Move guide
Shape the programme and give it owners
Your report suggested a move on at least one of these three practices:
- whether the programme is organised into a few workstreams a top-team member each leads, and whether the organisation changes are in them;
- whether initiatives are owned by the people who benefit;
- whether the people whose work changes helped shape the initiatives.
This move guide cuts the programme into a few workstreams the top team can hold in their heads. Each benefit goes into a line manager's budget. The people whose work will change help design each initiative.
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 the programme is organised into a few workstreams a top-team member each leads, and whether the organisation changes are in them | Lagging: "The programme is a list of initiatives with no shape, and the organisation is assumed to stay as it is." Basic: "Workstreams are named after today's departments, each with a list of its own initiatives, and nobody owns the changes that cut across them." |
Competent: "Four to seven workstreams each have a top-team leader with a share of the target, and one of them is the structure, roles and ways of working." |
| Whether initiatives are owned by the people who benefit | Lagging: "Initiatives belong to the programme office or the consultants, and line managers say they 'support' them." Basic: "Line managers are named against initiatives, but the benefit sits in the programme's numbers and in nobody's budget." |
Competent: "Every initiative has an accountable line owner, and its benefit is in that owner's budget for the coming year." |
| Whether the people whose work changes helped shape the initiatives | Lagging: "Initiatives were designed at head office or by a project team, and the people whose work changes first hear of them when told to implement." Basic: "Staff were asked for ideas at launch through a survey or suggestion box, and nobody has heard what happened to them since." |
Competent: "The people whose work changes sat on the team that designed the initiative, and their objections changed the design." |
If all three already sit at the middle stage or higher, skip this move guide.
It follows making the case and sizing the ambition. The pipeline from there is what the workstreams share out.
2. What to do
Four steps, in three to four weeks.
- Cut the programme into four to seven workstreams, each with one leader from the top team and a share of the target. Make one of them the structure, roles and ways of working. The workstreams worksheet does this.
- Put each initiative's benefit into the budget of the line manager who will deliver it. The line-ownership worksheet records each one.
- Design each initiative with the people who do the work today. Hold a workshop with them before anything is announced. The built-with-the-floor worksheet records who sat on each design team.
- Run the engagement in order. Start with one-to-ones with each executive. Then hold workshops with their direct reports to find opportunities, then detailed sessions on the best ones, then one-to-ones again to rank the ideas.
Table A below holds the workstreams and their owners on one page.
The three free worksheets do the recording:
- /worksheets/transformation/workstreams for the workstream map;
- /worksheets/transformation/line-ownership for each initiative's owner and budget line;
- /worksheets/transformation/built-with-the-floor for each design team.
3. What to produce
One table, plus the three worksheets above.
Table A. Workstreams and owners
| Workstream | Leader (name) | Share of the target ($) | Initiatives | In which line budgets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | ||||
| 2. | ||||
| 3. | ||||
| 4. | ||||
| 5. Structure, roles and ways of working |
A benefit that sits in no line budget belongs to nobody.
4. A worked example
Illustrative. Written for this move guide. It describes no client.
A logistics business has a list of 40 ideas from its launch survey. Each department has its own list, and nobody owns the ideas that cut across them.
The workstreams.
- It cut the list into five workstreams: warehouses, transport, customer service, overheads, and the structure and roles. Each has one leader from the top team and a share of the target.
The owners.
- Each initiative's benefit went into the line manager's budget for the coming year. The programme office keeps the tracker but owns no benefit.
The design teams.
- Drivers and shift leaders sat on the transport design team. Their objection to a new roster changed it before launch.
One month on.
- 5 workstreams, each led from the top team
- All initiative benefits in a line budget
- 1 design changed by the people who do the work
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 heavy manufacturer whose profit had collapsed ran its programme as nine workstreams. Five were about cost, three about revenue and one about the organisation.
- 5 workstreams on cost
- 3 workstreams on revenue
- 1 workstream on the organisation
Eight of them, as the programme named them:
- organisation restructure;
- manufacturing cost reduction, which covered spares, contractors, tendering, which equipment was critical, and data to cut low-value work;
- revenue growth;
- supply chain redesign;
- distribution review;
- overhead cost reduction;
- property value;
- procurement.
The organisation got a workstream of its own, beside cost and revenue.
5. Effort and dependencies
- Programme ownerShapes the workstreams and agrees each leader.
- Workstream leadersEach takes a share of the target and runs the design teams.
- Line managersTake each benefit into their budget for the coming year.
What you need
- The pipeline and the target from making the case and sizing the ambition.
- Next year's budget, open for the benefits to go in.
How long
- Three to four weeks.
What gets in the way. We have seen this in our own work:
- What good looked like. An equipment maker gave every initiative an owner and a budget line before launch. The benefits sat with the business, and the advisers held none of them.
6. How will you know it worked?
The test is where each benefit sits and who designed each initiative. Retake the check once next year's budgets carry the benefits. Each of these should be true when you answer:
| Practice | You can answer Competent when | A document alone does not count if |
|---|---|---|
| Whether the programme is organised into a few workstreams a top-team member each leads, and whether the organisation changes are in them | Four to seven workstreams each have a top-team leader and a share of the target, and one is the structure and roles. | The workstreams are named after today's departments. |
| Whether initiatives are owned by the people who benefit | Every initiative has a line owner, and its benefit is in that owner's budget. | Owners are named, but the benefits sit only in the programme's numbers. |
| Whether the people whose work changes helped shape the initiatives | The people whose work changes sat on each design team, and their objections changed the design. | A workshop was held, but no design changed. |
The worked example is illustrative.
Think we've used your work without proper credit? Tell us and we'll fix it.