Best Practices for Socializing and Managing Business Process Improvement Initiatives

Transcription

1 Best Practices for Socializing and Managing Business Process Improvement Initiatives Abudi Consulting Group, LLC Agenda Best practices for managing BPI initiatives Methods for socializing BPI initiatives Identifying champions and resisters Communication best practices Engaging your stakeholders Change management Case study: redesign of a customer relationship process Summary and Q&A 2 Copyright 2012 Abudi Consulting Group, LLC 1

2 Challenges with BPI Initiatives Most challenging projects Affect the entire enterprise Difficult to predict resource needs It s a project not an operation Can t put the business on hold Easy to lose support Large change initiatives require Buy-in across the enterprise A significant change management component Significant, continuous socialization throughout the enterprise Commitment throughout the project 3 A Model for Managing BPI Initiatives 4 Copyright 2012 Abudi Consulting Group, LLC 2

3 Set Up for Success from the Start Senior level change champion Visible executive sponsorship Plan to socialize the initiative Strong project management plan Link to organizational strategic objectives Commitment to resources for the duration Regular engagement of all staff regardless of level Support structures in place or a plan Training plan Communication and change management plan 5 Best Practice: Project Team Kick Off Meeting Before the official launch hold a meeting with the entire team (stakeholders, too) Communicate the importance of the initiative and organizational impact Review objectives and benefits to the enterprise Answer questions and address concerns Set expectations for status reporting and regular communications Enable the team members to become acquainted with each other Work with the team to establish processes and procedures 6 Copyright 2012 Abudi Consulting Group, LLC 3

4 Champions and Resisters Essential to project success is identifying champions and resisters to the business process improvement initiative Look throughout the organization for those who will be impacted by this change even in a small way Whose roles and responsibilities will change? Who will need to learn how to re-do their job? Who may be out of a job? Who needs to provide information? Who needs to work with the changed process? Who needs to manage those working with the changed process? 7 Converting Resisters to Champions Failure to do so = project failure Remember: an individual who even uses the process once or twice a year must be converted to a champion Have small group and one-on-one conversations with resisters to understand concerns Determine the real reasons for resistance what s going on? Don t push aside or diminish their concerns Ensure they are involved in the process Don t convert and forget about them keep them engaged! 8 Copyright 2012 Abudi Consulting Group, LLC 4

5 Essential Communications Communicate early and often on: Why this change must happen What is the impact on the business How the initiative will be managed Training that will be provided Opportunities to provide feedback Opportunities to get involved Failure makes future efforts difficult and affects enterprise productivity and employee morale. 9 Utilize a Variety of Communication Channels Breakfast meetings Lunch & learns All staff meetings Department/function meetings Small group meetings s, newsletters Intranet site/portal Posters Hallway conversations One-on-one conversations After work events Socialize early and frequently! 10 Copyright 2012 Abudi Consulting Group, LLC 5

6 At a minimum Who What When How Format Consider adding Your Communication Plan Regularly revisit and update your communication plan! Responsibility for gathering and distributing information Guidelines around gathering and distributing information Issue escalation process 11 Stop Light Reports Easy view of status of BPI initiative within enterprise Use for executives and all other stakeholders RED (trouble): project is at risk to miss a scheduled completion date, may be over budget or out of scope. Immediate management attention is required. AMBER (danger): project may be at risk if issues are not addressed. Attention required. GREEN (all good): project is on track to meet scheduled dates. 12 Copyright 2012 Abudi Consulting Group, LLC 6

7 Your Change Management Plan Two components to consider Manage changes to the initiative that come from stakeholders or based on research/analysis Manage stakeholder expectations around changes, specifically how the initiative affects them and how they do their work Biggest challenge managing stakeholder expectations 13 Changes to the Project Formalize the process to manage changes early and socialize Capture: Description of the desired change Reason for change Impact of change on scope, time, budget Impact on initiative if change does not happen Decision made: approve, defer, reject Justification of decision 14 Copyright 2012 Abudi Consulting Group, LLC 7

8 Managing People Expectations Around Change What is the need for the change? Who is impacted by the change? Of those impacted who is on board and who needs to be sold Develop an initial communication plan specifically to assist those who are impacted by the change Regular and straight-forward communications are essential Share data: customer feedback, organizational strategy Evaluate the change Prepare for change Plan for change 15 Determine the Type of Plan BPI initiative complexity drives type of change management plan put in place: Transformational large scale, impact across the enterprise; radical change in how work is done Operational medium scale, impacts many functions; not enterprise wide; new skills and behaviors needed in workforce Continuous improvement smaller scale, impacts only a handful of functions; minor changes to how work is done Assign a senior-level change champion from the stakeholder pool 16 Copyright 2012 Abudi Consulting Group, LLC 8

9 Case Study Background Organization: software company, over 1,500 employees, multiple branches throughout US Need: redesign customer relationship processes Overall sales doing very well sales exceeded expectations Obstacles Sales doesn t want to change behavior Sales doesn t want to delineate their process in writing Silos throughout enterprise 17 Case Study: Pre-Planning Pre-planning work done included: Presentation at all staff meeting Individual department/function meetings Breakfast get-togethers (breakfast provided!) Lunch & learn presentations (lunch provided!) Portal site separate site with all BPI project information, ability to ask questions, post information, etc. Communication management plan created and shared with all address created for BPI project communications An individual on the project team assigned to each department/function as main point of contact 18 Copyright 2012 Abudi Consulting Group, LLC 9

10 Project kick-off: Case Study: Project Kick Off Meetings with each department/function to analyze and document current processes related to customer relations Team compiled from all departments/functions and included those who actually do the work (champions and resisters) Kick-off meeting included stakeholders and project team members 19 Case Study: Issues Encountered and Steps Taken to Resolve Issues Encountered Silo ed departments No buy-in from sales (top down) No written processes within sales and no desire to document Steps to Resolve Set up sub-teams comprised of individuals from various depts Executives intervened with VP, Sales Discussion with sales: what are your difficulties now Used case studies of similar companies provided by board Showed value of CRM to improve sales outcomes 20 Copyright 2012 Abudi Consulting Group, LLC 10

11 Case Study: Upfront Planning Upfront planning was essential: Understanding the problem Gathering data on current processes Gathering data on best practices in similar organizations Socializing/communicating frequently Change management plan developed and communicated Before project plan developed and released for entire project initial project plan only included upfront planning and socialization/ communication tasks. We did not commit to an overall timeline until we knew we had buy-in. 21 Case Study: Continuous Communication and Involvement Once project initiated: Communications were bi-weekly and then moved to weekly through formal channels Access to all employees provided on portal to follow along and offer suggestions/thoughts Opportunities provided for anonymous input via suggestion boxes in various locations As processes redesigned: Brainstorming sessions with various employees Input and testing by users before final decision made Once decision made: Training programs launched and pilot groups set up for initial roll out 22 Copyright 2012 Abudi Consulting Group, LLC 11

12 Case Study: Wrap Up and Evaluation Project evaluated over 3, 6, 9 and 12 months to ensure sticking Getting input on use of new processes via a variety of methods Evaluate against impact on business: Increase in closing of sales Increase in revenue from current customers Increase in new customers Improved launch of new products and services Improvement in marketing and communications efforts with customers Customer satisfaction overall 23 Summary Requires strong project management and people management skills Spend time in the upfront selling of the initiative Include champions and resisters on the project team Communicate frequently Seek out honest and open feedback Discuss benefits to the individual as well as the enterprise Have a communication management plan and change management plan in place right from the start Do not convert resisters to champions and believe the work is done 24 Copyright 2012 Abudi Consulting Group, LLC 12

13 Questions & Contact Information Any questions? Contact Information: Gina Abudi, MBA President Abudi Consulting Group, LLC Phone: +1 (603) Thank you for your time! Website: Blog: Download templates from: 25 Copyright 2012 Abudi Consulting Group, LLC 13