Our Approach to Benefits Realisation

Our approach to the Benefits Realisation assignment is based around an information gathering exercise to gather data to enable meaningful analysis, for confirming the customer’s Current Operating Model, and to define the Target Operating Model that is achievable by the customer and which will deliver the improvements and benefits identified during the assignment.

The steps within this approach that will normally be executed are as follows:

Agreeing the assignment scope (Pre-Sales)

The scope of a Benefits Realisation assignment, in terms of the processes that will be reviewed, are discussed and agreed with the customer prior to a Statement of Work (SoW) being produced and issued to the customer.

Initial Data gathering, Review and initial meeting

We will need to understand in some detail the current operations of the processes that fall within the scope of the assignment. This will include obtaining an understanding of the team supporting each in scope process, what actions they are currently performing, the scale and complexity of the current processes and how technology underpins the process activities being performed.

During this part of the assignment we also will require relevant information from the customer which will be reviewed prior to scheduling an initial Kick Off meeting with the Process Owner of each in scope process in order to begin the assignment. Prerequisites to this activity are that:

• The customer provides existing process documentation
• The customer provides existing team structure, personnel numbers, role definitions and related process Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• The customer provides details on the availability of core process practitioners

Current Operating Model Assessment

During this part of the assignment we will carry out a series of interviews with key process staff, meetings with management staff in order to understand how the current process is being performed, and this will also be supported by activities for the job shadowing of process practitioner resources in order to gather additional detail and to verify the interview data gathered for each in scope process.

We generally use a standard question set and model in order to identify where a customer is now and to identify the details of where process effort is being spent. Our consultants will also review and analyse relevant metric reports and data on each in scope process where these are able to be produced. Some follow-up questions may also be sent via email in order to clarify understanding.

It is important to note that, during this part of the assignment, the customer must provide as much information as possible to us regarding the KPIs associated with process and against which the teams performing each process are being measured.

Once the interviews and shadowing has been completed we will distil this information and populate a Current Operational Model Assessment template. This will record all of the activities performed by the process teams and record how much effort is associated with each of these activities, where this information is available.

Where detail is not available, or which cannot be provided during the interviews, through observations during shadowing or from real data pulled from the supporting technology solution, assumptions may be made that can be verified and amended later by the customer.

The analysis during this part of the assignment will also highlight the prospective savings in both time and cost related to each in scope process tasks; informal comparison with industry best practice models of organization and process; and leverage of specialist knowledge of each process and related tools and technology.

Definition of Target Operating Model and associated Management Challenges

During this part of the assignment we will define the customers Target Operating Model for each process that is in scope. The Target Operating Model defined will be one that is achievable by the customer and which will be able to deliver the improvements and benefits, quantifiable and non-quantifiable, identified during the assignment.

The aim of this part of the assignment is to identify where a customer needs to be and what the business needs to look like going forward, our consultants will again use a standard question set and model in order to identify this.

This part of the assignment will identify the following elements:

• Target Operating Model – Technology
• Target Operating Model – Organisation
• Target Operating Model – Processes
• Where appropriate, a set of Metrics/KPIs will also be identified for each of these areas

In addition, any Management Challenges that will be faced in moving the organisation from the current operating model to the target operating model will also be identified and highlighted during this part of the assignment. Management challenges can be related to the organisation, culture, contracts or any other related area that has been identified.

Transition to Target Operating Model

During this part of the assignment we will undertake a detailed comparison between the two models in order to identify the clear differences and what changes need to be put in place in order to transition between the Current and Target models.

The areas that will be identified are;

• Changes within the existing underpinning technology
• Changes to the current Processes in place
• Any organisation changes that are required

During this part of the assignment it is envisaged that some further questions or points of clarification will be generated and that these will need to be relayed back to the customer. It is important that customer responds as promptly and accurately to any points raised so that the assignment is not delayed.

Presentation preparation and delivery

During this part of the assignment, we will prepare the assignment findings report which will include all recommendations to a customer to achieve the Target Operating Model, including the technology automation, process and organisational changes that need to be made and to highlight the potential savings that can be achieved through transitioning.

The report will typically cover:

• Executive Summary
• Current Operational Model
• Target Operating Model
• Benefits Realisation comprising potential direct and indirect benefits
• Appendices

A presentation of findings slide deck will also be produced and which will be presented to the customer in order to complete the assignment and which summarises the information captured and includes our recommendations. The presentation will typically cover:

• Current Operating Model
• Challenges and Observations
• Target Operating Model including:
  • Recommendations for improvements within the underpinning technology
  • Recommendations of changes to the existing Processes
  • Recommendations on Organisational changes.
• Next Steps