An Approach to Change

By Ray Lowe

Summer 2005

In a world where change is the only constant, financial services must be at the top of the league for complexity. In addition to the normal commercial pressures, we are working within a strong regulatory framework that rightly focuses on treating customers fairly.

When embarking on a change programme the first challenge is to get a clear vision of the new operating model that takes into account the different requirements from the key stakeholders. At the top of the list of stakeholders is the customer, and the products and service that they are looking for. Once that is determined the next stage is to develop an operating model that will support the customer proposition, which is commercially viable, and will be bought into by staff.

Having developed a vision for the future and the operating model, and obtained the support of colleagues and the Board, the next important challenge is to make sure that the whole organisation understands the journey that it is embarking on. It is not always easy to come up with clear statements like NASA had, where everyone knew the goal was to put a man on the moon, so we have to work harder in defining the vision and communicating it through a variety of media including face to face.

At this point we have arrived at the project initiation phase, where the strategic requirements are translated into project streams that will deliver the new operating model. Whilst there are a number of proprietary or in-house project management methodologies, it’s about choosing the one that is right for you and that maintains focus on achieving the success criteria without getting lost in the detail. However, whichever route is chosen, there are some fundamentals that should not be missed, make sure that:

• you have a clear description of the work to be undertaken, and that your view of the deliverables are shared by your colleagues
• it’s broken down into bite-sized chunks over short periods of time, which enables you to keep the pace and have regular deliverables. The longer it takes, the more likely it is to fail or that requirements will change
• you have dedicated the right resource and that they have the time available. Involving the right people is key to success, but unless they are able to focus on the task in hand, their efforts become diluted and they become demotivated. When using external resource to supplement your own, make sure that they are focused on specific tasks, and remember that you are responsible for their outputs
• you know what success looks like and can measure progress along the way
• the right governance is in place. Sponsors and programme directors should be constantly checking that their projects are moving in the right direction and achieving the required results.

Whilst clearly there are many other important issues, these are at the top of my list, together with ownership and passion of those leading projects. As someone who has worked in the change environment for over a decade, the other important thing to recognise is that not every change requires the support of a full blown project, many changes are just part of business as usual that will use some of the project management techniques and tools where appropriate.

Ray Lowe
Director of Business Development
Wesleyan Assurance Society.