Business Transformation aims at making fundamental changes in the way an organization operates. One can imagine that initiating the change and the resulting impact on people comes with many challenges. Because Business Transformation is always in a state of evolution, it is very challenging to maintain the procedures and guardrails for managing transformation programs as they expand in complexity over different phases. Therefore, such programs often experience one or more of the following symptoms as they evolve and their magnitude increases:
It goes without saying that the above-mentioned symptoms can have dire consequences on the wellbeing and future of the transformation undertaking. Our experience points to the fact that these issues will not occur when good governance is established and maintained throughout the lifetime of transformation. Good governance helps avoid Business Transformations failing by means of establishing:
A single source of truth for requirement
Change Management for constantly evolving requirements
A link between requirements and test
Traceability of requirements through the development life cycle
Clear definition of roles and communication between stakeholders
Cross-functional ownership
Performance indicators to measure success of the transformation program
Understanding holistic transformation governance
Let me use the analogy of the big bang and expanding universe to explain our philosophy on holistic transformation governance. In this light, governance establishes the natural laws for effectively managing transformations as they expand over their lifetime. These natural laws consist of the transformation initiative’s meta model or grand design of the relationships between the ‘matter’ and substances, i.e. how stakeholders and project team, and design and implementation interact during the transformation. Holistic governance establishes the rules on how ‘matter’ should interact over time and space, and thus, in context of a complex initiative, how the grand design should be implemented.
For governance to work over time, one must go beyond its initial setup and put in place a framework that allows governance to adapt as the scope changes. This approach ensures that governance remains intact as transformations expand in scope and over time. What follows are the steps we advise should be taken to ensure that governance stays alive as the transformation program evolves:
Define the product governance as part of the transformation product backlog. This includes
the meta model (content to be governed, i.e. business processes, systems, data but also all related documentation and communication results),
governance processes (i.e. decisions taking, approval and change request processes),
governance roles (i.e. business process owner and product owner) and
tools (modelling, DMS, test management, task tracking, etc).
Incorporate governance-related user stories into sprint planning to address all governance related requirements
Run sprints and deliver governance related sprint backlog requirements. Here each phase of the transformation program can be broken down into two to four week sprints.
Sprint review enables assessing the applicability of the governance concept to the evolving transformation program. At this point, it is important to consider whether there are dedicated changes of phases that require an adjustment of the governance (e.g. going from build to deploy would require considering new roles such as trainers and end users).
Release & deliver governance content to users
Refine backlog items including user stories pertaining the governance (where needed)
Call for action
Good governance helps avoid Business Transformations failing by means of maintaining the procedures and guardrails that manage programs as they expand in complexity over different phases. In order for governance to work over time, businesses must go beyond implementing governance just once by defining – at an early stage –a program management manual. It is necessary to put in place a framework that facilitates “governance to evolve”, thus remaining intact as transformations expand in scope and execution complexity as they evolve from design to delivery.
At bpExperts we have developed a framework which helps companies expedite the setup of their holistic transformation governance. It consists of a reference architecture for the meta model, reference content for industrial enterprises, governance roles and processes.
For inquiries on transformation governance and how we can support your organization please feel free to contact me.
Best regards
Ikemefuna Allen