this is new cool thing, this is how you can download it and set it up.'"
Quick Win: Pick one repetitive task and test how a new tool could improve it. Document the time saved and quality improved.
Moving from individual testing to organizational adoption requires systematic effort. For Afuape, this meant following a clear process:
"We had like a 60-day trial," she explains. "Once that ran out, I spoke to my manager, encouraged 'hey, how can we get this?' My manager was able to work with leadership and my team got a permanent license." This methodical approach to building support yielded results: "Now everybody on my team has access to it. Because I informed them earlier, some of them had tried it."
Enterprise change requires both patience and persistence. "Now that we have full access, everybody seems to be using it," Afuape shares, reflecting on the journey from initial testing to full adoption. Her experience demonstrates how thoughtful innovation can thrive even in large enterprises when approached systematically.
The key isn't choosing between driving change or following direction – it's knowing which path makes sense for each situation. Start small, demonstrate value, and be ready to adapt your approach based on what your organization needs.
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