Previously, I highlighted three steps a company must take to unlock the business value of Microsoft Office 365 (O365). In the final blog of this series, I explain how to get started with O365 and implement true change.

Organizations must continue to transform to keep up with, or exceed, customer, business, and employee expectations. As digital transformation persists, there are increasing demands for digital dexterity in the workforce. According to Gartner, “Digital dexterity will be a significant driver of competitive advantage (or disadvantage, in the case of digital deficiency) for the foreseeable future. So, helping employees productively use new cloud office workloads can be a key element of a digital dexterity plan.”

O365 provides the tools and services to achieve superior digital dexterity. However, it does not happen through mere exposure to O365 tools. It is necessary to carefully consider the six steps outlined in this series. These steps help can drive the adoption of O365 and achieve its inherent business value.

Getting It Right

When change management is done well it is a beautiful thing. People are engaged with the right messages, in the right ways, at the right time. They understand why the change is being implemented. They buy into what the new system or process means to them. Because they buy-in, they seek – yes proactively seek – more information and are simply excited for the results that will come in the new environment. They attend training and absorb the content. At go-live, they are engaged, which minimizes disruption and enables the project to realize operational benefits quickly.

Change management increases the probability of staying on schedule and budget, resulting in higher benefit retention and ROI.

Why Perficient

Our team of organizational change management professionals applies broad-based business experience and expertise to mitigate the people-related risks of change programs. We help you manage the transition process to ensure your team is ready, willing, and able to perform effectively in the new environment.

To learn more, download this guide here to explore the six steps required to begin unlocking the true value of O365, or you can submit the form below.

In my last blog, I highlighted the first three steps a company must take to unlock the business value of Microsoft Office 365 (O365). In this blog, I highlight the next three steps to unlock the value of O365.

Establish a Measurement Plan

As the adage goes, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” It is critical to establish a measurement plan for a number of reasons:

• Calculate the ongoing business value/ROI of O365 to prove the business value
• Measuring adoption is a leading indicator of ROI
• It may be necessary to collect other business measures that better connect both ROI and adoption. For example, measuring the amount of travel time saved by using Skype and Teams may be very beneficial for calculating ROI
• Measures of adoption and ROI can be used to provide feedback to the organization. This feedback should occur at three levels:
  • Informational: What are these adoption measures telling me?
  • Impactful: What do these adoption measures mean for the broader organization/business value?
  • Directional: What do I need to do differently to help improve these adoption measures?
• Measures of adoption and ROI can be used to reinforce improvements in adoption and reward success

In an ideal world, in addition to adoption and ROI measures, it would be beneficial to measure other aspects of performance (utilization, effectiveness, organizational) to fully connect the value chain. See Gartner’s recent depiction of the “Hierarchy of Cloud Office Metrics.”

Address Root Causes of Low Adoption

After a measurement plan is in place, develop a plan to address each root cause of low adoption identified in step two. Each category of cause will need a different adoption strategy. Address root causes related to insufficient direction, awareness, and understanding with actions like having leadership clearly communicate the case for change and demonstrate the use of O365 and display their active support.

Address root causes related to insufficient O365 competencies with training and communications. Low adoption due to insufficient motivation is a more complex issue and would require robust actions around adoption data, feedback on adoption, positive consequences from leadership, etc.

Implement a Dedicated OCM Plan

The above steps are roughly sequential but more important than sequence is that the above steps are thoroughly integrated with a robust technology adoption-focused organizational change management approach to understanding and improving technology adoption. Key components of OCM include:

• Establish and communicate a clear Case for Change
  • Why is increasing adoption of O365 important?
  • What are the benefits of O365 adoption (individual, business)?
  • How can leadership demonstrate the importance of O365 adoption?
• Develop a robust OCM stakeholder analysis to identify, specifically:
  • Affected groups/individuals
  • Root causes of low adoption
  • Impacts of increased adoption, both positive and negative
  • Influence strategies
  • Unique support needs
• Use the results of the stakeholder analysis and root cause analysis to create customized communications, training, and support solutions for unique stakeholder groups to accelerate O365 adoption.
• Develop and implement an organizational engagement plan (leadership visibility, change networks, etc.). This is an important component of an OCM plan to create a state of permeability for change.
• Implement an adoption feedback plan. Based on robust adoption measures, implement a plan to pinpoint desired adoption behaviors that have the most impact on business value, and plan for how the organization will reinforce (i.e., motivate) those behaviors. Doing this well can help unleash discretionary performance (i.e., creating the “want to” effect) whereby users want to adopt O365 applications and help the organization use it optimally.
• Implement sustainability mechanisms. The purpose of this step is to ensure that the adoption gains obtained during the acceleration effort are maintained long after the project has officially concluded. This plan should include ongoing monitoring/management of the adoption processes and associated metrics. Additionally, the plan would also include a roles and responsibilities (e.g., RACI) matrix for ongoing actions.
• Implement a continuous improvement plan. Given the multitude of features and capabilities of Office 365, additional business value will be obtained by implementing a continuous improvement plan and best practice promulgation.

To learn more, download this guide here to explore the six steps required to begin unlocking the true business value of O365, or you can submit the form below.

Previously, I analyzed the key to unlocking the business value of Microsoft Office 365 (O365). In this blog, I highlight the first three steps a company must take to unlock the business value of O365.

Match Business Needs/Priorities to O365 Solutions

First, it is important to determine where the business value of O365 lies, which may be different for each organization. To do this, an organization must ask, “What are our business needs and priorities?” followed by, “How can O365 applications address those needs/priorities?” For example, organizations with a significant mobile workforce may find that Skype and Teams provide the most value by reducing travel and communication costs. Therefore, it is important to match organizational units and user groups with the specific O365 applications that have the most value and then focus on accelerating adoption for those areas.

There is likely not enough organizational capacity in terms of the ability to both deliver and accept widespread O365 efforts. It is better to target adoption in a few areas, succeed, and then move on to other areas.

Identify Root Causes of Low Adoption

Next, it is important to get good information on the root causes of low adoption. It is often a mistake and a misuse of resources to assume that the only (or primary) cause of low adoption is insufficient O365 competencies, which can be addressed by training. The root causes could, and likely will, also fall into other categories:

• Insufficient direction, awareness, and understanding of the Case For Change
• Insufficient motivation for O365 use. Are there positive consequences for using O365? Are there more incentives for doing things the old (non-O365) way?
• Lack of support from leadership

Given that low adoption cannot be sufficiently addressed unless the root causes are identified, a thorough OCM stakeholder analysis is required to identify not only root causes of low adoption—but also to broadly characterize stakeholder groups relative to how they are impacted by O365 and how they may influence (positively or negatively) adoption efforts.

Establish Direction for O365

Next, it is important for leadership to set the direction on O365 use. What is the vision for O365? Where does it fit relative to all other organizational priorities? How does leadership promote the business value of using O365? How does O365 integrate with and potentially enhance other organizational cultural initiatives?

To explore the six steps required to begin unlocking the true value of O365, download our guide here, or you can submit the form below.

Previously, I discussed the business value of Microsoft Office 365 (O365). In this blog, I breakdown the key to unlocking the business value.

Business value is, for the most part, untapped or “locked” because behavior change is typically left to chance. Furthermore, O365 ROI models typically have a three-year projection. However, by specifically focusing on business value, adoption metrics, and behavioral levers, adoption can be greatly accelerated. The key to acceleration is to provide dedicated resources to measure adoption and implement behavioral changes required to impact business value.

Fundamentally, unlocking the sustained and transformative business value of O365 requires users to adopt the various O365 applications. Employees must change some of their behavior and do things differently on a recurring basis. To truly achieve high levels of adoption, behavior change needs to be actively managed (i.e., via a change management program). Adoption cannot be left to chance, nor “hoped for” as users are exposed to the technology over time.

When users embrace and adopt new technologies, then the benefits (business value) of the technology will be realized. Therefore, the business value (ROI) is directly proportional to adoption.

So how does an organization increase and accelerate adoption? A concerted organizational change management (OCM) strategy must be employed to help change behavior and increase the chances for adoption. Again, “hope” and “exposure” are not strategies for adoption. There are six steps to unlocking the business value of O365 through adoption acceleration. These steps are not revolutionary, but, if some requirements are met, they will allow organizations to unlock the latent business value of O365.

To learn more, download this guide here to explore the six steps required to begin unlocking the true value of O365, or you can submit the form below.

There may not be sufficient empirical research or metrics to demonstrate how using Microsoft Office 365 (O365) contributes directly to business value in a measurable way. However, there are cases in which evidence suggests that purposeful, focused adoption and usage of O365 can contribute significant business value.

A comprehensive review of how O365 impacts business value suggests that value can be realized in two major categories:

1. Cost reduction value as a result of O365 implementation
2. Adoption-driven value

For example according to research from Forrester, approximately 75% of the business value of O365 is driven by ongoing adoption and usage and the remaining 25% is typically realized from IT-centric cost reduction factors (e.g., reduced IT support, reduced back-end hardware).

Adoption-driven value can be broken down into six primary sources of business value.

To learn more, download this guide here to explore the six steps required to begin unlocking the true value of Office 365, or you can submit the form below.

In my last blog, I explored where Microsoft Office 365 (O365) provides value. In the final blog of this series, I debunk misleading assumptions associated with the business value of O365.

There may also be some potentially misleading assumptions about O365:

O365 is ”just a tool”

The decision to migrate to O365 is typically driven by IT, and most of the research has been conducted by IT. As such, O365 may be lumped together with other IT tools that help get work done and may be disconnected from its potential as a catalyst for digital transformation/agility and/or a mechanism in and of itself for adding business value.

Availability = adoption/usage

The availability of great technology, like O365 applications, means that people will automatically begin using it. This is a bit like the “Field of Dreams” approach to technology – “If you build it, they will come.” However, there is a significant amount of data to suggest that this is rarely, if ever, the case.

For example, survey data by Microsoft and summarized by Binary Tree, shows that about half of respondents were not even aware that O365 services were made available to them (and less than 30% had a firm understanding of how to use them.

Adoption/usage = business value

In some cases, where organizations actually have adoption/usage metrics there is a potentially misleading assumption that high O365 adoption/ usage will automatically demonstrate business value. The discrepancy between usage and business value can be seen in responses to a survey conducted by Gartner. In this survey, O365 applications like Teams and Power BI were reported as in use by approximately 50% of respondents.

However, those applications (Teams and Power BI) did not score very high in terms of perceived value – they received average scores of 5 and 6 (out of 100 allocated points), respectively.

Adoption/usage of O365 creates positive cultural change

There is recognition that digital transformation requires a digitally dexterous workforce and, in some cases, a cultural change that emphasizes organizational agility, collaboration, and processing speed. Given how Microsoft markets O365 and its face value to potentially influence culture, there may be a misleading assumption that O365 will, by itself, create a positive culture change.

The assumption is that using O365 applications that are specifically designed to foster cultural characteristics such as teamwork, collaboration, communication, and openness will automatically move the organization positively along the continuum of those cultural characteristics. True and lasting culture change requires a multifaceted approach to changing culture. It is not likely that any one initiative, especially a technology initiative like O365, will create much in the way of culture change. An organization that has spent decades as being characterized as siloed, hierarchical, reserved, and closed will not make significant strides in changing that culture just by migrating to O365. However, O365 applications would certainly complement most culture change initiatives.

Lack of adoption can be solved by training alone

In some cases, there might be a tendency to assume that a lack of adoption will be remedied, in all or most cases, by providing more training. However, referring again to the research by Binary Tree, while a lack of training is certainly an area of concern, there are five other significant areas (or adoption levers) that are traditionally addressed by a holistic organizational change management program.

Often, the first reaction to address low adoption is to implement costly training campaigns. This action of first resort may likely be the result of not really understanding the causes of low adoption. It is likely that a root cause analysis (RCA) of lack of adoption would likely lead to several categories for low adoption (awareness, competency/lack of training, competing priorities/initiatives, senior management support, and motivation). Each category of causes for low adoption would/should lead to different adoption strategies, one of which would likely be training.

Adoption takes time

Common experience with technology implementations like O365, and reinforced by research and marketing, is that adopting and optimally using the new technology takes time, often years. Again, keen zealots of business value should ask, “Why does adoption take so long?”

In summary, keep in mind that Office 365 provides a robust suite of applications to improve communication, collaboration, and productivity. But unlocking and sustaining the transformative business value of O365 requires users to adopt the applications that support these gains. Proper planning, change management, and implementation will improve adoption and drive the business forward.

To learn more about how Office 365 solutions deliver business value, corrects misleading assumptions between the promise and potential of O365, and offers suggestions on how you can achieve high user adoption levels, you can click here or submit the form below.

My last blog deciphers how Microsoft Office 365 (O365) promises business value. This blog explores where O365 provides value.

Microsoft Office 365 was made available in June 2011 and has maintained its goal of being a catalyst for changing how people work in an increasingly digital economy. For example, Microsoft’s current CEO, Satya Nadella, certainly has a transformative view of O365: “We are building an operating system for human activity across all of their daily lives.”

Despite being on the market for almost a decade, there is a lack of evidence that clearly demonstrates the digitally transformative business value of O365. There are five potential factors contributing to the disconnect between the promise/potential of O365 and the realization of business value of using O365. Let’s take a look at each.

Most organizations are not research laboratories.

Research institutions are specifically designed to use the scientific method to understand the relationship between/ among variables and to minimize the effects of extraneous variables. Generally, most organizations cannot afford to operate as research institutions – that’s not their mission. In the competitive landscape of digital transformation and continuous improvement, every organization has multiple, simultaneous initiatives with numerous effects. Therefore, there is very little hard data with regard to how any single initiative or technology (including O365) contributes to business value through levers like productivity, efficiency, and collaboration.

Metrics are hard.

Even in a controlled environment, clearly demonstrating the relationship between O365 usage and business value requires metrics that may be hard to obtain. For example, to demonstrate the relationship between productivity improvements and O365 usage, there would need to be some good measures of productivity (e.g., quantity of ‘x’ produced per unit of time) and good measures of O365 usage (e.g., mobile device use, Skype use, SharePoint use, etc.).

Furthermore, it is often difficult to measure effects like productivity increases in the digital age, thus the reliance on survey data rather than direct observation or experimental control. Consequently, putting demonstrations of causality aside, a lack of fundamentally sound metrics does not even allow for conclusions about the correlation between O365 adoption and productivity.

Limited availability and use of O365 adoption data.

Many organizations may not be aware that there are tools available that provide some measures of adoption. For example, CoreView provides a robust and nimble suite of tools that measures adoption of O365 applications at the micro and macro levels. Even if organizations do have the right tools to measure adoption, they may not have the organizational skill or bandwidth to drive adoption for a crosscutting enterprise solution such as O365.

O365 adoption is not a priority.

Adoption and optimal use of O365 is often not deemed as a priority in the midst of other organizational priorities. There could be myriad of reasons for this, but the lack of priority often boils down to the tenuous, and often unproven, relationship between O365 and business value.

To learn more about how O365 solutions deliver business value, corrects misleading assumptions between the promise and potential of O365, and offers suggestions on how you can achieve high user adoption levels, you can click here or submit the form below.

Previously, I discussed how user adoption impacts the business value of Microsoft Office 365 (O365). In this blog I decipher how O365 promises business value.

The decision to use O365 is made for a number of reasons. According to Gartner research, approximately 70% of survey respondents indicated “licensing or costs” and “shifting workloads to the cloud” as the primary reasons for deciding to use O365.

It is interesting to note, however, that for this write-in item on the survey, only 19% of respondents identified “new ways of working” as a primary or secondary reason for using O365. The remaining 81% of responses would not be categorized as reasons related to enabling digital transformation. It should be noted that this is just data from one survey, and it is difficult to speculate to the reasons for the few selections of “new ways of working.”

Gartner suggested that a significant number of companies base their decisions to use O365 for an abundance of reasons that seem to be related to IT cost reduction, but not enough companies are basing their decisions on business value. Gartner concluded, “In addition, business cases should not underplay the importance of delivering a better service, enabling new ways of working (through mobile support and better collaboration), and benefiting from Microsoft’s product development focus on O365.”

Much of the data regarding the use and business value of O365 is survey data. This data can provide some valuable information but often fails to answer the question, “What is the business value of O365?” Attempts to quantify business value sometimes take the form of various versions of a return on investment (ROI) analysis. This type of analysis compares the costs (or investment) to returns over time, discounted by a risk-adjusted rate that takes into account the value of money over time.

The most notable and comprehensive of these O365 ROI analyses are Forrester’s “Total Economic ImpactTM” series of articles published in 2011, 2014, and 2017. In the 2014 ROI analysis, for example, Forrester reveals an ROI of 162% and a comprehensive cost/benefit analysis of a “composite” organization yielding total benefits of $8.8 million versus total costs of $3.2 million, resulting in a net present value (NPV) of $5.6 million.

Although the analysis is comprehensive and compelling, it was based on a “composite” organization, which was fundamentally hypothetical. For some, this analysis may have been discounted or marginalized because the organization used for the ROI was not “real.”

Forrester applied the same type of ROI analysis to a real organization (Advocate Health Care), which is a Chicago network of hospitals with multiple years of experience using O365. Based on Advocate’s data for a three-year period, Forrester’s analysis found an ROI of 63% with annual savings/benefits of approximately $26 million versus annual costs of about $10 million, resulting in a net present value (NPV) of $20.7 million.

Relative to Microsoft’s positioning of Office 365 as a solution for “reinventing productivity for digital transformation,” Forrester summarized the transformative benefits of O365 across four categories: Collaboration, Mobility, Intelligence, and Trust.6

The Forrester research with Advocate Health Care points to some real examples of how O365 applications can directly provide business benefits. It is worth noting, however, that the cumulative benefits did not begin accruing until year two, with a payback period of 15 months, which is fairly typical of these types of ROI studies. Astute questioners of technology business value may ask questions like: Why is the payback period so long? Can the payback period be shortened and by how much? What are the most significant levers for shortening the payback period?

To learn more about how Office 365 solutions deliver business value, corrects misleading assumptions between the promise and potential of O365, and offers suggestions on how you can achieve high user adoption levels, you can click here or submit the form below.

The digital dexterity of the workforce will be a significant driver of competitive advantage (or disadvantage, in the case of digital deficiency) for the foreseeable future. So, helping employees productively use new cloud office workloads can be a key element of a digital dexterity plan.

Microsoft applications have become such a fixture in our daily lives that it’s almost trivial to try to understand – let alone measure – the business value they provide. However, based on the number of users and types of licenses, the cost of Microsoft solutions can be substantial, and the benefits can be unclear. For example, a Gartner survey found that 36% of survey respondents indicated that Office 365 reduced the

IT budget, but 22% responded that it increased the IT budget. In the same survey, Microsoft Office 365 (O365) products such as ProPlus (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), Exchange, OneDrive, SharePoint, and OneNote were in use by over 70% of respondents per Gartner research.

However, digital transformation isn’t going away, and the need for a digitally nimble workforce, combined with the availability of potentially business-enhancing technology solutions like O365, calls for an examination of how O365 solutions are delivering business value.

Microsoft recognizes the need for its applications to help companies on their digital transformation journey. A brief review of Microsoft’s website(s) reveals some key phrases that speak directly to the need for digital dexterity that could be addressed by O365 applications. For example:

• [O365] brings together the best tools for the way people work today
• Achieve more by working together effectively
• Get more done anywhere
• Create better work habits
• Increase organizational loyalty and retention
• Unlock more productivity
• Transform teamwork in your organization
• Make data-driven decisions
• Conduct global training
• Shorten the product – planning cycle
• Collaborate with suppliers in a timely manner
• Understand customer preferences and predict requests

Putting aside the potential technology cost savings (e.g., reduced back-end hardware) associated with transitioning to O365, even a technology novice would recognize that tools that are designed to achieve the above objectives, could and should provide tangible, transformational business value if used widely and optimally.

However, is there a true connection to business value? If so, what exactly is the connection to business value and how is it achieved?

To learn more about how O365 solutions deliver business value, corrects misleading assumptions between the promise and potential of O365, and offers suggestions on how you can achieve high user adoption levels, you can click here or submit the form below.

This blog series explores how change management can and should pay for your next project. Previously, I discussed how OCM paid for an ERP implementation. In this final post we look at three ways to accelerate value in transformation.

1. Explicitly tie change management to business value (e.g., include business case analyses)
2. Use change management to accelerate value realization by changing behavior early in the transformation
3. Ultimately, business transformations succeed or fail based on how well the project can address needed behavior changes; therefore, change management should focus on changing behaviors

The success factors of a business transformation initiative may be easy to understand conceptually, but they are difficult to execute and track. Leaders may have to resort to different ways of motivating behavior changes depending on the organization, and different ways of monitoring performance depending on the project. In addition, the places where value can be captured most quickly can vary, even between two seemingly similar projects.

The complexities of business transformation and their 30%-35% failure rate, have companies concerned about starting on their next big initiative. And for good reason. However, it is time to incorporate change management to realize value, accelerate value, and even pay for transformation.

For more insight on how OCM can (and should) pay for your next project, download our guide here or below.

This blog series examines how change management can and should pay for your next project. My last post outlined the steps to develop behavior change. In this post I discuss how OCM can pay for an ERP implementation.

Challenge and Opportunity

A multi-state, utility company identified its purchase-to-pay (P2P) process as a candidate for value realization after launching a comprehensive review of its business and corporate services areas. P2P is designed to optimize the end-to-end procurement process for all items, from office supplies to line trucks. The review confirmed that inconsistent business practices and fragmented legacy systems – a result, in part, of the utility’s growth through acquisition – were wasting tens of millions of dollars each year. Leadership funded an initiative to optimize the P2P process and move toward first-quartile performance.

These cost-saving opportunities could be realized through a technology/ software enhancement that would take approximately 18 months to spec out, design, and implement.

The Work

The utility did see an opportunity to implement new technology, but it regarded process change – specifically, reducing its approved purchasing processes from more than 50 to just seven – as the central part of its business transformation. OCM was viewed as key to driving behavior and process changes well in advance of the IT components of the P2P transformation.

Early on, supply chain managers traveled to 30 locations to lay out the rationale for the new P2P process. Setting the stage for a thorough VOE analysis, managers were able to see the potential value of P2P first hand – but also the resistance to it. Understanding and observing the key behavioral drivers of site employees allowed for better incentives and communications to expedite value capture through site performance. The visits themselves did have limits as to how much this could accomplish, especially at a company where field managers were accustomed to operating autonomously.

To combat site autonomy, KPIs were developed with input from all levels, including line employees, managers, directors, and vice presidents. Establishing uniform and agreed upon metrics allowed for unbiased assessments to determine which sites were embracing changes and which were actively working against it. Some metrics were made relative to historical performance, while others were not. This baselining effort leveled the playing field and renewed energy for project commitment and success.

The first challenge was identifying compliance/non-compliance in a 14,000-person organization spread across 64,000 square miles. The company extracted data from several different legacy systems and used it to provide an actionable picture of process compliance for more than 250 locations/departments monthly.

This approach allowed for the identification of key behaviors that had the most impact on KPIs. First, the organization distributed the data across the enterprise to generate visibility and create healthy competition among business units. Next, the data was used to identify the locations that were performing the best or showing the most improvement. Senior leadership recognized the accomplishments of those locations with emails, phone calls, or personal visits. Finally, the organization used the data to identify non-compliant locations and analyze who was responsible for the noncompliance and what they needed to change. This process led to mitigation actions, including increased communications and training.

The Results

The results have been dramatic. The P2P business transformation helped save the utility $12 million in the first year (before the ERP launch), thus achieving financial break-even two years earlier than originally projected. This also resulted in the business achieving annualized savings of $30 million per year 1.5-2 years earlier. Approximately 40% ($5 million) of first year savings came from OCM driving behavior and process changes related to new procurement card policies, increasing contract utilization and early payment discounts, and engaging strategic sourcing on high dollar purchases. The $5 million value contribution of change management was realized before the ERP system was launched and helped pay for the ERP and consulting services costs.

For more insight on how OCM can (and should) pay for your next project, download our guide here or below.

This blog series examines how change management can and should pay for your next project. My previous post, I discussed how behavior change leads to value. In this post I dive into the steps to develop behavior change.

Changing behavior starts with defining value and identifying the key performance indicators (KPIs) that can tell stakeholders if they are successful or not. KPI identification provides metrics that are a product of behavior and leading indicators of success. Next, executives must identify the organizational units that have the most impact on transformation and identify the top two or three behaviors that will drive value acceleration.

With those behaviors identified, the organization needs to conduct a voice of the employee (VOE) analysis to identify variables that may promote or impede behavior change. This is critical since most employees resist the new behaviors that transformations require. The VOE analysis can address this resistance by identifying barriers to performance and performance enablers. Often, this alone can produce rapid behavior change and accelerate value. Moreover, behavior change and associated value acceleration can accrue by influencing other levers of behavior change simultaneously.

An effective VOE analysis can also help leaders come up with a successful design for the transformation initiative. It is at the design phase that change management needs to begin, regardless of whether the transformation involves IT, process, structure, or a combination of these. After all, once the transformation is implemented, employees will be left to live with the design. Therefore, leaders need to design the initiative in ways that ensure the new or changed process steps and tools are conducive to end-user adoption. This can dramatically reduce resistance and accelerate value. An initial transformation design that incorporates a VOE also contributes to the initiative’s sustainability.

If the transformation requires significant IT and process changes, the organization can accelerate value by implementing process changes before the IT implementation, rather than doing the two things concurrently.

There are two distinct advantages to this. First, implementing better processes can be directly tied to value, assuming that the organization has identified the relevant KPIs. For longer-term IT transformations, the ability to show significant value accrual before IT implementation provides project momentum and significantly increases leadership support. Secondly, implementing processes that are more in line with the IT-enabled future state significantly improves adoption upon implementation, and sustainability after that.

There are many ways in which these behaviors described above reinforce each other and hasten the behavior changes that can accelerate an initiative’s success. For example, faster-than-expected payback in one part of the transformation – perhaps through a streamlined process or a change in IT – can encourage company leadership to become even more active in supporting the initiative. That, in turn, can spark employees to redouble their efforts on the areas having a positive impact. And the KPIs that emerge can become a scoreboard on which employees measure their progress – or see the extent to which they’re falling behind.

For more insight on how OCM can (and should) pay for your next project, download our guide here or below.