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The agile organization of the future - Wave planning as enabler

Why Wave Planning is a major process for the digital transformation. Different and partially competing projects within a large transformation project are planned using the wave planning process and implemented in an agile fashion. The individual waves are much smaller than the projects in the past. During the implementation process, the waves can be (de)prioritized  especially if the environment changes, new alternate solutions (new technologies) emerge, or the resource situation changes. The conscious decision away from planning depth reduces expenses for detailed planning, which in any case become obsolete in short order.  The wave-like delivery of results takes front and center, i.e. measures are taken to constantly check whether the intended result can be achieved with the currently planned process (a new service, a new product feature, a new software component etc.).

You want the agile organization of the future? Then do as follows: Leave the teams alone. Instead, focus on making rapid and higher-level decisions regarding the direction and priorities. In this way, you create a management and organizational structure where agile implementation takes center stage. The digital transformation brings with it great change. It may sound trivial. But its not. In reality, for companies this change is a tsunami of numerous development, innovation and reorientation projects. For many of these projects, the actual objective is not very clear - and neither are the strategies that are supposed to achieve the objective. It is exactly at this stage that agile planning techniques truly shine. Agile projects do not aim for a comprehensive and detailed master plan, but rather represent a flexible planning framework for addressing new conditions as the project progresses. The term wave planning plays a prominent role in this context. It organizes transformation, design or implementation objectives into realization waves. But what does this mean in concrete terms?

What exactly is wave planning?

Wikipedia and the Project Management Institute (PMI) define wave planning as follows:

Rolling-wave planning is the process of project planning in waves as the project proceeds and later details become clearer Work to be done in the near term is based on high-level assumptions; also, high-level milestones are set. As the project progresses, the risks, assumptions, and milestones originally identified become more defined and reliable.

Therefore this process is essentially about making rolling and prompt decisions as to which issues and task packages will be implemented in a project in the next time window. Instead of a rigid and completely thought-out project process, this approach focuses on: 

What makes the most sense at this time? What will offer the most benefit in the next month? How do we have to respond to sudden developments (resource situation, customer feedback or similar)?

In a way, the project is managed on sight; there is a long-term focus, but it is reached through many flexible implementation waves. Therefore, wave planning contrasts with, or at least can be considered as a supplement to, classic project planning. The planning and realization of key projects in waves means, among other things, that stakeholders are highly integrated into the process, that planning assumptions are defined and permanently updated, and in particular that demanding large objectives (with all of the associated complexity) are divided into manageable parts. Imagine, for example, that a medium-sized equipment manufacturer wants to do the following in addition to his core business:

first, establish new digital models, second, place a new platform in the market, and third, realize the corresponding after-sales services as new additional revenues.

Previously, these issues would have been developed on a conceptual basis over a period of one to two years, followed by a roll-out process. Today, it is much more adequate to think about these three objectives from the end customer's point of view, define the benefits to the same, collect many new ideas, try out different technologies and then implement partial objectives in small steps (waves). The example shows three different projects of an initiative, which in this (typical) case want to access many joint resources. While agile management in projects has already been a topic of discussion for some time, my primary aim is to direct the focus on agile management between projects. In that moment, managers take on a special role. Many of my business partners, and many of our customers, such as the previously mentioned medium-sized equipment manufacturer, are aiming for an agile organization. It is viewed as a decisive factor in the response to changing markets. Agility - not just in projects but especially the agile management of and between projects - is a good way of demonstrating that management and the entire company are serious about achieving agile organizations. Therefore, the decision-makers can  and must  take on a model function and take the employees (and teams) along with them.

Specifically, this means creating a management and organizational structure in which agile implementation takes center stage. In this way, the relevant stakeholders can be closely involved - by design. They must decide on priorities, as well as project and product focus areas, at relatively short intervals (for example: a tested new platform is not working, how can employees be quickly transferred to other projects - but only for a short time?). This alone creates a situation of a constant exchange of information about the planned changes. Wave planning is change management. Managers are getting more removed from daily activities, but are much closer to the developments and changes.

A proven method in this context has been to organize the decision-makers into so-called Wave Steering Committees. They decide, at rather short intervals (e.g. every two weeks), about directions and priorities, and the distribution of financial and personnel resources. Solutions can be found quickly in the case of unexpected resource conflicts, or if employees who were promised are not available for the next planned project section (wave) after all  in this way, the medium-sized equipment manufacturer obtains results much more quickly. Although not necessarily in the places he might have expected.

How do I achieve my objective, and which requirements must be observed?

Please note the success factors for an effective wave planning approach:

Not every project is suitable for wave planning! Foundation projects, building and infrastructure projects should not proceed in waves but rather in the conventional manner, namely as a waterfall. On the other hand, transformation projects, the introduction of new services (whether digital or other), or even the expansion of the business with new business models, are particularly suited for wave planning. It becomes even more interesting when the company is working on several of these large projects at the same time, because these situations typically lead to conflicts over resources, hence fights over the same employees who are wanted in different projects. There are discussions as to how existing budgets will be distributed over which of the projects, or at what amounts. In this case, wave planning can be used for quick decision-making between projects, for example if there are problems in the project (technology not available yet, approvals still outstanding, supplier no longer available and similar). Create diverse and heterogeneous teams! Wave planning requires dedicated planning teams that should consist of employees from very different departments and with a range of experience. Ideally, these employees come from different business units, programs and locations. The planning teams combine planning with stakeholder and management alignment, and initiate decisions regarding the direction and priorities at an early stage. On a functional level, knowledge about customers, expertise in the customer journey / customer experience, analytics and IT should be consolidated to allow for thinking in terms of integrated solutions (from the customer's point of view). Nominate potential wave leads early on! The various implementation waves need a dedicated lead, someone who pushes the milestone objective with energy and technical expertise  such candidates are especially sought-after resources, so they must be secured! Permanently rebalance between scope and backlog: at the beginning and then over and over again it is all about collecting knowledge! All of the ideas + everything you want to do + everything that should be done from the viewpoint of the employees finds its way into the backlog, the central working memory of the project. At the same time, everything is strictly prioritized  only very few contents make their way into the backlog and the respective scope: a wave then consists exactly of the implementation of the respective scope. Even if wave planning aims for the immediate provision of results  your storage space for future tasks should reach at least six months into the future. Define parameters for each wave! The starting point of each wave consists of specific initiatives starting with the customer journey (example above: How can our equipment manufacturer simplify the ordering process with the new platform, and increase the customer experience?). A business case is defined for the selected initiative  as a section in the customer journey: What is the outcome (more orders, bigger orders), and which initiative delivers the greatest benefits for the customer or the greatest value for the company (additional revenues)? In this context, the budget represents a specification, the framework for further planning; i.e. the budget is not calculated from the planned tasks but is already coordinated/approved ahead of time. The budget is the starting point and not the end point of the planning process.

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Firstline Worker: The untapped potential in your own company

Learn how all employees benefit from digital collaboration tools. Firstline Worker sind fundamental fr Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Sie tragen durch ihre Arbeit in der Fertigung oder im Kundenkontakt unmittelbar zum Unternehmenserfolg bei.

Technologien haben vielfltige Wirkungen. Sie knnen vllig neue Geschftsmodelle hervorbringen sie knnen aber auch schlicht Menschen miteinander verbinden und Verbesserungsprozesse anregen. Ein Aspekt ist mir dabei besonders wichtig: In einer modernen Gesellschaft sollten sich alle Unternehmensmitarbeiter angemessen informieren und einbringen knnen. Das senkt die Gefahr, dass sich Menschen abgehngt fhlen, und steigert ihre Fhigkeit, ein eigenes Urteil zu entwickeln. Wenn durch einfache digitale Werkzeuge Mitarbeiter erreicht und eingebunden werden, die bislang weitgehend auen vor gelassen wurden, wird sich das fr alle lohnen. Hier mssen Unternehmen investieren. Shift plans on paper, company news at best on the blackboard, talking in the corridors instead of social networks: this is how the information supply of most employees in production and service looks like. While the employees in the office are digitally networked, the colleagues in the so-called "first line" have to accept inadequate means of communication.

The term "firstline worker" may not be familiar everywhere. Firstline workers are employees who work in direct customer contact or in production. This occupation group includes, for example, employees on production lines, nursing staff in hospitals, drivers, security and cleaning staff, as well as cashiers and sales staff.

The inadequate digital connection of these employees currently shows an important indicator: Firstline workers have a frighteningly low social collaboration maturity level of 3.54. With a maturity level of 4.23, office colleagues are far ahead of them. This is the result of the latest findings of the German Social Collaboration Study 2019. The study also shows that nine out of ten companies are working on digital transformation. But why are first-line workers so often left out of the equation?

Integration via digital communication

From my point of view, companies benefit if all employees can actively participate in the development of the company. If firstline workers have simple digital tools, they are better integrated. It enables them to inform themselves independently and participate in discussions. In this way, they are more fully integrated into the company. One example: Through these digital channels, management can easily and continuously communicate their vision, mission and values - constant contact instead of a single employee meeting a year! As a result, first-line workers who have been poorly integrated feel more part of the organization, can more easily understand corporate goals, and can better support these goals themselves.

 

Internal drivers of innovation

Employees in production or logistics know the internal processes and can uncover weak points in everyday work. If they communicate practical suggestions via digital channels, which they have long used in a similar way in their private lives, the company can tap into additional innovation potential. Sharing ideas must be as easy as sharing a picture of WhatsApp. Firstline workers will then also be involved in solving problems and organizing themselves more independently among themselves.

 

Small investment with big impact

Many companies initially express doubts: the investments are far too high and the process too time-consuming. Employees need their own hardware and special training to use such tools properly. In my experience, these concerns are unfounded. Smartphones have become an everyday tool for virtually every adult. Reading messages, sharing photos, commenting on contributions - all this has become the norm. These skills can be quickly and easily transferred to the world of work. And if the company offers these employees the opportunity to use their own equipment, the actual investment is manageable.

 

Support is an entrepreneurial and social task

Firstline workers are fundamental to business and society. They contribute directly to the company's success through their work in production or in customer contact.

Technologies have a variety of effects. They can produce completely new business models - but they can also simply connect people and stimulate improvement processes. One aspect is particularly important to me: In a modern society, all company employees should be able to inform themselves appropriately and make a contribution. This lowers the risk of people feeling lost and increases their ability to develop their own judgement. If simple digital tools are used to reach and involve employees who have so far been largely left out, it will be worthwhile for everyone. This is where companies need to invest.

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Guiding principles instead of good intentions

What capabilities will your employees need for the digital transformation in 2018? It is becoming more and more evident that the digital transformation in big companies is primarily a process of cultural transformation. This cultural change refers mainly to new forms of work and ... other forms of collaboration. And it is the only way in which digital innovations can be initiated and implemented rapidly.

Even when we are talking about the company's own capabilities, its organizational capabilities, these nevertheless depend on the expanded skills and new capabilities of the employees. Specifically: Your employees. To secure the success of your digital transformation, employees must demonstrate a willingness to enter into this process, i.e. the cultural readiness for the digital transformation must be activated.

Developing teams now 

Our customer projects are normally concerned with fundamental strategies, how companies are changing, both at the organizational and technological level. At the same time, we also focus on rapid and specific implementation measures that use the employees every-day activities as a starting point. It is the only way in which the corporate culture can be changed relatively quickly.  The steps involved in this process tend to be small but many.

What process has proven itself, and where should we place our focus in 2018? Here are six starting points in particular - keeping our eye on companies that have mastered the transformation. Which of these ideas can be used as ideas for immediate implementation in your team? What does all this mean? In summary: Digital change is cultural change. And it starts with promoting the capabilities of your employees. This process should start in 2018. In your team. And with you.

I wish you all the best for 2018, along with exciting challenges that motivate you, and that allow you and your team to take a big step towards digital and cultural change.

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Why the digital transformation must start with a transformation of IT

How companies can lay the base for the digital transformation with a modern IT and process infrastructure. Sometimes, the digital transformation process does not start with spectacular fireworks.  Rather, the secret prerequisite for the digital transformation is a transformed internal IT environment. The question of the hour: How can companies with a modern IT organization and process infrastructure lay the foundation for the digital transformation?

Based on our experience, this topic often does not receive the attention it deserves.  But why is that? Maybe because it concerns tasks that were already known previously, but that are becoming critical to the business now. While many large companies have already progressed in this area, medium-sized companies still have some catching up to do, even though most medium-sized companies are well positioned when it comes to their IT organizations. But considerable potential for improvements exists with the establishment of a service-oriented IT environment. Therefore this is not so much about (a lack of) technological competence, but rather about establishing the organizational skills to ensure that one does not miss the digital train, so to speak.

A typical example - the supplier company

A supplier company manufactures sensors for the automotive industry, and it has already made a lot of progress with its product IT and production IT.

The company continues to acquire smaller companies in the industry. With that, it also acquired the differently developed structures of each of these companies, which have remained. To date, none of the companies is well integrated; at best, simple infrastructure services such as storage or networks have been rolled out.

The internal (office) IT operates in the shadows, and is actually only administered - leading the IT organization into a new age and to a new key position is not perceived as a leadership task. To be able to introduce new digital services such as analytics, big data, IoT or Industry 4.0, the supplier company's IT must be modernized as quickly as possible - now things get hectic! And it gets worse: The lack of integration and consolidation of the different IT departments at the acquired companies stands in the way of being able to offer the new digital services across the entire company.

Just like the supplier company, many medium-sized businesses are still a long way from organizing their IT systems properly, finding the right partners and creating real added value for their business. So what needs to be done?

The digital transformation adds even more urgency to the existing IT homework

The future orientation of IT as a modern process organization is always a major task that needs to be completed. The task becomes even more urgent, and downright non-negotiable, for creating the internal conditions for the digital transformation. Here, we see a minimum program consisting of three action fields (see also illustration): Continuous process orientation in the IT organization, from demand management to IT governance. The business processes are independent, but the IT processes are not. That means that IT follows the business processes / value chains in the processes, applications and architecture. Make or Buy: Which capabilities of the company's own IT are considered system-relevant, and must be maintained as core competencies? And: Which IT capabilities represent a relevant unique selling point? The rest should and must be outsourced.

These three action fields are not enough, however. There is another important issue that must be considered.

Involvement of management - but why?

Deliberations about the role of IT must also include thoughts about the requirements for the IT Manager role. It is not sufficient if the understanding of leadership only centers on a pragmatic-reactive IT organization. Because: IT can only be as innovative and agile as the IT Manager. Therefore the involvement of management is critical to success. But let's be honest - this statement is hardly new.  So what does it mean specifically in our case?

Management must specify what it wants from IT: in what role does it see the IT system, what is the IT organization's future value contribution to the digitization of the company? Ideally, management will initiate and moderate the process. At the end of the process, the following question should be answered: How has the new role of IT been defined in the company, led by the departments that are close to the customer?

Leadership in IT

The digital transformation requires customer- and innovation-based leadership in IT. This leadership must target a new service-oriented IT organization, which is closely linked to the areas that are close to the customer. Three implementation principles have proven themselves in this context:

Each measure of the new IT organization has been designed in such a way that its benefit can be measured on a regular basis. Employees are included in the process as early as possible, so that they can accompany and support the digital and cultural transformation in the IT organization from the beginning. Best practices from outside or from other companies are not only desirable but mandatory - they massively accelerate the learning and implementation curve.

And finally: Waiting for the others???

You do not have to wait for the others, you can take the first step yourself: What do you want from the IT organization in your company? What is its strategic role? Which three business processes should be strategically supported by IT in the short term through modified applications and solutions?

With your answers, you make an important contribution towards ensuring that the transformation of the internal IT organization becomes a driver for the digital transformation of the entire company.

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Thinking ahead, but starting today

How to identify and initiate the first steps into digital transformation. The digital transformation is a relentlessly rapid process. Like a tsunami, it can wash away corporate structures at hitherto unknown speeds, and it can destroy entire companies and industries.

There is a lot of focus on the digital transformation. But this also poses a risk. Especially larger companies find it difficult to get a handle on the speed of the conversion processes. Many consider it a Herculean task to define their own digital strategy. The development and internal coordination of such a strategy within the company comes dangerously close to a never-ending story.

Become an independent player and start now!

The good news - there is a way. At Campana & Schott, we have found it very useful if at the beginning, the digital strategy is only defined at the divisional, departmental or even at the product level. What this means: Start the process in your own area at the same time or in advance of the digital strategy for the entire company. Use this time to develop, test and adjust the main parameters of your own digital road map. Therefore, while others are still engaged in general discussions, you should already begin to gain experience with new digital projects, quickly analyze results, and reject many good ideas - so only the best can be consistently pursued - and always adjust the direction of your own digital road map.

This procedure is even possible at the level of individual products! Main question: What can the Customer Journey for your product (or that of a traveler, patient or policyholder) look like? What new digital channels can be used to better reach the target groups for your product? And which new services create a particular and customer-relevant added value?

Our recipe

I recommend the following recipe for this process: At the beginning is the conceptual objective. The digital objective governs the direction of the entire team, and helps with building an agile mindset for each employee. It describes the visionary business idea - the where we are going part. In other words, with what combination of (digital) products, services and market access does the company intend to make its money in the future? The digital road map that defines the way to get there: A description of concrete, realistic implementation measures and dates. It also defines which organizational skills must be present in the team.

We have analyzed the transformation projects we supported during the last few years, and can be more specific in this regard. The following four steps have proven themselves with regard to the implementation of the conceptual objective: Four Steps deliver everything you need

Typically, these contents can be developed in four steps. They may look as follows:

Step 1- Envisioning

The first step is used for coming together, defining a vision and for the initial definition of a location. Typically, the latter process involves the use of a digital maturity model. We recommend that the workshop results are subsequently developed into a draft customer journey or employee journey map.

Step 2 - Digital Potential

This step is used to enhance the digital customer journey and the digital employee journey (target and actual). These journey maps are used to identify the data (sources) and potential for improvement. The contents are: A discussion about the question how a customer journey and employee journey unfolds its impact?. Deriving initial potentials for improvement (also including new digital services or products), an assessment of the potential and prioritization.

After the second step, we often prepare an analysis of the required organizational skills. The main question is: What type of capabilities are needed for which improvements?

Step 3 - Digital Business Impact

Exactly these capabilities are discussed in step 3, and potentials for cost reductions and revenue increases or other qualitative effects are also estimated. This process results in an initial feasibility calculation. Ideally, it also leads to an initial business case.

To be able to start with the digital transformation in your own department, we recommend that ideas for possible prototypes are already developed at this stage - and then one or two are selected or the first prototype is already implemented!

Step 4 - Digital Strategy

The last phase represents a synthesis of all inputs: Outstanding decisions on the direction of the road map are made, and the business case is presented. At the end, you have a strategy for the digital transformation in your own department, together with an approved road map, and ideally your team will also proudly hold the validated prototype in its hand.

The benefit

I consider the above process a key accelerator for the digital transformation. It allows for the transformation to be implemented in one's own division, department or for one's own product. In the case of multinational organizations, the workshops can also be implemented consecutively in several regions. In that case, five to ten concrete starting points (collaborative opportunities) will be identified, which are then set up across the regions. In this way, the digital vision can be linked globally from the bottom up.

The procedure described here allows you to accelerate the process and already provides validated building blocks that you can contribute the digital strategy for the entire company. In addition, this process creates a level of commitment among your employees (and your leadership team), and also allows you to make an important contribution to creating an overall more agile organization.

Why not start today?

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5 leadership rules for the digital transformation

Everyone wants digital transformation. Really all of them? When we take a good look, we often see that need for quick digital trans-formation has not yet arrived at decision-making levels, quite the contrary. With these 5 leadership guidelines, you are well prepared for the upcoming transformation. Because... the digital transformation has to start at the top. Digitale Transformation: Erstellen einer Social-Collaboration-Plattform, Leadership-Regeln und einem agilen Management-of-Change Prozess.

One of the key tasks and preparations for the digital transformation is Digital Capability Building, i.e. the creation, establishment and expansion of digital competences within the company. Besides technological and methodological skills, this especially involves management competences. Yet what kind of management is needed for this?

Security was yesterday

Let's first have a look at the current environment. Up until just recently, most (large) enterprises were in a situation that was characterized by a relatively high degree of security. Long-term planning horizons, clear specifications and a more top-down-oriented management style had been the rule and for this situation usually also quite adequate. However, based on the fast digital transformation need, this picture is now changing fundamentally.

Framework conditions are now changing so quickly that companies simply no longer have the time to invest in extensive research work and long committee discussions. Here, it pays off to bring knowledge, resources, passion and responsibility together in order to achieve results more quickly. Interim conclusion: In an uncertain situation, in which orientation, new opportunities and customer reactions can no longer be anticipated as had previously been the case, agile management is required. And this means: an entirely different conception of management.

Less management, more leadership

For this management conception, it is essential to differentiate between management and leadership. But what does this mean in concrete terms?

Management activities are predominantly characterized by:

the formulation of tasks and processes tracking and control of target-actual comparisons optimization of efficiency and quality continuous improvement In summary: Clarification of the "how" and "when"

Leadership, on the other hand, encompasses:

a focus on purposeful and superordinate targets conveyance of a guiding vision for the future intense personal communication active support of change In summary: Clarification of the "what" and "why"

This contrast makes the following clear: Leadership is something entirely different than management. And for digital change, what we need is leadership in particular. Let's take the central cornerstones, such as purposefulness, intense personal communication and the support of change. Based on these, we can sketch out 5 leadership guidelines for the digital transformation:

Clearly acknowledge your commitment to the digital transformation - explicitly and repeatedly: Constantly communicate your objective, emphasize the urgency and necessity of the transformation. Profess speed as an objective: Be quicker than before and quicker than the competition. Monitor the agreed implementation personally: The next management levels and the staff as a whole must recognize that you are really serious and that desired changes do not peter out. Display your presence in individual initiatives and become uncomfortable if agreed changes are protracted. Generation S will be a central part of your corporate culture: Employees from the start-up culture expect short, fast and decentralized decision paths as well as agile working methods. The self-conception and commitment of a start-up can be the guiding principle of the future corporate culture. Make use of this as a catalyst in your company! Employee orientation/within the team: First invest in teams, then invest in ideas and technologies! You need a reinforcement of your teams at all levels. Activate your employees and let them be independent. Opt for diversity in your teams and for problem-solving through cross-functional teams. Show that you see failure as a part and the learning and creation process and then you assume that 3 of the 4 ideas will not work. That's OK. And will inspire your company's development teams. Employee orientation/individual: Hiring and developing your employees are your most important investments. This involves giving your individual employees personal feedback reviews and individual recognition in a timely manner (instead of formal employee assessments). Take the low significance of financial incentives into consideration. True motivation happens when  individual employees experience the purposefulness of their actions and identify with the overarching and social relevance of their work. Only this generates loyalty, commitment and ultimately, successful innovation.

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The transformation of the digital workplace: 7 theories for greater productivity

Digital transformation is in full flow; it starts in most companies with an eye on customer-oriented processes. And that makes sense. But now it's time to apply digital changes to the internal workplace. The new workplace should and will change the organization: the self-organization and collaboration of employees in the organization. You might ask, what is of most importance in the end? The summary of a summary for a successful Digital Workplace project is: Strategic roadmap, flexible implementation and intensive Change Management. The so-called Digital Workplace is a central driver towards greater productivity and new ways of working. But: What are successful companies doing differently to the others?

1. A digital workplace affects everyone - so everyone needs to be involved

The Digital Workplace is a strategic project. It affects all areas of the company - in fact, every employee who has their own PC. At the same time, very different expectations develop in different areas of the company. While Sales may potentially be very interested in mobile solutions, Corporate Communications may place more value on a personalized intranet. These varying interests and expectations must be managed. All areas affected need to come together and discuss the resulting priorities in a constructive manner.

Often, using the services of an external moderator proves the most effective way to decide on concrete steps moving forward and to develop an overarching roadmap. This states when and in what order which components of the digital workplace will be implemented and made available.

2. A classic with great potential: The search for experts and existing information

The roadmap for the digital workplace is oriented for the most part around individual applications that can achieve a considerable increase in productivity for the company. The recent German Social Collaboration Study shows that searching for experts and a better search for - often existing - information deliver a high level of added value. The new Digital Workplace in the company must find its answers through this.

3. Not yet a classic, but great potential: Working in communities

Not quite as obvious, but of great potential, is the creation of IT-supported communities, another clear recommendation in the study. Through this, tools for communities work in two ways. On the one hand, they can lead to greater company productivity, as tasks can be completed more quickly and/or with greater innovation. On the other hand, communities, or the active, subject-specific exchange across departments and locations, are a relevant contribution leading to a more agile organization, through which generally speaking, non-hierarchical, networked methods of working are encouraged.

4. Innovation, a little at a time

Good Digital Workplace projects are innovation projects. Learning is at the forefront: which technologies suit the company? For this, not only is a controlled test environment permitted, it is positively desirable. Fear of new technologies is the worst adviser. New technologies or new cloud services should be tested and introduced as pilot projects in small, controlled experiments. This is the best route to creating a Digital Workplace. The IT department sets guidelines and creates the architecture and service specifications. However, even the IT department can only occasionally predict which components and services will actually be adopted by users. It is an empirical process that can however be guided. Try often does not mean try randomly.

5. The new digital workplace is profitable

A Digital Workplace project offers the opportunity to consolidate IT. For example, a large mid-tier customer of Campana & Schott, a global manufacturing player with 9,000 employees: the number of tools used for communication and collaboration was reduced by more than half from the original 72. More importantly, the number of providers and software manufacturers was reduced by more than two thirds from 19 providers to just five.

6. Investing in Management of Change (MOC)

Digital Workplace projects are not technology projects. Or at least not only. Without detailed planning and comprehensively executed communication support, only a fraction of the possible usage can be achieved. Companies should rather do without additional technical functionality, than not budget or budget too little for investments in permanent and multi-channel support for future users. Particularly when implemented in a workplace, they result in a massive change to the way in which employees work and collaborate. So much so, that it is clearly necessary to also invest massively in change management support.

Changes do not happen of their own accord. Change management support measures need not necessary be innovative, but they must consist of a package of complementary tools (i.e. multi-channel). The activation of pilot users, departmental disseminators, digital communities, automated help systems (particularly for answering user queries), training systems and videos - all these, complete with live-events, are proven means, but require investment. Nonetheless, it is a prudent investment.

7. Strategically planned, but implemented in an agile way

Finally, I would again like to go over the individual measures. At the start, there is a single vision of what the future, digital workplace should achieve and which strategic goals should be met. Within the scope of this, an agile but appropriately-focused implementation can follow. Implementation opens things up to many smaller initiatives and pilot projects - combined with the knowledge that some of the planned components will not eventuate within the organization. That is what trials are for, on an on-going basis. The whole process resembles a control loop. The company implements the roadmap for a digital workplace in a series of smaller steps. If some steps do not aid in achieving the goal, they are adapted to do so.

Added to this is the start small approach, i.e. with fewer technical components that are continually tested, and only then are the next functions added. Even with a grand vision, it is advisable to approach the actual implementation as a growing Minimum Viable Product. In this way, the Digital Workplace contributes to an agile company.

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Recently I was asked by a customer,

the CIO of a mid-level global market leader, What is the point of a collaboration strategy? An IT project that only creates slides and no software, at least in the beginning, seems suspicious. Even if it only takes 15 to 20 man-days. Its point and benefits are up for discussion. At its core is a crucial question which is occupying many companies at the moment: How will people collaborate within companies in the future? And, above all: How can they collaborate more effectively and comfortably?

All of the top-down approaches of the past have failed. The answer for todays world is: Prepare a smart platform intelligently. Then, after that, you can feel confident that the employees in a company will be able to intelligently organize themselves. Employees have a very accurate feeling for which forms and channels of communication are truly useful in their daily work. This is particularly true when competencies need to be networked or contacts with other experts or colleagues need to be established who don't happen to be sitting next door at the office.

The following questions are important to consider for productive companies that have a large portion of developmental work: Which steps in the work flow take place within which system? How do the applications interact? Which IT tools could be better connected or merged to achieve more successful actual work by the development team? How can we connect with partners and suppliers?

We took on the project, discussed it in depth with the customer and then worked out a SharePoint and collaboration strategy. In particular, this includes a roadmap detailing in which steps and with which business priorities the strategy should be implemented. Heres how a board member expressed it in conclusion: A high-performing, extensively used platform for collaboration is one of the three most important strategic undertakings for us within the next few years.

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Setting the course in project management: What you can learn from our customers

Large change projects require a completely different approach from what is generally understood as project management. While "normal" projects such as a software roll-out or an order-based variant development are supposed to deliver clearly-specified results or products, programs aim to bring about fundamental changes in the company. Examples of such strategic project are reorganizations and realignments, consolidations and cost-optimization programs, or the development of a completely new product family (just think of the new BMW electric cars i3 and i8). What does that distinction mean? To put it in somewhat simplistic terms: project management has access to a proven set of methods that must "only" be applied consistently. The management of programs, on the other hand, is primarily an issue of leadership. There is agreement as to what should be achieved, but the way there is not clear yet. The end result is not clear at the beginning, and may change several times over the course of several years.

We examined a sample group of 25 large projects and have identified the following success factors for leadership in program management: the strategic direction of individual activities, often a large number of simultaneous projects, must be assessed and balanced on a continuous basis. This requires a permanent feedback process with stakeholders. Also, the program manager is the game-maker that motivates and supports the various project managers during the entire period. The performance of the overall project is managed with a governance approach that is primarily concerned with ensuring that the agreed organizational rules of the game are implemented. That is, there is less controlling of individual projects at the program level; rather, the intelligent cooperation between the various projects is at the forefront. But the crucial question for each activity is as follows: does the planned measure take us a big step towards the final business benefit; does it allow us to achieve the desired benefits that are supposed to come out of the program? Our opinion: if an organization is structured in such a way, it has set the course for challenging programs that lead to successful outcomes.

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A customer asked me recently...

Digital Transformation: Creating a social collaboration platform, leadership rules and an agile management-of-change process. I would like to offer the following observation: While there is prevailing consensus about the big IT trends (social, mobility etc.), most reports are based on a purely technology-related point of view. Most authors and analysts are concerned with the question of which technologies will emerge in the future. But they do not reflect on how these technologies can be used effectively.  And that leads us to our response to the question posed by the leader of an organization: the main success factor consists of the massive communication-based management of the change that is supposed to lead to the collaboration - introductions or changes will not be successful without professional change management. It is similar to politics: the ability to identify the right contents is one thing, but success is defined by something else - the right communication and distribution of contents to the various target groups in the company. This is reflected in the results of a study conducted by Campana & Schott in 2014: while over 80% of the more than 200 participants rated the usefulness of work areas (work spaces/team rooms) as very high, only 15% of those surveyed rated the usefulness of the company's internal social networks and newsfeeds as very high.  The result: if something is not perceived as useful, it will not be used!

What about companies that successfully introduced a social collaboration platform - how did they do it? During the first phase, they establish an (emotional) willingness to change and create the organizational conditions (including a top-quality project team, defined multipliers and defined stakeholders). We advise our customers to develop a separate change story that provides all participants with a tool to consistently lay out why the change is required, what it means and what it will bring. During the next phase, the actual transformation period, many companies are concerned with the technical tasks of provision and roll-out. Particularly during this phase it is very important that the changes are always accompanied by communication measures. A mix of the following measures has been very effective in our experience:

Train-the-Trainer training sessions; followed by continuous coaching of the trainers Coach key users from the beginning, ideally starting at the top management level Guidance for key users: what functions are the "early adopters" supposed to work with, and in which cases? Supporting measures, such as a separate home page, newsletter, webcast, FAQ or Wiki Obtain feedback, adjust use concepts, documents and training Pro-actively communicate adjustments or required changes (or a change in course)

A stabilization phase at the end ensures the long-term establishment of the social collaboration platform.  In this context, changes in behavior that have been achieved (or not) are measured, and adjusted if required. Finally, the success stories are communicated within the company.

By the way, together with the organizational leader of the DAX company we agreed that conventional "classroom" training would mostly be omitted. Instead, there are "desk visits", hence visits to the user's workstation, and working together on concrete use cases using the new technical options. But most of all, the new social collaboration platform is immediately used for the project to comment on, add, share and distribute contents. Non-accepted or non-used elements area already turned off during the first phase. One could almost use the phrase "agile management of change"....

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