Move guide
Check you can carry it
Your report suggested a move on at least one of these three practices:
- whether running the business and changing it both have enough people;
- whether the people leading the work have done it before, and who helps them;
- whether the organisation is ready, willing and able to absorb change.
This move guide frees the people who will lead the work from enough of their day jobs. It checks that the leads have landed change before, or have help that has. Then it looks back at how the last few changes went.
1. When it applies
Use this move guide if your report placed any of these three practices in the lowest two stages.
| Practice | Where it may sit today | Where this move guide aims |
|---|---|---|
| Whether running the business and changing it both have enough people | Lagging: "The same people run the business and change it, change happens when the day job allows, and it stops in the busy season." Basic: "Workstream leads were told the programme is their priority, but nothing was taken off their plate." |
Competent: "Workstream leads are freed or backfilled for the programme, and the effect of the busy season on the plan is written down." |
| Whether the people leading the work have done it before, and who helps them | Lagging: "Leads were chosen because they were available, nobody involved has run a programme this size, and there is nobody to ask." Basic: "A capable lead runs the programme, and the workstream leads are learning on the job with nobody to coach them." |
Competent: "Leads were chosen for having landed change before, and specialist help is brought in when a problem needs cracking." |
| Whether the organisation is ready, willing and able to absorb change | Lagging: "The last programme fizzled, nobody was ever held to a number, and staff greet the new one with 'here comes another round of stretch targets'." Basic: "Some recent changes landed, but the business could not say afterwards what they delivered; if this is its first programme, the smaller changes went the same way." |
Competent: "Each of the last two or three changes (a system, a restructure, a new process, programme or not) has a reported result that shows it landed and stuck." |
If all three already sit at the middle stage or higher, skip this move guide.
It comes before launch, after shaping the programme and giving it owners. The leads named there are the people this step frees.
2. What to do
Three steps, in two to three weeks, before launch.
- List every lead the programme needs, and free each one. Backfill them, defer some of their work or drop a project. Write down what the busy season does to the plan. The run-vs-change-capacity worksheet does this.
- Choose leads who have landed change before. Where none have, decide how to get the skill: build it, borrow it or buy it. Match the help to the problem, as in the grid below. The delivery-skills worksheet records the plan.
- Look back at the last two or three changes. Write down what landed, what fizzled and why. Fix the causes before you launch. The change-fitness worksheet holds the look-back.
The harder the problem and the more complex the business, the more the programme needs its own design and dedicated people.
Table A below holds the leads and the look-back on one page.
The three free worksheets do the recording:
- /worksheets/transformation/run-vs-change-capacity for freeing each lead;
- /worksheets/transformation/delivery-skills for the skills plan;
- /worksheets/transformation/change-fitness for the look-back.
3. What to produce
One table, plus the three worksheets above.
Table A. The leads and the look-back
| Lead (name) | What came off their plate | Change they have landed before | Help if they have not |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last change | What it delivered | Why it landed or fizzled | What we fix first |
A lead with nothing taken off their plate will lead the programme in the evenings.
4. A worked example
Illustrative. Written for this move guide. It describes no client.
A regional health insurer is about to launch a programme across claims, sales and service. The leads were told it is their priority. Nothing was taken off their plate.
The leads.
- Four leads were named. Two now have a deputy running their day job. The third dropped a systems project to free a day a week.
The skills.
- Nobody had run a programme this size. The insurer hired an experienced programme manager for a year to coach the leads.
The look-back.
- The last restructure saved less than planned, and nobody could say why. The new programme will report each benefit against a baseline.
Three weeks on.
- 3 of 4 leads with work taken off their plate
- 1 experienced coach for the leads
- 2 past changes reviewed, with lessons written down
On a retake, all three practices could be answered at the middle stage.
What it looked like in our work
From our own work. Redrawn.
A programme document from our work sorted the help a programme needs by two questions. How complex is the business? How hard is the problem? The grid in step 2 above is that page, in plain words.
| Known answer | Answer still to find | |
|---|---|---|
| Complex business | A programme built for the business, which adapts as it goes and earns senior trust | All of these |
| Simple business | Good practice in each function, fitted to the systems and culture | Strong problem-solving, a strategic view and dedicated people |
A procurement programme or a systems rollout sits on the left. A change to the business or operating model sits on the right.
5. Effort and dependencies
- Chief executiveFrees the leads and decides on outside help.
- Head of peopleArranges backfill and finds who has landed change before.
- Workstream leadsHand over enough of their day job to lead the work.
What you need
- The workstreams and their leads from shaping the programme and giving it owners.
- The results of the last two or three changes, programme or not.
How long
- Two to three weeks, before launch.
What gets in the way. We have seen this in our own work:
- Leads with day jobs. A drinks producer relaunched its programme with leads still wrestling with their day jobs. Its own risk page warned the programme could become a catch-all.
6. How will you know it worked?
The test is what came off each lead's plate, and what the look-back found. Retake the check before launch. Each of these should be true when you answer:
| Practice | You can answer Competent when | A document alone does not count if |
|---|---|---|
| Whether running the business and changing it both have enough people | Each lead is freed or backfilled, and the busy season's effect on the plan is written down. | The leads were told it is a priority, and nothing came off their plate. |
| Whether the people leading the work have done it before, and who helps them | The leads have landed change before, or have help that has. | A coach is named, but nobody has met them. |
| Whether the organisation is ready, willing and able to absorb change | The last two or three changes each have a result that shows they landed and stuck. | The look-back lists the changes, with no result against each. |
The worked example is illustrative.
Think we've used your work without proper credit? Tell us and we'll fix it.