The success of an organisation, their leaders, mangers and people (their greatest asset) depends on their ability to react, improve and adapt to the ever-increasing changing world with disruptive technology. Staying competitive requires looking for new ways of focusing on customer needs, providing constant and never ending improvement whilst simultaneously being more innovative, reducing costs and increasing quality with the expectation of instant delivery. One way of meeting customer needs is to achieve Operational Excellence. Outlined below are a2B’s associated ‘Points of View’ on Operational Excellence. Supporting the Implementation of Operational Excellence a2B Advisory Consulting’s point of view is that achieving Operational Excellence is not just about implementing Lean or another improvement Business Improvement methodology. Change Management is the proven game changer used to gain organisation buy-in and behavioural change. Our registered a2B Change Management Framework® (a2BCMF®) is a structured and disciplined approach to support organisations, leadership teams and individuals going through a change. Programme management is the technique used to deliver the projects and benefits.
Sponsorship is the Most Important Success Factor a2B Advisory Consulting’s point of view is that effective and proactive sponsorship is one of the most important elements in a successful change, such as achieving Operational Excellence. There are three key elements to support the project: ‘Say’, ‘Support’ and ‘Sustain’.
Lean Implementation Goes Beyond Toolset Application a2B Advisory Consulting’s point of view is that Process and Business Improvement goes beyond the application of Lean, Sigma or Kaizen. It is about providing people with improvement knowledge so they can better understand their processes and align them to their systems to be more effective and efficient. Singular focus will not deliver improved business processes.
Aligning Operational Excellence to Strategy a2B Advisory Consulting’s point of view is that the programmes within the portfolio should be first aligned with the mission, values, vision and strategy. Once aligned, the Operational Excellence approved charter can be used to develop the roadmap, project plan, resource plan etc. The BSC will consequently support delivery of Operational Excellence programme as part of the Portfolio. "Business improvement projects are more likely to fail due to people and communication challenges rather than the application of business improvement tools or methodologies" ~ Peter F Gallagher
Previous Change History will Impact Future Success a2B Advisory Consulting’s point of view is that Change History Assessment (CHA) can provide organisational insights that can be used to mitigate previous weaknesses and enhance previous successes. These weakness can range from: Poor people involvement, lack of communications and low confidence of future changes being successful.
Aligning the Employee’s Individual Annual Plan with Cultural Change a2B Advisory Consulting’s point of view is that achieving Operational Excellence can be made more effective if each employee's Annual Performance Plan can be linked to specific delivery elements. Specific capability and project delivery targets can be set and these become the vehicle linking strategy delivery. Creating the right new behaviours, cultural change and team work is extremely important in terms of building employee stimulus, developing new skills and getting the motivation (WIFM). This is key to achieving an organisation’s Operational Excellence.
"Without team knowledge and subject mater expertise, there is no foundation to build the improvement" ~ Peter F Gallagher
Peter consults, speaks, and writes on the Leadership of Change®.
For further reading please visit our websites:
Change Management Body of Knowledge (CMBoK) Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, A, B, & C
Peter F Gallagher is a Change Management Global Thought Leader, Expert, International Speaker, Author and Leadership Alignment Coach.
Ranked #1 Change Management Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Change Management (May 2021 & 2020) by Thinkers360.
Ranked #2 Business Strategy Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Change Management (Dec 2020) by Thinkers360.
Ranked #2 Leadership Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Change Management (Aug 2020) by Thinkers360.
Business Book Ranking
Change Management Adoption - list among year-to-date’s (Jul 2021) most popular books on business and technology from Thinkers360 member thought leaders.
Change Management Handbook - Leadership of Change® Volume 3, listed among the 50 Business and Technology Books from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders to read in 2021.
Change Management Pocket Guide - Leadership of Change® Volume 2, ranked within the top 50 Business and Technology Books (Jan 2020) from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders.