Drive organisational change through a business transformation programme

Transformation programme assurance and management

Continuous improvement demands regular transformation and reinvention

Transformation programme delivery

We specialise in planning, delivering and assuring business change, infrastructure, digitalisation, transformation programmes or complex projects using various methodologies (including Green Book, RIBA, GRIP, Waterfall and Agile) and using diverse teams (FTE or FTC). We work with direct or indirect staff in both private and Her Majesty Government and use matrix-style or linear organisations to access various capabilities.

Transformation methodology

Choose a suitable framework for the type of transformation you envisage or align with your programme sponsor requirements. Set out a linear Waterfall transformation programme or an Agile-based dynamic model which gradually defines the outputs. Alternatively, create a hybrid programme delivery framework that gets the best from both worlds.

Employees and consultants

Choose the right amount of external influence within your transformation programme. Introduce specific new practices within legacy departments and repurpose superseded capabilities to become more competitive. Consider handover methods and knowledge management techniques to maintain performance when consultants roll-off.

Direct or indirect staff

Improve your understanding of the utilisation of direct and indirect costs. Provide clarity on your value chain, including manufacturing and logistic processes, to identify and monitor performance metrics for all staff. Transform your organisation by correlating both direct and indirect teams by creating full traceability and leveraging value stream mapping.

Private, public or third sector

Understand the differences between private and public transformation and the challenges which are likely to occur when attempting to change the work culture. Transformation programmes within the public and third sectors depend on policymakers, which differs from the levers used by the private sector.

Traditional or matrix organisations

Transform organisations to become more flexible when providing capabilities across various directorates. Increase and advocate for an output-focused approach and focus on leveraging skills using a matrix type of organisation.

Transformation programmes rely on data visualisation to measure benefits realisation

Leverage technology to assure and deliver transformation programmes

Use Microsoft Planner, Asana, Teambox, Jira and Trello to deliver transformation programmes

Project assurance

Projects compared to programmes are likely to be shorter in duration and might interface with other projects from the same portfolio. We equally offer project assurance services.

Interface management

We offer project assurance by carefully identifying and managing all interfaces between disciplines or with other projects.

Roles and responsibilities

We offer assurance for projects and programmes by setting out the roles and responsibilities and ensuring that their articulation is clear to all stakeholders.

Early risk medication

We offer assurance by identifying risks as early as practicable and applying mitigative actions to decrease the chances of escalation.

Strategic planning

We offer assurance by testing the decision-making process against PESTLE and other strategic frameworks to ensure you are making the right decisions at the right time.

Carefully managed reporting

We offer programme assurance by verifying the contents of our reporting dashboard, given the seniority of the audiences we work with, to ensure we send the right message using an adequate tone.

★★★★★ 5/5

I find it beneficial that some high profile clients started to embrace Agile in their transformation programmes over the traditional Waterfall. I have always recommended the use of agility to keep the remit competitive. The challenge now with some clients is how do we articulate the importance of Agile if they come from a linear place where they have used delivery frameworks such as GRIP with stage gates or RIBA?

Bogdan Ciocoiu

Partner

Transformation programme assurance phases

The UK public sector programmes prefer to use the Green Book business case standards

Use Green Book business case standards

Using a standardised business case writing method helps with monitoring benefit realisation

Transformation programme pillars

Whilst delivering complex transformation programmes, we establish control pillars that will protect the initiative’s integrity and help drive a consistent delivery and assurance.

Transformation programme controls are imperative to keep track of potential risks, issues, assumptions, crosscutting dependencies, requirements, changes or variations, essential decisions, day-to-day actions, and lessons learnt. Our interpretation of programme controls includes technical implementations, appointments, and regular RAID or MART review meetings.

Equally, programme planning capabilities and tracking assets represent another essential pillar as they steer the delivery to result in the sought outcomes. We can use multiple planning techniques, including a visual plan on a single page (“PoaP”) or a comprehensive Microsoft Project work breakdown structure. For transformation programmes accustomed to Agile Scrum, we can create various boards, including a Kanban board, Scrum board, user stories backlogs, and burned-out charts attached to track team performance.

Governance and stakeholder management are also essential, especially for delivering transformative programmes. We work with senior leadership teams, design authorities, steering committees, and workstream leads. Senior meetings and governance are essential to align delivery and assurance with leadership vision and objectives and protect the programme’s integrity by cascading and translating strategy into tangible outputs.

Ensure benefit definitions and realisations are quantitative and qualitative

Delivery best practices

Our experience in delivering transformation programmes enables us to embed best practices in all our work.

Capture and disseminate lessons learnt so the programme delivery team will constantly become more knowledgeable
Advocate for a culture of traceability and on making justifiable, evidence-based productive decisions
Fully automate your reporting capabilities by using Power BI and Tableau and invest the time saved into R&D
Create a secured "single source of truth" and use that to centralise resources across the entire programme
Create and socialise a real-time sharing and collaboration capability with version control and change management
Identify opportunities to automate routine BAU activities using lightweight software development and scripting
Should external suppliers be used, liaise with IT to protect the programme information security and compliance
Design programs that embrace the principle "simple is more"
Clarify programme teams roles and responsibilities with each team member using the RACI approach
As a driver of the transformation programme, one must lead by example by providing steer, guidance and mentorship
Create trusted one-to-one relationships with stakeholders

Assure a major project or an extensive business change transformation programme

Transformation programme assurance professional services

Ensure your stakeholders by partnering with an affordable professional service delivery team

Next steps

Contact us to discuss designing or delivering transformation programmes, including those that transform organisational cultures or design future or target operating models, services and processes, and capital and infrastructure.

Learn more about project and programme delivery and assurance activities.