Delivering complex transformation through effective Programme Management

Delivering complex transformation through effective Programme Management 

In today’s changing and volatile world, businesses may need to transform to survive. True transformation does not happen very often – it requires a fundamental change to how people interact and the technology they use to deliver measurable improvements in efficiency and effectiveness.  Done well, transformation will deliver easier, safer and faster products and services that are able to reach more people, more easily for less cost. 

A transformation will be made up of several change programmes and projects, each driving the specific outcomes and benefits required. Exceptional programme management will be required to ensure success. 

Programme management is easy, right? Work out what you want to do, build a plan and execute it.  How hard can it be? And yet, so many initiatives fail to deliver or experience serious delays and cost overruns. Just look at the news on HS2, NHS hospital builds and IT system implementations. 

At Project One, we have worked side by side with our amazing customers to deliver many transformations, made up of a whole variety of complex programmes and individual projects. We know how to do this and thought we would share the top 10 misconceptions that we see can lead to delivery failure, and action points to help you deliver your transformation successfully. 

Top 10 misconceptions that can lead to transformation failure 

#1 You can dive straight into delivery 

In at the top, and easily the most common of misconceptions is the thought that once you have the idea on what’s needed, you can just dive into delivery and get it done. Maybe in a very small organisation with no other change happening then this might work. But usually this will end in a lack of progress, confusion and ultimately failure.  

It is critical to take a structured approach to mobilise effectively, articulating the transformation vision and objectives, understanding how this change fits into the priority stack of everything else going on and how all parts of your business will be impacted.  

Action: Detail the elements you would expect to deliver, across all elements of process, people, information, technology and facilities, highlighting any constraints, assumptions, dependencies and risks. Build a roadmap and line up all resources and set the delivery up for success. This stage can take several months for a complex transformation. 

#2 Anyone can sponsor the change 

The transformation must be business-led. And this doesn’t mean telling the already overly busy COO that they are the sponsor and letting them dip in every few weeks, chairing a steering committee and banging the desk when things are delayed. Strong and effective business sponsorship is an art, that requires a vision to be set and shared across the organisation. It requires an inspirational and adaptable approach that will get the whole business behind the change, and it requires someone who has the time and experience to do this in the right way. 

Action: Throughout delivery you should maintain full traceability from the vision through to the outcomes. If you have elements that are not delivering to the vision and the outcomes – then drop them. Really focus in on the long term, and lead from the front to make sure you get there. 

#3 You just need to follow the plan 

Another common thought is that once you’re into delivery, it’s just about following the plan and pushing teams forward to hit all those milestones along the way. This rarely happens, especially in programmes of transformational change. The programme manager must keep pace with changes to the business landscape, deal with unforeseen circumstances and must be able to flex the plan and have the experience to know how to manage this. 

Action: Effective transformation delivery is underpinned by a structured change approach – ensuring that the changes to the way people work and the technology they use delivers to the right business outcomes and benefits. You need to make the change essential, make it ready, make it happen and then make it stick. 

#4 Governance is boring 

 “Governance is boring”. “These Steering meetings are a waste of my time”. Again, common misconceptions. Making the right decision at the right time, powered by a single version of programme truth is critical to success. The programme management skill is to firstly get this data right and at the right level and then to get the right stakeholders warmed up and involved so the right calls are made.  Lots of “rights”, and not easy to do! 

Action: Getting this right across different delivery methods is also complex. You may need to roll up information from agile and waterfall delivery teams, so establishing a common language or an agreed translation is critical to enable one central version of the truth. 

Confidence comes with stakeholders understanding that delivery is progressing to time and budget – that issues are being addressed and that risks are being well manged. Clear, concise, consistent and timely engagement between the Sponsor and Programme Director is critical. A good working relationship with strong trust is required. The use of clear and quality reporting significantly supports delivery confidence. 

#5 The more complex the better 

Just because something is transformational, it doesn’t necessarily have to be overly complex. In fact, one of the secrets of transformational success is to make the complex simple. Breaking a transformation down into constituent programmes is important, making sure that there is a good line of sight from vision down to delivery, with no overlaps or gaps and with all dependencies understood. If you need to prioritise then use a structured framework to help you establish the priority for the elements that need to be delivered and enable informed decisions to be made early. 

And make sure that whatever the size of your transformation then you still have the required governance and control – scaled appropriately. 

Action: Recognise where the complexity in the programme stems from, examples include entrenched stakeholder views, cross departmental dependencies, untested technology and high expectation of delivery pace. Systematically work to make the complex simple, for example, using a top-down approach to break down a complex problem or system into smaller parts. 

#6 Just get more people on the team 

We’ve heard many times that the answer is to just throw more resource at the problem and sometimes this might help, but a much better answer is to increase the efficiency of resource allocation and to make sure the resource you do have is of the right level of expertise. Given that organisations rarely go through multiple transformations, this may mean going externally for the expertise required. 

Action: That expertise is essential to avoid falling into the trap of ‘we are going to do this in a way that worked before’. Make sure that you take the time to make sure you are working in the most effective way, with a fit for purpose approach. 

#7 Flog your suppliers and you’ll go faster 

Talking of external help, another misconception is that suppliers should be constantly ‘whipped’ to get the most out of them! A partnership approach is much more effective, forming ‘one team’ and getting everyone to leave their badges at the door.  

Action: Aligning objectives is a must and making sure there are common incentives to deliver. Also remember that there will be multiple activities on your side of the fence that need to be covered to enable suppliers to deliver, so again the right capability in your team is essential. 

#8 Micromanagement will get results 

As well as collaborating with suppliers, there must be collaboration and communication across all teams involved.  Programme management is not all about control and management – it’s about great leadership, extracting the best from everyone and inspiring people to go above and beyond. If a programme manager is in micromanagement mode, then the delivery is doomed! 

Action: The key is to focus on the outcomes, rather than the detailed inputs, outputs and activities – why are we doing this, how does it link to business value and are we doing all we can to achieve the vision? 

#9 Everyone will just accept the change 

The final two misconceptions in our top 10 are around the areas impacted by the change. We have often seen project teams just thinking that the business areas will have to accept any new ways of working or new systems, because this is a key, priority project. It takes more than that.  

Action: Programme management is about winning the hearts and minds of the impacted people and making them want to change, with continual communication, involvement and again, leadership. This is the only way that the transformation will stick, and the benefits will be realised. 

#10 Deliver the programme and the benefits will follow 

All transformations and programmes are done for a reason, but so many fall short of thinking that the benefits need to be actively realised. It’s a must do to make sure the benefits are understood and signed-up to up-front by the relevant business areas and it also helps if they are then baked into operational plans. 

Action: The programme should actively manage these on and beyond initial implementation and make sure that the investment made is actually paying off. 

So, there you have it – 10 things to think about if you’re embarking on a complex transformation made up of several programme or project of change. If you would like to discuss any of this or get some wider advice on how to set your transformation up for success, then please contact us via, theteam@projectone.com.