The COVID19 humanitarian crisis should always ensure our focus and compassion is with our fellow human beings who have suffered terrible loss in such a short period of time, and this is rightly so.
There is, however, another ‘victim’ of this pandemic, our economy. Our political leaders have taken unprecedented steps to ensure short to medium term remedy, which will undoubtedly have long term impact.
While our fantastic medical professionals take on the huge challenge of saving lives, it is Merlin’s opinion that our business community has a lead role in tackling ‘head on’ the task of resurrecting our economy as soon as is practically possible.
To paraphrase Lord Kitchener: Your Economy Needs You.
During this crisis, there is little doubt that there is an absolute need for Business Leaders to seek the help of their professional advisers. There are lots of great examples of advisers coalescing around business communities to offer help.
However, ultimately it is the role of Business Leaders to make DECISIONS and there is no one better placed to know your business, culture, market, competitors and so on. That is, after all, why you are in the role you are in.
We at Merlin think our role in all of this is to help, where we can, Business Leaders make the best decisions to manage the impact of COVID-19 and adapt Operating Models to set up for success.
With spare capacity due to client projects being cancelled or deferred, in these unprecedented times we’d love to make ourselves available, at our own cost, to Business Leaders who need to make these decisions.
Areas where we are currently sharing / tailoring pragmatic and practical tools with Business Leaders and helping apply them in their context:
1. COVID19 impact on your business – a robust, pragmatic and honest review of this external stimulus, or otherwise, to your business. A means of getting to ‘tough decisions’ or identifying opportunities that may define the future of your business.
2. Based on 1) above, YOUR impact on your business – the speed of COVID19 may have caught a lot of Business Leaders off-guard and forced knee jerk, short term decisions that may not ordinarily have been taken. Adapting and using ‘Failure Modes and Effect Analysis (FMEA) will help Business Leaders understand the Impact of Decisions, when/how often they may feel the Impact, how they will identify it and, most importantly, how they can potentially mitigate it. For example,
Avoiding Creditors calls
Laying off key team members
Signing – when it is possible to do such – the lease on a new office.
Merlin are happy to help explain the use of these tools (and others) further, if required, and would also offer that now more than ever, when normal day job routine is most likely to be interrupted, is the time when you have time to determine the future or your business.
Once done, this then leads to what next? what will my business look like? how will we operate? What skills/technology/data will I require? This will take you a long way towards developing your Crisis Recovery Strategy.
3. So, what is the new Normal? – by using Target Operating Model (TOM) methodology in its simplest form, you can determine what you may have to change to adapt your business to set up for success. By de-layering your business, the task of making change becomes much more focussed and only touches those layers that will require change. If, for example, Working from Home (WFH) becomes the new normal for your employees, what does that mean?
Managing 20 remote workers is very different from managing 20 office workers
Is your leadership team set up for the new normal?
How will your clients react to a new ‘channel’?
Do you have the technology, and how do you share relevant information/data?
How do you maintain security?
4. COVID-19 Recovery Project Plan – Having understood, per above, what needs to be done, ‘Plan for Success’ and coalesce all your staff around a well thought through, rapid recovery Project Plan.
A lot to consider. Yes undoubtedly, however, you most likely have the opportunity NOW to determine your business future and play your role in ensuring our Economy can be as robust as possible, as fast as possible.
This is a call to action, so let’s get moving in a pragmatic and practical fashion. We would love to help in any way we can.
There are many high-profile examples of programmes failing to deliver. No two programmes are the same, there are plenty of different aspects that can and do go wrong. Even with best practice programme management and controls within the programme team environment things can and do go off-piste.
How often, as a Programme Sponsor or Programme Board Member, do you receive status reports and periodic updates from a dedicated and committed programme team yet feel exposed as unable (due to available time, information or experience) to really get behind or effectively challenge the view presented upwards? How often do you receive reports from Internal Audit or External Audit which are limited in scope and at a point in time only, and feel underwhelmed as they simply provide a list of low-level areas to be improved?
There have been many occasions in my Consulting career where I have been asked to leverage my Transformation, Programme & Change Management experience to provide robust assurance to Programme Sponsors / Boards in a way that helps manage risk whilst contributing to the success of the programme.
In addition to providing hands-on Transformation, Programme & Change Management support and ad-hoc advisory reviews as a ‘critical friend’, Merlin provides Programme Assurance at either the second line (to the Programme Sponsor / Board) or third line (to the Audit & Risk Committee) as depicted below:
Merlin’s methodology aligns with the Three Lines of Defence Model above to help ensure a robust and balanced mix of assurance over the management of programme risk, avoiding unnecessary gaps or overlaps between the various sources of assurance that may exist.
Our approach, and proven PM Scorecard tool, can be tailored to provide assurance continuously over the life of a programme (periodic health checks with ‘deep dives’ around key milestones / areas of concern); at a specific point in time (gateway reviews); or retrospectively (lessons learned review). Our approach can be narrowed to individual projects or extended to portfolios of programmes.
Working closely with the programme team and key stakeholders, we help Programme Sponsors / Boards and the team by providing:
Constructive challenge, leveraging many years practical experience across a range of disciplines, for increased confidence that the programme is aligned to good practice
An objective and timely view of current or potential concerns to address and bring the programme in line including added value recommendations to enhance performance
Independent insight to improve future programmes and avoid similar issues
If you would like to understand in more detail the benefits of our Programme Assurance service offering, we would be delighted to organise a presentation or video conference to talk through a case study with you.
While there is no substitute for great, hands-on Executive management in any business, there is an argument to say that sometimes you can just get too close, become too involved in the day-to-day and not have time, or inclination, to step back and steer the ship.
How many times, as an Executive, do you go home at the end of the week feeling totally drained, having put in too many hours, not really feeling that you have achieved much, and with some ‘homework’ to boot.
Is that your life?
Do you recognise your business?
Are you simply too involved in the day-to-day running?
If so, then ask yourself, WHY?
There have been so many occasions in my Consulting career where I have been hired to become the crutch of the exhausted Executive who is ‘living the dream’ above.
Great job, well rewarded, no work-life balance, and no real understanding why the ‘job’, with their innate, well proven ability and skills, simply takes so much of their time.
We help Executives in this situation by carrying out a short, broad but shallow Business Diagnostic to uncover the reasons why so much ‘work’ is going on beyond what is actually required to run the business. In most cases, this falls into the category of ‘Failure Demand’, where a large percentage of ‘work’ is created within the business and becomes ‘the way we do things around here’, offering no value to Clients, or Shareholders.
This usually falls into a couple of categories;
In technical ‘lean’ terms, this will come from a plethora of wastes – under the “Seven Wastes of Lean” philosophy.
However, it can also be cultural, where the ‘norm’ is to escalate ‘issues’ to the highest level in the organisation – usually the aforementioned overworked Executive – for resolution. In most cases, the root cause of this lies with the Executives themselves, as they have permitted this to take shape and, perhaps, see their role as ‘Master Fire Fighter’ with the skills, experience and aptitude to resolve anything that is escalated in their direction.
As long as that continues, be prepared to give up your weekends until your frustrations reach a level when you have simply had enough. Alternatively, take time, step back, get some help and understand WHY you are working so many hours and then put a plan in place to stop that ‘hamster wheel’.
A Business Diagnostic will highlight, in a very short period, the root causes of your 7 day weeks, develop a solution and help drive your business towards a more process managed, higher skilled, less costly environment that perhaps will offer you the time to determine strategic direction: the things you should be doing as opposed to fixing problems.
Our Diagnostic approach provides independent, trusted resources that will partner with you, share knowledge and offer practical insights to your business needs. We utilise experienced project team members to work on-site, where we can shadow and work with you and your teams’ so they are engaged and involved in the process. Our Diagnostic Report is detailed, underpinned by data, and uses internal and external best practice, identifying non-value costs, realistic cost efficiencies, business improvements including customer satisfaction and an organisation structure that is fit for purpose.
In a recent Diagnostic exercise with a well-known, international business services provider our Diagnostic Report identified a benefit-to-cost ratio of 14:1. This is an investment that can help you take control of the increasing frustrations that you are facing as an Executive.
If you would like to understand in more detail the benefits of a Business Diagnostic, we would be delighted to organise a presentation or video conference to talk through a case study with you and your Executive Team – please contact us directly by email.
With such scrutiny over consulting firms and conflicts of interest between audit and non-audit services, how does an organisation ensure it gets best value from a variety of providers?
Many organisations find managing multiple consultancies complex and expensive. They cite consultancies losing focus on deliverables to “land and expand” or pre-packing teams with inexperienced, less capable consultants to “support” more valuable, experienced consultants.
Time and money is wasted on multiple “data gathering” exercises (frustrating staff) and contradictory or overlapping conclusions delivered to different sponsors resulting in internal conflict between senior management.
Merlin’s cherry-picker approach draws the best, most appropriate resources from consultancies and internal resources to ensure the best possible outcome for the organisation.
External resources may be used directly on the programme or to back-fill within the organisation to free-up internal resources with the requisite skills and content to accelerate programme delivery. So a typical team will include:
Key members of our client’s staff who are involved in steering and delivering the initiative
Overall project/programme management expertise from Merlin ensuring effective programme governance, coordination of work stream activities, milestone reviews and maintaining a focus on “value for money” from external suppliers, and the programme as a whole
Specialists from Merlin and our Trusted Partners or other suppliers to deliver focused outcomes
Case Study
The client had a many consultancies assisting a number of initiatives to increase market share and customer insights. Each was working on separate projects on customer segmentation, customer communications, a CRM selection project, a digital marketing platform and a new website.
The client’s staff were inundated with data gathering requests and repetitive meetings and as a result “business-as-usual” was suffering.
The consultancies were competing for follow-on work and were struggling to understand the scope of the other consultancies.
Consequently, multiple recommendations were being made beyond the scope of the individual work parcels allocated which were contradictory or included in another firm’s scope.
The Solution
Resources from all the consultancies and from the business were “pooled” and assessed individually.
Many of the consultants included in the firms’ teams were surplus to requirements (e.g. PMO support staff). Some staff were removed from their day to day roles and given project roles, backfilling them with external resources.
Data gathering was controlled in a data room and each project’s scope was shared with all the “multi-firm” teams. Deliverables were controlled by the programme lead and it was made clear to the consulting firms involved that follow-on work would be awarded on the same principles.
Outcome
The clients’ staff learned new techniques from the consultancies’ and from the individual consultants’ experiences. The amount of time wasted on data gathering was dramatically reduced and the distraction of the scramble for the follow-on work was felt to be less disruptive and contradictory. The work was delivered faster, cheaper and more cohesively with fewer external resources.
Confronting bad news is part of the job for any self-respecting C-Suite Executive.
As consultants, we are often called upon when bad news breaks because, as independent professionals whose role exclusively is complex problem definition and solving for clients, we often see quickly and objectively how the situation has arisen and what must be done.
This does not imply that we are smarter than the average bear, or that the executive management teams are not. However, an objective eye may help clients get back on track faster and cheaper than perhaps they might otherwise – resolving vested interests and conflicts diplomatically (or otherwise as need be) along the way.
A “unique-to-them” corporate dilemma may be one which has been witnessed (and defeated) several times by external consultants elsewhere, thus by leveraging that experience of succinct problem definition and known successful solutions, we can deliver real value quickly.
So why does it happen?
Why do clients sometimes seem surprised to find themselves in a cost challenge position, or suddenly realise that sales are not happening as quickly or in the magnitude expected?
The Right Measures
In today’s data-rich world, when there is so much data captured and accessible, and the ability to mine it that data is “cheap-as-chips”, the prospect of being misled by the wrong or having key information buried is as dangerous as not having any data at all!
We often find that organisations (and sometimes whole sectors) are data rich and insight poor*. Linking the correct drivers to the real consequences allows remediation actions to be implemented and effect measured promptly. “The right measures lead to right measures”.
The Right Infrastructure
Evolved infrastructure (cost/systems/people) may have been perfectly relevant in a different time but may no longer be optimal for the current type or size of business or operations nor be scaleable (up or down) in the medium or long term.
An external perspective from professionals who are not invested in decisions of the past, can assist Executive Teams objectively implement a new model or organisational structure be more “fit for the future”.
The Right Change
Change is constant. Too much can swamp an organisation; too little leaves it behind the pack.
Executives need to balance the need for change alongside “keeping the show on the road”. Neither can exist in isolation as the business evolves to meet increasing demands – faster, cheaper, better.
External independent consultants help get the balance right – providing independent assessment of investment cases, reviews of hurdle rates, assurance of benefit realisation (likelihood and accrual) as well as bring change capability (solution design and implementation).
I think the value we bring to clients is that experience but with a fresh set of eyes on a ‘new’ problem. We harness that to help our clients only understand the symptom and the root causes and extract the data to help them make effective and timely corrective action.
The most rewarding projects I have led have helped the client uncover the root of the problem and discover what they must do about it; avoiding at all costs that feeling that consulting is being “done to them”. They often need help in delivering the solution, but when it is their solution, the value created is so much higher.
That we have (in all probability) experienced this before and, more importantly, resolved the issues helps clients realise that they can survive “the black hole” and they don’t need to tackle it alone.
If any of this resonates with you and the situation you face, let us provide insight and support. Contact us for a chat.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsAccept
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
With such scrutiny over consulting firms and conflicts of interest between audit and non-audit services, how does an organisation ensure it gets best value from a variety of providers?