With the end of the first calendar quarter approaching quickly and the relevance of looking back, I was recently reflecting on what similarities and differences there were compared to last year and years past in terms of the type of project I was engaged in. One thing that struck me as relevant during my reflection was the presence of certain trends in change management, including topics in organization and service. Further, in researching a bit on the topic, I came across this article from our managing partner, Dan Feely, written 10 years ago! And while the projects have changed, I feel the top 5 trends in change management are still very much present.
In his article, Dan presents the following trends as the top 5 of change management, with some supporting insight into the experience he has had with these trends:
- Rapid, Process, and Quality Improvement Events
- Need for More Performance from Technology (Results Relative to Cost)
- Developing a Shared Services Model
- Driving Customer Service and Service Excellence
- Training
Below, I’d like to share some of my thoughts and insights on how these change management trends are still relevant and top of the list of things we are seeing 10 years later, in 2021.
#1 Rapid, Process, and Quality Improvement Events
Over the course of my first few years in consulting, I became accustomed to long engagements of 6-12 months, or longer. We often performed deep dives into change management and processes, mapping and analyzing over 350 processes for one client alone! While we still have these types of engagements, it seems we are seeing more organizations interested in sprints. This may mean tackling one functional area or more high level processes to see where efficiency can be gained including reducing hand-offs, removing manual entry and review, and adding more automated workflows and approvals.
Regardless of the direction an organization wants to go with their project, we can tailor our service offering to fit their needs and ensure maximum value for their investment with TSI.
#2 Need for More Performance from Technology (Results Relative to Cost)
In 2011 we asked our constituents to consider “do you know your organization’s total spend on technology?” This cost consideration included licenses, security, maintenance, data centers, staff, ongoing support, consulting fees, and the cost of upgrades. 2021 is no different, with additional focus on the sharp movement to the cloud over the last 10 years. The fact of this matter is simple – technology is expensive and the costs arise in a variety of different areas. It is not simply the subscription cost.
Chances are your organization is considering or has recently completed an IT assessment or technology improvement. Many organizations are finding this increasingly necessary due to the sunsetting of legacy systems and the aforementioned move to cloud-based solution. Often, they discover many disparate or redundant systems that have been accumulated over the years. Examining your IT inventory and infrastructure for redundancy, the cost of managing this technology, and where you may see an advantage in right sizing can save you millions.
#3 Develop a Shared Services Model
With the growth of cloud-based solutions and a common focus to reduce redundancy, the shared services model continues to be a popular trend in change management. Just as we have highlighted for several years, the advantages of the shared services model are not just cost savings from reduced redundancy, but also improved operational efficiency by removing information silos. Ultimately, the design of these shared services organizations should take on a focus that leads the organization to being more customer centric and value add focused.
#4 Driving Customer Service and Service Excellence
We’ve seen elements of various trends showing up in the qualities and benefits of the others. Perhaps no more so than the overall improvement of customer service. So much of an organization’s strategic planning, especially in times where competition and information are at an all-time high, is based on service excellence. Additionally, this commitment to service may be the differentiator in shaping customer decision-making. Along these lines, Voice of the Customer is central in many of our projects, even those not specifically devoted to this effort, making the foundation of the project stronger and the results more impactful for the growth of the business.
#5 Training
As we pointed out in our original article, as budgets get tighter training is often one of the first items to be eliminated. However, more pointed training programs may be well worth their investment and pay dividends in the future. We specifically have recently engaged in some large-scale business process improvement training and other change management processes. This program has the benefit of quickly completing valuable improvement of several process and training resources within your organization with skills to keep the improvement efforts going well into the future.
Bottom Line
Just as in 2011, there is a robust market of talent available. However, we recognize that there is also a valuable opportunity to improve the organization by joining one or more of the trends mentioned above.
To share a quote from 10 years ago that withstands the test of time – “investing in self-improvement initiatives, these organizations will create an efficient, cost-effective organization that will thrive in any market.”
If these self-improvement initiatives generate a spark and you would like to learn more, feel free to contact us.
