Review & enhancement of your Change Plan through review & analysis of Business Plans to understand the main objectives, how those objectives are to be achieved, what gaps there are in capability and finally determining how to adddress those gaps.

This service will
– Provide clear evidence of the value to the Business of your Change programme
– Improve the support and sponsorship from the Business for each Change project
– Improve the credibility and confidence the business has in the Change team.
and
– Strengthen your project prioritisation & approval process.

There are two distinct, independent phases to this work. In the first, those change projects which are essential to support business plans are identified; the second phase establishes those projects which have excellent ROI.

The first phase starts with an understanding of the structure & organisation of the business in order to prepare discussions with each major function. Those discussions focus on the plans and intentions each function has for the next year, whether or not formally documented. The deliverable from this stage is documentation describing the plans in outline, for verification. Next, the plans are analysed to understand how they will be delivered and what capabilities are required. Gaps in capability are then reviewed and cross-checked against the Business Change plan. The Change plan is finally updated to ensure all projects essential to supporting business objectives are included. In ‘MoSCoW’ terms, these are the ‘Must’ projects.

The second phase starts with establishing as complete a list as possible of other significant change projects and opportunities. The quantifiable outcomes of each project are ascertained – at this stage these are unlikely to be financial outcomes. Targets are then agreed for each outcome. Next, those outcomes are translated into financial benefits via discussions with the Finance function. Board papers are then prepared which make firm commitments to the expected changes in the outcomes identified, and describe the financial benefits which are expected to arise. Ideally the financial benefits are also committed to and their impact shown as changes to specific budget lines.  This may not always be possible, for example where other variables affect the ability to guarantee them. Cost estimates are developed and project ROI calculated. In ‘MoSCoW’ terms, those projects which pay for themselves within 12 months are classified as ‘Should’, those that pay for themselves in 3 years ‘Could’ and all others ‘Won’t’.

The final deliverable from the process is a Change Plan for the business which, because of the process followed, will include those projects which are genuinely the highest priorities for the business, and which will therefore have full Board sponsorship and support from the affected business functions.

Timescales for this work will of course vary with the scale of the business but will generally take between 6 weeks and 3 months.

For the work to be successfuy completed, ideally current Business Plans will be available for each business function. Discussions with senior management will of course be essential and if current Plans are not available, will need to be in more detail. These discussions are template driven.

Input will be required from the business’s Finance and Project / Change teams to provide benefits and costs estimates, using the business’s own templates & standards.

The main deliverable from this work is a fully justified Change Plan for the business. Supporting documentation as developed  through the process is also provided, including Board papers, template descriptions of each candidate project including details of expected, quantified outcomes, and detailed financial projections of benefits & costs.