At work
We are often asked “so what do you actually do?”, it’s not a bad question as it can be hard to get your head around what a consultancy like ours do when comes down to reality. It does not get easier when we explain that what we do is always different for each client!
Where to start
To explain it we need to go back to the beginning… When we engage with a new client one of the very first steps is always agreeing where the joint journey we are embarking needs to take us, this “vision” for where we are going can be simple or complex, however its importance cannot be overstated, a flat out amazing number of so called “change programmes” never gets to an agreed vision and the common trait for those programmes is that they all fail!
Examples of a vision can be anything from “we want a freight forwarding division that makes X% profit”, “we want to abolish all paper”, “we want our people to be able to work effectively from anywhere”
The next steps
Once we have the vision, and all stakeholders onboard with it, the next steps is figuring out what it will take to get there, this is THE point where Problems Solved stand out from the crowd, a “normal” programme would at this point be mapping out a list of deliverables and then go on ticking boxes until the list is delivered. Our approach is different, we work with our clients to define the benefits that is required to achieve the vision – what do you want to get from the programme from a business perspective. We will then report against the achievement of these benefits on a weekly basis so you can always see what is being achieved right now and not just at the end.
Get into the detail
We will work closely with your people to get to the real nuts and bolts on how to make the right difference for you. Achieving the benefits may spark a single project or a whole series of projects running in parallel depending on what you are looking to get out of your change programme but each project will always have a clear business case from the outset – driven by the benefits you want and adding up into the vision.
Systems is part of almost any change programme these days, we will actively use your systems, new & old, to enable, support and underpin the benefits you are looking for. If you want to do a 1-for-1 replacement on your system(s) use someone else, if you want benefits from your migration use Problems Solved .
Setting up new organisation structures, preparing new products, sorting out processes or even implementing new systems is all part of what we do but to get real benefits we need not just design new things we need to make them work, this is where our people skills comes into play, we will work with sponsors throughout, and help them become evangelists for “the new way” but the real work for us is with your people, getting them to understand, buy-in and actually take ownership of what is being build, we work on this constantly in the guise of workshops, testing, training and two-way communication events. The real benefits always come AFTER go-live, not at go-live, and it is your people and how they use things that create the benefits.
Declaring victory
Declaring victory for us is not about going live, anyone can do that, its about you not only achieving the benefits you are looking for but for this achievement to become part of your every day and embedded for perpetuity – then we will celebrate with you.