Mobilising a future-focused programme to build a “toolkit for change”

Government policy aims to create a market characterised by healthy, sustainable competition, delivering better outcomes for consumers, alongside a regulator that drives consistently high standards. Restoring trust in the market is a key component of wider ambitions to deliver cleaner and more affordable resources through reliable providers.

Over the last few decades, its remit has expanded significantly such at it had become a challenge to meet all of the requirements. Government initiated a formal review of our customer to reassess its role and ensure it is equipped to enable a market where innovation and high standards drive improved products and services and where consumers have access to appropriate and diverse choices.

The review considered:

• The regulator’s mandate

• Its consumer protection powers

• Scope and remit

• Regulatory standards

• Approaches to consumer redress when standards are not met

An industry and consumer “Call for Evidence” formed the first phase of this review. In parallel, the organisation recognised the need to evolve internally, including strengthening its culture, ways of working and core people processes such as recruitment, performance management and leadership capability. Our end-to-end change management was needed to support the programme.

Alongside the review, government policy developments are expected to introduce a major new programme requiring significant change in the regulator’s scope and operational scale.

A previous attempt to transform the operating model and ways of working had been widely viewed as ineffective, leaving gaps in internal change leadership capability, capacity and experience, reinforcing the need for a more structured change management and a robust approach to programme mobilisation.

Following several months of discussion, the customer engaged Project One to develop:

• A “blueprint” setting out an initial vision for the future organisation and the changes required to move towards that target state• A high-level roadmap outlining the projects needed to deliver the transformation

• Advisory support to the existing PMO and internal change teams.

As the engagement progressed, the scope expanded to include development of a programme-wide internal communications and engagement plan, alongside mobilisation of an existing network of change champions.

Early in the engagement, several key observations emerged:

• A large number of initiatives were already underway, each contributing elements of the future state
  There was broad appetite for change across the organisation, although this was less consistent at senior leadership level

• The existing transformation PMO was under-resourced, lacked experience, and overlapped with other PMO functions, limiting its influence over delivery

• The internal communications function was effective at delivering regular, business-as-usual updates, but lacked experience in designing and executing a multi-year, programme-level communications strategy.

The Project One team delivered across multiple parallel workstreams to accelerate programme progress:

• Defining the future state – Senior stakeholder interviews and leadership workshops were used to shape a clear articulation of the target organisation, including its scope, culture and ways of working

• Portfolio assessment – Existing initiatives were reviewed against the future-state vision to assess alignment and contribution, with outputs consolidated into a central blueprint

• Gap identification – Where critical elements of the future state were not being addressed, new initiatives were defined and ownership established

• Roadmap development – A multi-year roadmap was created to sequence delivery, aligning initiatives into coherent phases of change

• Communications and engagement – A structured programme-wide plan was developed, with an existing network of change champions reactivated, upskilled and mobilised to support delivery

• Capability uplift – Targeted coaching, training and recruitment support strengthened the central programme function, alongside refinements to governance and consolidation of overlapping PMO structures

• Programme mobilisation – A tailored mobilisation approach was defined, supported by practical tools, guidance and a structured checklist to enable consistent delivery

The delivery environment presented several challenges too:

• Inconsistent leadership alignment – Senior stakeholders had varying levels of change experience and differing appetites for transformation

• Limited internal capability – Change delivery capability was fragmented, with initiatives often led on a part-time basis and reliant on central coordination

• Ineffective programme structures – Overlapping governance and limited experience within central teams reduced effectiveness and influence

• Cultural resistance to centralisation – A preference for decentralised delivery and established ways of working made alignment and consensus-building more complex

Combined, these factors created a challenging context for driving coordinated, organisation-wide change and required a pragmatic, structured approach to mobilisation and delivery.

At the end of Phase 1, the customer had established what became known as a “toolkit for change”:

• Clearer future state – An initial articulation of the future organisation, co-developed with senior leadership, providing a foundation for further refinement as policy and external developments evolved

• Portfolio alignment insight – A strengthened understanding of how the existing project portfolio contributes to the target state

• Gap-filling initiatives – New initiatives defined to address critical gaps, with ownership established and leadership in place to drive delivery

• Roadmap – A multi-year view of current initiatives and future phases, creating a coherent path forward

• Mobilisation approach – Practical guidance, including a structured checklist and supporting tools, to strengthen funding, governance and programme setup

• Communications and engagement – A re-energised change network, a programme-level communications plan, and enhancements to internal capability to support delivery at scale

• Capability development – Targeted coaching and hands-on support to strengthen the central programme and PMO function

Stakeholders noted improved clarity, alignment and momentum, with increased confidence in the organisation’s ability to progress the transformation.

Project One’s support continued into the next phase, with ongoing contribution across communications, engagement and wider programme delivery.

Project One value Add:

• Our customer wanted both support and expertise to help mobilise a large-scale transformation programme.

• Project One brought a culturally sensitive and delivery focused small team that was able to build trust, help tackle some long-standing challenges, and build momentum.

• Project One consultants successfully combine a “hands on” approach and decades of experience, working confidently with the Chairman and CEO to the most junior member of the organisation.