Programme management - Change Programme
Do you recognise this situation?You are about to implement a substantial change in your organisation. Making a few cosmetic adjustments absolutely will not do this time. This is a fundamental organisational change. You wonder where to start, how to direct something like this?
We received the following question
An organisation that operates on the intersection between the private and the public sector had incurred major damage due to a poorly functioning manager. His successor wanted to avoid the mistakes of the past. In order to implement the desired organisational changes, a programme was started with the following objectives:
- greater transparency of the financial policy;
- improved professionalism in the maintenance and management of property;
- a more accessible HRM policy;
- improved professionalism in procurement and
- modernisation of the support structure.
The company asked ACS for help in setting up and implementing this programme.
We approached this question as follows
Together with this customer we developed a change programme. The design involved a number of platforms, with the help of which these targets would be achieved within 3 years. The approach was further characterised by the following elements:
- The programme had failed in an earlier attempt because no agreements could be reached with the company’s suppliers about the implementation of systems. In response, we ended the fixed-price system and introduced an open budgeting method. Openness, transparency and discussion instead of mistrust, contracts and legal quibbling.
- An important element of the programme was the integration of organisational processes. This is why we paid a lot of attention to supporting integrated decision-making about the design of those processes. Integration means collaboration, and that is not always easy.
- Quality Assurance received a lot of attention. This provided our client with additional assurances that the programme would achieve what we had said it would. The client attached a lot of importance to this additional security.
This yielded the following result
ACS was finally also asked to direct the programme. After about two years, the programme was successfully transferred to the line. It was decided, in good consultation, that the organisation had sufficient knowledge and skill at its disposal after two years. The line was very well capable of realising the remaining targets on its own. The programme was completed successfully, and thanks to the quality assurance measures and budgeting method it remained well within the set budget.