There are many articles written about why change initiatives fail and often they cite the statistic that 70% of programme don’t deliver on time, or on budget or their expected benefits.
This post reviews the eight areas that you should consider to ensure that your programmes fall into the 30% category.
These are;
Engaged Sponsors – alignment and engagement across all sponsors, globally and locally ensures that the required focus is maintained and obstacles can be removed quickly and easily
Defined Scope – ensuring that each project/ initiative has a defined scope and more importantly a process in place to formally agree to any change in scope – many projects are derailed due to uncontrolled scope creep resulting in increased costs/ delays and lower economic value
Defined & Measurable Objectives – being clear about the specific outcomes that are required. The focus should be on outcomes rather than outputs/ inputs – this ensures that a degree of flexibility is built into the projects to facilitate agility when required.
Business Readiness – taking the team on the journey and working through the cultural alignment is often the most important aspect as most change initiatives have people at the very centre
Defined and Validated Checkpoints – having a set of clearly defined checkpoints at critical parts of the programme ensures that issues etc are identified early and mitigations can be applied. Furthermore, these checkpoints are a great way to ensure that all work-streams are fully aligned
Structured Governance – a standardised approach to planning, risk and issue management and reporting is highly recommended across all work-streams
Aligned Stakeholders – within any organisation there will be a wide network of internal and external 3rd party stakeholders involved. Having a structured approach to keeping these parties aligned to the common objectives is essential.
High Performing Teams – primarily focused on the project teams but often widened to include operational teams post implementation – this ensures that the necessary support is made available to fully embed any new process/ technology.
Having clarity about these eight areas and implementing due process across each will ensure that your initiatives are set up for success.
In relation to who delivers the change, a combination of internal subject matter experts alongside external specialists and generalists required for a short timeframe is an optimal structure.
#TLH, a community for those working in project, programme, change and transformation is a great place to start to look to identify these external people to join your team – it provides you with a completely free and open access to the members – if you’re interested to see the calibre of person available, click here and undertake a simple search.
