Business Transformation may seem exciting at the outset, but once it gets going there is no denying it can be challenging. Successful Transformation sets out a vision from the start and then tirelessly guides it along the way with strong governance and critical interventions to ensure outcomes come to fruition. It can be compared to a space landing, there is a mission at the start, but information needs to be continuously gathered, processed and adjustments made on the journey to make sure it lands on target.
Also, like a space landing, Business Transformation is a collaboration of many cross skills delivering greater value by working together. There are some key considerations that we have gathered to increase the effectiveness of these collaborations. For Business Transformation that translates to value; for customers, the business and everyone in between. These considerations are listed below making up the TRANSFORM acronym.
1. TARGET Align big and ambitious goals with the enterprise’s mission, its purpose. Explicitly make the link on how this will be of value to customers, society, the environment, and the opportunities this will provide for everyone. Set out a strategy and the plan to get to the target.
2. RISK ASSESSMENT Understand potential threats, limitations, and constraints, that may prevent reaching the target. Assessing potential gaps in plans or risks that need to be managed along the way. Especially when setting ambitious goals, attention should be placed on areas of weakness upfront and how these might be addressed to mitigate their risks to close the gap between the imaginable and the achievable. Transformation risks need to be constantly assessed and managed throughout the transformation.
3. ABILITY Transformation requires many transient skills that may not lay dormant in an enterprise as well as the need to grow new skillsets within. Recognise those capability gaps to build and partner with external talent to learn and de-risk the work if required, especially for the transient skills. Transformation does not have to take place in a vacuum and getting selected help from experienced heads can help balance out the thought process.
4. NET COMMERCIAL BENEFIT A business transformation will normally mean a substantial financial investment and internal disruption to the way work is being done. If each change cannot be linked back to commercial reasoning aligned with the enterprise’s strategy to grow, then it should be immediately questioned.
5. SUPPORT those driving the change. Transformation burnout is becoming an increasingly common occurrence. Team members and their leaders have become overwhelmed, and frequently feel they are on their own to drive transformation in the long-term, following the deployment phase. When the going gets tough that is when they need support. After all, keeping them safe and at the top of their game results in a better overall result for everyone.
6. FUNCTIONAL CULTURE Create a respectful environment where diverse thinkers have the opportunity, and are encouraged to, contribute. Seek consensus if possible. Once all perspectives and risks are understood a decision must be made to progress. Procrastinating kills culture, but so too do ill-informed decisions.
7. OPEN & TRANSPARENT Communicating truthful progress with all stakeholders will help build trust and motivation for those involved within the change. Being objective, using facts and not being afraid to share when critical data becomes available, even if it requires the transformation to pivot – no hiding the facts.
8. REVISE throughout the transformation, as with the best operational environments, teams need to continuously measure and adapt to be truly agile and flexible. Even if this means building the required measurement systems, it will be critical for how best to manage the next steps. You need to feed back in the right information to be useful. A key capability that is often lacking is the disciplined collection and unbiased analysis of the data to ensure the transformation pathway is both agile and robust.
9. MAINTAIN the knowledge and skills gained. Having experienced great change, team members should be better placed to take on further change in the future. Attending to this throughout the transformation is an opportunity to challenge and grow talent. Give people opportunities, coach them along the way, recognise their growth and provide them future opportunities to put their learnings to practice.
An effective Business Transformation means an organization stands a better chance to achieve its goals, create greater value in its customer’s eyes and growing its own talent in doing so.
T Target goals defined
R Risk Assess areas of weakness or constraints to be addressed
A Ability gaps and future needs
N Net Commercial Value needs to make sense for every change
S Support the team driving the transformation
F Functional Culture of respect and empowered to make decisions
O Open & Transparent communication to all stakeholders
R Revise and iterate the plan as information is sort and understood
M Maintain the gains of both business performance and people growth
