Worksheet: Cut the programme into workstreams

A long list of initiatives has no shape and no owner for the changes between departments. This sheet groups the programme into a few workstreams, each led by a member of the top team. It builds the Competent step of the check:

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.

Step 1. The workstreams

Workstream	Top-team leader	Day-to-day lead	Share of target ($m)	Piece of the end state it owns
e.g. Pricing and terms	Sales director	Pricing manager	4.0	Every discount traded for something the business gets back





Organisation: structure, roles, ways of working
Total

The shares must add up to the whole target. The organisation workstream is not optional.

Step 2. The roles

Role	What they do	Time it takes
Top-team leader	Owns the benefit, approves scope, challenges the work	About a quarter of a week
Day-to-day lead	Runs the plan, the people and the weekly update	Full time
Advisers from other functions	Bring data, expertise and access to people	As needed

Step 3. Changes that cut across

List the changes no single workstream owns, and give each a home.

Cross-cutting change	Workstreams it touches	Home workstream

Under 50 people: cut the programme into two or three pieces, each led by an owner or senior manager with a share of the target. Changes to roles and ways of working are one of the pieces.

Done when: four to seven workstreams each have a top-team leader and a share of the target. One owns structure, roles and ways of working.

Adapted from our own programme steering packs (PSP, 2012).