Shared services transformation

In this 4th article in the How to Design a Successful Shared Services series, transformation veteran Steve Moore warns of 3 common pitfalls – and provides a stern admonition on scope creep.

Once you've designed your shared services, understood the business and commercial impact, and made the right technology decisions, then there's no more avoiding it: you're at the implementation stage. And this is where mistakes will cost you dearly.

Here are the three most common areas where shared services projects "stall " during the implementation stage:

Ready to push the button? Pre-launch checks are vital (also: do you have agreement on what constitutes success?) Underestimating the pace of change. Don't minimize or under-resource the team. Failure to establish a communication and feedback loop. Again, easy to ignore – but you'll feel the consequences. 1. Ready to push the button? Yes, if you've defined and prepared everything. However, one of the challenges that I regularly encounter at this stage is "scope creep" – and it is a disaster. How do you minimise the opportunity for this to occur? If you allow the edges of your defined services to blurr now, you'll be playing catch up forever. Scope creep is the failure to identify and agree the boundaries of the project before starting – the objective being to minimize misunderstandings and remove ambiguities. Here's how you avoid it:

List the key items or areas that will not be delivered and are therefore not within the remit of the project and state that these will be addressed by a separate project(s) at another time; get all parties to sign off. Ensure definitions are added to explain terms that are not commonly used in the environment where the project is being deployed; clearly define what the words or terminology actually mean. The natural instinct is to just get started. But you need to ensure the basics are in place first, and that all parties are aware of the direction you're taking, the time scales, and their own role in delivering on the project. Be firm about what's in scope and what's out of scope. You can always expand later. Clearly defining scope will directly impact perceived success. Here are some tips on how to stay focused on your delivery:

A defined beginning and end (time to completion) Specific set of goals A series of activities in order to achieve those goals A budget for resources / equipment Bear in mind that the above should be designed not in isolation, but with your customers’, your employees’, and third parties’ involvement. This is important because you'll gain wins this way:

Involving employees and customers gives them an opportunity to provide input to design and project delivery. It's also important that employees and customers feel that they are part of the process , rather than that they are being "done to." Give your employees head room. If you are serious about employee engagement and empowerment then provide the resources and the support for them to participate. Before implementing the plan ensure that a formal document is produced and signed off, taking into account the points above.

2. Underestimating the pace of change and work required Building a shared service out of a number of disparate organisations and remote locations presents a fairly massive challenge. The amount of variance and non-standard processes and documents that come out of the wood work never ceases to amaze me. Inevitably, processes have evolved and forms or documents have been amended to suit individual departmental needs or depending on the country. The biggest challenge here lies not only in identifying these variances, but in developing a standard process and service that can be applied across them. Applying lean design or best practices to existing processes and services is a great tool for getting you on the right track. Again: don’t forget the customer must buy into these changes, so sharpen up your negotiating skills.

3. Failure to establish a communication & feedback loop One of the challenges of a new shared services is to encourage customers to use the service, now that you've built it. The questions will come the very moment your clients experience the new service [it's not till you switch your new iPad on that you realize you don't know how to load your e-mails]. Here are some tips to get them engaged:

Obviously, if you are providing an added value or improved service, this will encourage customer engagement; however, the customer must be made aware of any changes / service introductions in a timely manner. clearly explain what's better and how it will impact their business. Use an infographic if need be–a picture tells 1000 words. Plan ahead for communication. You need to clearly identify your targeted audience, and use the most appropriate medium. Random publications or subjecting staff to high volume emails and notices will most definitely not work – and may have the opposite effect. Don't overlook the value of pilot schemes to get initial feedback and introduce your excellent communication process. The first good experience will get them hooked and on board. The first bad ... well, you know. Also, actively encourage feedback and publish the responses. This shows that you are taking feedback seriously and that you are acting upon it, where applicable. In summary - here's what I've learned about implementation: • Involve your customers at all stages of the project. • Perform due diligence with respect to processes and documents; this will yield great returns.

• Have a clear communication strategy and make sure your customers have participated in its development.

• Build a highly responsive feedback mechanism.

Have an experience, good or bad, in shared services implementation? Share your story in the comments box, below.

This is part of an ongoing series. Read the previous articles here

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