What’s the value

‘Knowledge sharing’ improves performance, productivity and innovation by capitalising on the expertise and experiences of people in the organisation.

Modern rates of knowledge acquisition are measured by its ‘half-life’, just how quickly knowledge is becoming obsolete. To handle the explosion in knowledge and know-how requires different strategies from personal acquisition and ownership. With phrases such as “I store my knowledge in my friends” and similar sharing and network-based concepts – the technology, processes and most importantly the attitudes towards knowledge sharing have changed – and organisations are finding it necessary to adapt and adopt the new ways.

Why is it valid

By implementing knowledge sharing models and methods, organisations have been able to avoid wasteful reinvention, and to speed up the time to effective deployment of new ideas and technologies. This is particularly important in environments dependent on external resource, where there is a need to quickly align diverse work practices and provides an opportunity to acquire and assimilate new expertise.

What you will experience

A structured programme that identifies, manages and delivers the change required (on the levels of processes, systems and people) in order to maximise performance, gain competitive advantage and avoid waste. In a knowledge sharing organisation, individuals are aware, can access and build on available organisational expertise and experiences through taking an active part in communities of practice (knowledge networks) which values the two-way flow of knowledge.

CITI have worked with clients, both in the private sector (e.g. leading financial service organisations) and the governmental sector (e.g. high communication & security organisations) in establishing environments, where knowledge-sharing has become embedded in the culture and collaboration and communication of knowledge are an integral part of ‘the way we do things’.

How you might start

Organisations maps what is important, where it resides, who owns how it and it is accessed.
Working with CITI a new map is drawn in which boundaries are redrawn, interworking patterns set out, the half-life of knowledge and information established, and a value model that attributes ‘worth’ to the information held established.

Implementing knowledge sharing is a cultural change, it does require good change disciplines and leadership: visionary, political, action-oriented and at the personal interaction level.

Example models, methods & tools used

KM readiness
Programme toolkit (including SIPP)
CoPs
Gamification

Clients we have helped realise this value

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What’s the value

A clear view of the capacity and capability of change-related disciplines permits an organisation to be more confident in change delivery and to plan effectively for future demand for change.

Capability assessment uses a number of measures to identify the capacity of change professionals to approach and perform discipline tasks effectively.

Why is it valid

Research conducted by Cranfield IT Institute into the attributes of successful project managers, together with further analysis conducted at various universities, has identified a number of key attributes and relevant contributory dimensions to capability in project management; knowledge, attitude, skills and experience – known as the KASE model. This has been used as the basis for assessing over 37,000 project managers, and over the last decade has been extended to other change disciplines.

What you will experience

While change professionals can take advantage of corporate development opportunities presented by annual appraisal and HR / L&D processes, it is not usual that their professional capability is assessed other than by the results they achieve. Such an assessment can appear threatening, and careful management is required to ensure trust and co-operation. The profile approach adopted by CITI reduces this as it focuses on evaluation of competences and capabilities –not just achievement.

How you might start

The assessment uses a number of online questionnaires, but attitudes, and more especially skills, are best determined face to face, using case study-based structured interviews.

The capability assessment results are discussed with the individuals as one of a number of inputs to their personal development planning. In addition, by aggregating the results a profile of the competence of the community can also be presented to management, which is used to identify any generic weaknesses and to plan for, and match capability to the future demand to be made on it.

An understanding of both individual and community capability allows organisations to structure and allocate work with greater confidence of success, and to plan more effectively in preparing for future change demands.

Example models, methods & tools used

KASE (Kivit chart)
IMJ chart
Learning mix against capability
Sample group outputs (e.g. group capability against sector/overall)

Clients we have helped realise this value

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What’s the value

Expertise transfer (Secondment) enables organisations to gain access, on a short time basis, of an expert resource able to not only guide them through the change initiative, but also to help them to embed knowledge and expertise within the organisational change community.
CITI change consultants are a source of independent change expertise (based on IP developed over the last 25 years in project, programme and portfolio and change management). They adapt the approach to match the culture and situation, leading to the embedding of the changed behaviours and performance that were the basis of the change initiative.
Expertise transfer engagements are short interventions that speed up the adoption of change and to provide the skills necessary to plan, implement and successfully embed change.

Why is it valid

It has been found that there is no adequate substitute for experience in many fields of endeavour – and for directed change – change brought about through projects and programmes – this is especially true.
Expertise transfer has been found to be the most efficient way for organisations to gain a form of accelerated experience – access to an expert able to guide them through the change initiative and to embed capability within the organisational change community.

What you will experience

CITI will place a change consultant into the client organisation to bring independent change expertise based on our IP developed over the last 25 years in project, programme and portfolio and change management.

CITI experts work closely with the organisation to make its change initiatives safe and simple. We look to place a consultant within the client for short periods to help them with processes, tools and to provide benchmarked guidance and advice to accelerate the adoption process.

CITI experts will adapt their approach to match the organisational culture and situation, leading to the effective embedding of the changed behaviours and performance that were the basis of the change initiative.

How you might start

When the benefit case that sits behind the change initiative is not regarded as compelling, where there are pockets of resistance blocking the behavioural and performance changes that underpin he benefit case, and when the change plan is stalled – call CITI – these are all common launch pads for our services.

When organisations are undertaking directed change initiatives they are faced with some common threads of challenges and barriers. These organisational challenges may include, for example, the benefit case behind the change initiative is not regarded as compelling, or pockets of resistance blocking the behavioural and performance changes that underpin the benefit case, or the change plan’s rate of progress does not match the organisation’s or stakeholders’ needs and expectations. CITI is helping organisations to overcome these common issues and make change initiatives simple and safe.

Example models, methods & tools used

Our consultants and our associates have full access to CITI’s IP that has been developed over the last 25 years.

Clients we have helped realise this value

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What’s the value

Reflect – Learn – Apply embeds improved practices and consistent behaviours within a community of practice by exposing and building on the experiences and expertise within the group. It provides a form of accelerated experience.

Education and change research proves that real management development occurs when individuals translate their intuitions into judgemental understanding. This comes about when they recognise the clear and immediate relevance of what they are considering to their work experience.

Why is it valid

True learning occurs when views are exchanged. Critical thinking, the reflection on what experience has taught, is used as the basis for subsequent actions.

CITI’s format for causing sustained behavioural and performance change provokes active engagement from participants as they work through a series of challenges. These are generated from the use and differing interpretations of common internal processes. Many individuals have a wealth of experience and CITI’s approach explores, evolves and enriches this through a series of conversations and challenges.

When the participants return to their workplace, they can immediately see how to adapt and adopt the tools and techniques they have talked through with their colleagues. They will also benefit from critical networks of support; those people they can call to discuss and extend the use and value of what they are doing.

What you will experience

Learning done this way accelerates experience. When learning to ride a bicycle, first you may watch others riding and think, “I’d like to do that!”. Having observed others, you need to get involved by doing; you get on the bike (sometimes with training wheels, mostly not) and experience the ‘feeling’ of balancing and peddling. We get feedback on our progress; perhaps physically as we fall, perhaps through verbal encouragement and advice. Through this process we get better at riding. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you reflect on the experience. Understanding what you did and what it felt like allows you to make further attempts and master the process.

How you might start

In a Reflect-Learn-Apply programme, the starting point is an opportunity for members of a project community to share views and observations. All contributors are on an equal footing and ideas and experiences are pooled. A ‘map’ of the subject under debate is established. Points of interest, i.e. difficulties that occur in the managing of projects, are structured as challenges. Becoming involved in solving a challenge is like getting on the bike: it is the point when knowledge and theory is confronted by the realities of ‘uneven surfaces’ and ‘uncertain balance’.

Through working with peers; the various suggested approaches and solutions are exposed to rapid and varied feedback. These include critiques from an expert whose value lies in the width and depth of previous exposure to the challenge. This widens the basis for the examination of the ideas and focuses attention on possible omissions – those things not thought of that are nonetheless worth consideration.

At the conclusion of the programme – usually 8 -10 weeks and perhaps 4 workshops with work-based effort – the learning is converted into artefacts, procedures and processes. More importantly, there are shifts in attitudes and behaviours that are enduring.

Example models, methods & tools used

Various CITI models, methods & tools

Clients we have helped realise this value

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What’s the value

Having a strategy for change reduces waste, accelerates benefit delivery, prioritises the important over the demanding but, and most of all, reduces the risk of failed change. ‘Strategy for change’ includes aligning the work to achieve the vision, turning strategic aspiration into structured actions and the creation of a clear ‘line of sight’ between the strategic intent of the Board and the set of projects that need to be established to develop the necessary new or additional competences within the business to deliver the benefits of the strategy.

Not only the organisation’s aspirations but also its culture will ultimately determine the strategy for change. Just as with organisational strategy, circumstances will coerce the deliberate strategy for change into an emergent strategy – the strategy for change must accommodate such flexibility too and is therefore likely to be updated in ‘real-time’.

Why is it valid

Often a major inhibitor of change is not a lack of clarity on what is wanted but rather how to go about achieving it. Applying a stepped approach to the development of a change strategy gives a clear sense of direction, and allows the construction of the optimum portfolio. Whilst valuable at the outset, it has another great strength as it structures how best to conduct the continual review of progress against plan, and the adoption of alternative strategic strands as becomes necessary.

What you will experience

An initial mapping is made between the declared strategy and the project portfolios under management to determine risk-adjusted expenditure and .risk-adjusted outturns and outcomes. This process, called ‘brigading up’, groups current expenditures into sets that allows the emergent strategy to be described.

The agreed strategy is decomposed into strategic threads, and the specific foci for management attention are subjected to value management disciplines. The tacit, as well as the explicit, prioritisation practices are discovered and the consequences of the choices made clear in terms of risk-adjusted value returned.

The Board then has a model that reflects the actual alignment of the project portfolios with the strategy, which can be used to do scenario analysis – and to confirm or alter the operational imperatives of the emergent strategy.

Where the portfolio contains tens of projects the option analysis often proves very complex. To reduce this to manageable proportions, tool-based decision-support approaches are deployed: cross-linking dependent projects to prevent infeasible choices, and reducing the offered choices to a range of near-optimum selections based on published criteria.

A boundary based organisational analysis can be used to overlay the portfolio and its schedule to optimise opportunities to accelerate or de-risk the desired outcomes.

How you might start

Typically the start point for a strategy for change engagement is a strategic implementation planning workshop with the board sponsoring the change; it is imperative that they have a shared view of and consistent support for the strategy for change. This is moderated through a series of stakeholder engagement workshops and interviews amongst the change managers and change agents. The emerging suite of initiatives are subjected to portfolio analysis to determine the optimum composition for the initial portfolio and this can then be subjected to periodic reviews (typically using boundary analysis or benefit, impact, product maps and associated KPIs) to assess achievement and adjust or regulate the portfolio as appropriate.

Example models, methods & tools used

SIP and Chip workshops
V-model
Impact analysis
Boundary management/analysis.

Clients we have used this method for

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What’s the value

Governance groups and project selection committees have a consistent basis upon which to judge the absolute and comparative merits of competing bids for the investment funds of the organisation in terms of value, likelihood of return, costs and the associated risks. Each business case also has value in the project and change delivery process, acting as the basis for decision-making by the governance group.

Why is it valid

Because many of investment decisions are discretionary and all of them ‘compete’ to some extent or another, it is necessary to have a consistent expression of the individual and comparative merit of any given initiative. This is what a compelling business case provides.

Not only does the compelling business case set out the initial justification for an investment, it is also the basis for deciding whether to provide the ‘authorisation to proceed’ (ATP) as the project unfolds, and the actual costs, risks and opportunities for benefit are realised at each of the stage gate reviews.

What you will experience

Understanding and committing to what the value of the competing investment opportunities that candidate projects offer is a critical part of the selection of the project portfolio.

All decisions about the future should take into account risks, the risk of it costing more to achieve the benefits, and the risk of the benefit not being realised in full or at all. So after defining the problem or opportunity that the project is there to address; the risks and rewards of doing so have to be quantified. Categorised appropriately into financial, strategic and risk avoidance, the benefits are profiled, showing the value recovered over time. This typically involves the identification and quantification of the impacts of the necessary business changes, with sets of KPIs agreed.

With the ‘desirability’ in terms of benefits established, the cost and the possible costs of the known risks are calculated to make possible the cost-benefit-risk assessment (COBRA).

How you might start

Typically a sponsor or a programme will seek support in developing a business case under their ownership. Though usually targeted at a specific difficult case, it is often found that the approach is quickly recognised to have wider application and, where organisations have them, the PMO becomes interested in developing an in-house capability.

We support the development of project-based workshops and provide experts to create business cases, and then using our Reflect-Learn –Apply approach embed the knowledge, skills and attitudes into the organisation.

Example models, methods & tools used

BIP mapping,
Benefits registry document (BRD),
Cost estimating processes and tools,
Risk and complexity modelling and workshops.
Business case templates.

Clients we have used this method for

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What’s the value

Project portfolio prioritisation schemes give assurance to management that the project selections made give maximum value to the organisation for the resource allocated.
Most organisations have more opportunities available and problems to solve than they are able to resource or afford. A project portfolio often represents the largest investment an organisation makes on a yearly basis. Failure to invest wisely, either because money is spent on the wrong things or the investment fails to deliver the intended return is a major source of concern to Boards. Prioritising – investing in the most optimum way – is a critical discipline for an organisation.

Why is it valid

Prioritisation approaches and ways to manage the competition for resource that are based on criteria that compares costs (adjusted for risk) against benefits (value – also adjusted for risk) have been proven to provide maximum return with optimum resource utilisation. A common difficulty faced by project portfolio selection committees is coping with the combinatorial effect. i.e. As numbers of candidate projects rises the number of possible combinations rises very steeply. With just 12 projects there are 4096 while with 25 the number is in the billions. It is therefore unsurprising that without good prioritisation schemes and tools mistakes are made when considering best combinations of projects in a portfolio.

What you will experience

The Board can determine what is intentional and what accidental. A transparent and maintainable set of criteria is put in place to control entry on to the portfolio list and inclusion into the portfolio itself.

With this, senior management is assured and confident that the best options have been selected and that throughput has been maximised against priority.

How you might start

CITI has developed tools, techniques and approaches to set up prioritisation schemes for use by governance groups involved in project portfolio selection and management. Usually called in when a portfolio has become unmanageable due to over-contention for resource and working closely with the PMO or other project groups, project registers are established clearly articulating a number of characteristics: cost and benefit risk profiles of the projects, the basis of choices made and organisational preferences.

Example models, methods & tools used

Facilitated workshops
Benefit – impact- product mapping
Portfolio analysis techniques
RACI analysis
KASE profiling
PMO maturation model
PEFA
Benefit categorisation

Clients we have used this method for

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What’s the value

Complex change is difficult to deliver, individual projects rarely succeed in doing so, and programmes are often seen as too hard to manage. Solving this problem depends on understanding the significance of the projects’ interdependencies within a programme, and how best to structure a programme to deliver complex change – simply.

Why is it valid

Complex change cannot be achieved with project methodology alone. Programmes are large sophisticated bodies of work that provide the necessary management structure allowing projects and the necessary BAU initiatives to succeed. They ensure all important management decisions are predicated on the need to ensure the required benefits are delivered. The ‘how to achieve’ this is then considered as a secondary concern.

What you will experience

Current planning of your programme is reviewed, and an approach adopted which ‘starts with the end in mind’. This allows the outputs and projects to be grouped into a set of tranches that structures and sequences the work necessary to deliver the vision. Governance approaches are also reviewed and the necessary management structures and roles are confirmed to make the tranches work. The high level political engagement necessary is articulated and clear accountabilities are established.

How you might start

CITI usually gets called in when concerns are raised by the programme board as progress in the first tranche is stalled, or there is serious contention between projects that are already in progress and projects initiated under the auspices of a programme.

Example models, methods & tools used

Programme management evaluations
Benefit – impact – product modelling
Tranche construction
Programme management toolkit
RACI

Clients we have used this method for

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What’s the value

‘Translating strategy into action’ allows the Board to determine the extent to which the project portfolio delivers the organisation’s strategy.

Why is it valid

The evidence set out in a series of Standish Reports clearly shows the incidence of low level s of satisfaction amongst senior management with the alignment and contribution made by projects to the strategy of the company remains a major concern. Very often senior executives complain that they are unsighted by the project portfolio processes being used.

What you will experience

An initial mapping is made between the declared strategy and the project portfolios under management to determine risk-adjusted expenditure and .risk-adjusted outturns and outcomes. This process, called ‘brigading up’, groups current expenditures into sets that allows the emergent strategy to be described.
The agreed strategy is decomposed into strategic threads, and the specific foci for management attention are subjected to value management disciplines. The tacit, as well as the explicit, prioritisation practices are discovered and the consequences of the choices made clear in terms of risk-adjusted value returned.

The Board then has a model that reflects the actual alignment of the project portfolios with the strategy, which can be used to do scenario analysis – and to confirm or alter the operational imperatives of the emergent strategy.

Where the portfolio contains tens of projects the option analysis often proves very complex. To reduce this to manageable proportions, tool-based decision-support approaches are deployed: cross-linking dependent projects to prevent infeasible choices, and reducing the offered choices to a range of near-optimum selections based on published criteria.

This clarity identifies the best use of available resources, rather maximum use of resources, and a clear trajectory to the consequences of changing the composition of the portfolio as business imperatives change.

How you might start

Most organisations find it helpful to call CITI in when it is trying to monetise its vision – or to identify and quantify the benefits. Very often we find that the way the vision has been constructed is blocking the analysis: this may be due to the vision being substituted by a solution or because the separation between the customer value proposition and the business value proposition is incomplete.
CITI’s approach which uses a set of tools to analyse and tease apart related strategic focus areas and our ruthless focus on value has helped many organisations develop stronger commitment and better alignment of its project portfolio. We often have the opportunity to observe, “Show us your portfolio and we will show your strategy.” As one of clients said afterwards, “For once, it’s tell us your strategy and we’ll select the right portfolio…”

Example models, methods & tools used

Portfolio prioritisation models: e.g. MoSCoW, Hedging
SIPP
Benefits analysis
Results chain

Clients we have used this method for

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Target operating model consultant

What’s the value

A proven target operating model consultant (TOM) gives organisations confidence that their planned changes are workable and scalable at an operational level. It allows organisations to test how well different solutions support the corporate strategy before committing to an implementation. A TOM is developed through an iterative modelling process based on participation by managers, supervisors and process experts within the organisation.

Why is it valid

Reports clearly show that organisations with a well-designed operating model consistently experience higher operational efficiencies and customer satisfaction. The majority of organisations fail to entirely implement their vision and strategic plan because they do not fully understand how the changes they plan to introduce will affect their current operating model.

What you will experience

The organisation’s vision and strategy are deconstructed and mapped onto the benefits expected to be returned from a change initiative. It is through properly implemented changes that the outcomes are translated into benefits.
As changed processes and behaviours have an impact, the current operating model adapts, sometimes causing unintended and unacceptable consequences. This emergent operating model needs to be compared to the planned target operating model consultant to ensure appropriate actions are taken.

The first steps are to identify and quantify the specific fundamental parameters (i.e. those factors in the environment that are the drivers of business performance) and build models showing how they interact and change as new levels of performance are introduced.

With this, the Board can analyse the alignment of the prospective project portfolio with its intended strategy, enabling them to confirm or modify it to achieve the operational performance needed.

How you might start

CITI leads target operating model consultant design interventions. These can last for a calendar year or more depending on the size of the planned change and its associated complexity and risks. It is not a continuous engagement, but rather a small number (three to four) of high intensity, high throughput interventions to provide the greatest value.

Working closely with often many stakeholders, we ensure that business processes are fit for purpose and aligned with the new strategy, with our focus on facilitating the speedy resolution of the many issues TOM implementations generate.

Example models, methods & tools used

Target operating model consultant
BIP
SIPP
Blueprint

Further reading

We also discuss proven target operating model consultant here:
http://www.citi.co.uk/diageo-translating-strategy-into-action/

Your thoughts?

What are your thoughts – do you agree with our approach, or do the symptoms sound like the ones you are experiencing in your organisation? We would love to hear from you either by adding a comment at the bottom of the page or by emailing one of our consultants at consultants@citi.co.uk – or call +44(0)1908 283610

Clients we have used this method for

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