Voices of RPIA
18
In Our Work
What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced when leading transformation projects throughout your career? I see transformation projects as having three steps. First, there’s a comprehensive review of current capabilities to identify gaps that can be improved. Second is the alignment of financial and employee resources to execute and lead a complex program. And third, the cascade of communication to and between employees to better understand their part in the new processes. Simply put, gap analysis, resource management, and stakeholder alignment. In my experience, the last step is the most challenging. Change management communication can make or break a project, and although it is third on the list I mentioned, it occurs all throughout the project. You have to think of things like “do they have an awareness of the necessity for change? Do they have an appetite for change and learning a new tool? What hesitations might they have and why?” Digital transformation is only successful with buy-in and the team feeling like they are now better equipped to do their job more effectively and efficiently. Early inclusion and collaboration are paramount, and developing advocates and experts on the changes is crucial for cascading communications out to the broader team.
How do you measure success when these strategic projects have been implemented and become another aspect of business as usual? This is actually my favourite part of the job. Walking the halls, hearing the conversations, and seeing first-hand how staff have embraced change. That’s true validation of success. There’s a sense of inspiration as the team grows both individually and collectively with new skills and better ways of working – it’s an exciting environment to be around. On the financial front, once stakeholders embrace and manage the transition to new tools, key performance indicators (KPIs) and analytics can be used to track success through more quantitative methods. Ultimately, if enabling growth and scaling can be attributed to a project, that is a success.
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