Delay is the enemy – how to speed up organisational redesign – SpencerMaurice – Management consultancy specialising in independent reviews, business strategy, transformation, organisational redesign, governance and enterprise risk

Operating model changes and organisational redesign can be complex. But fundamentally they are usually driven by changing circumstances.

To capture the opportunity, or minimise the negative impacts, you need to respond. Delay is usually the enemy.

Internal factors which can lead to operating model changes can include:

New leadership
Adjustments to strategic priorities
Budget changes
Shifts in customer demand
Introduction of new products / services
Workforce attrition, capability gaps, culture
Performance visibility and governance
Risk

External factors which can prompt organisational redesign include

Legislative and regulatory
Technology / innovation
Natural Disasters and Emergency Recovery
Competition

The redesign process itself usually involves a current state assessment, a design process which considers a number of alternatives, the selection of a target operating model, and then the development of an implementation plan.

Here are three key considerations for setting up a successful redesign process.

1. Who should be consulted?

Stakeholder consultation and engagement should be a key element of the overall redesign process. Consulting meaningfully and communicate regularly.

The scope of the redesign is obviously a major consideration, and can change the anticipated breadth of stakeholders who might be impacted, and who should potentially be providing input and feedback.

Never the less, even small-scale projects can benefit from co-design, involving a broad range of internal stakeholder inputs.

Executive leadership involvement can also have a major impact on the overall success of a project. It signals a strong commitment to the process, builds trust among team members, and brings a deeper level of understanding to the executive leadership team of the trade-offs.

2. What are the guard rails?

A clear scope is always helpful. But that is just the beginning.

When carrying out a redesign within a large organisation, or a complex environment, you will need to collaborate with a large set of stakeholders, and possibly many project team members. There will be a lot of people providing input.

Building a common understanding of current state performance, opportunities, challenges, and gaps will be important.

There will be many possible ways to analyse effectiveness and performance. You will need to decide how you will focus the analysis.

Possible focus areas might include:

Strategic alignment
Governance
People and capability
Systems and processes
Ways of working
Technology and infrastructure

In addition, developing a set of clear design principles will help keep everyone involved focused on the key issues that matter, by clearly signalling decisions that have already been made.

There will be a diverse range of views about any proposed adjustment. With an agreed set of design principles, it will be easier to assess and constructively discuss any potential new design.

3. How will delays impact potential benefits?

We all have access to limited resources. Time is usually the most critical.

Larger organisations can often face very significant constraints on operating model adjustments, and changes can take significant time to implement. Simultaneously, workforce attrition and movement within the organisation can lead to significant impacts on the performance of the current operating model.

There is effectively no such thing as a perfect operating model. Any design will involve trade-offs, and be a reflection of the circumstances and resources available at the time it was created.

Benefits from change only accrue after implementation. A lengthy design process locks in place current performance levels for longer, while decreasing future benefits. Being transparent about these trade-offs can help foster buy-in and realistic expectations among stakeholders