Relentless pressure for top- and bottom-line performance requires that you provide more value to your customers at ever-lower cost. The pace of improvement required by the market is constantly accelerating. How do you respond?
Most companies are continually defining and executing new change initiatives to make themselves more competitive. This generates plenty of activity, but the results can be disappointing. We see many companies with a full plate of initiatives that experience the following symptoms:
Management feels buried under the effort required to move forward with all the change initiatives while managing the day-to-day business
Critical resources from other functions are not available when needed
When initiatives are completed, the declaration of victory is not accompanied by the expected improvement in performance
Executive management is frustrated by the slow pace of change and has an uncomfortable feeling that the initiatives are not under control
Improvements occur, but they never seem to provide a real competitive advantage
There are some good reasons why these symptoms exist. Most businesses behave as if value were created in functional departments. Performance metrics are functionally based, and improvement initiatives are functionally managed. The assumption is clearly that improved functional excellence can create enhanced customer value and lower cost.
At Thomas Group, we believe this assumption ignores two important facts:
Value is not created in functions, but rather through complex, cross-functional processes.
The functions that are required to work together in these processes to create value generally operate as isolated silos, with minimal cooperation and communication.
When our client executives are faced with these dilemmas, we:
Take a full inventory of functional initiatives
Make sure that all of them are linked to tangible expected business results
Work with the executive team to build a cross-functional initiative management framework around the core value chain processes
Mobilize enterprise-wide alignment and focus on the top priorities
Ensure that all required resources are available and committed, based on the priorities established
Install an aggressive, results-oriented status reporting system, designed to quickly escalate stalls
Identify and remove any barriers to rapid, successful execution
By creating a cross-functional initiative management framework around the company’s core business processes, we find our clients are better able to identify and prioritize the highest leverage projects, more effectively mobilize the resources needed, and more quickly drive key initiatives to successful completion.
The customer service organization of a utility company consisted of six different departments. Between them they were working on a dozen key initiatives.
Two-thirds of these required the involvement of several departments to complete. When we conducted a priority alignment workshop, the department heads discovered–much to their chagrin–that they each ranked the importance of these initiatives very differently. Once a common set of priorities was agreed upon, initiatives started being completed in record time.
An automotive supplier had a single engineering department assigned to support two major manufacturing groups. Dozens of quality, cost reduction, and process improvement projects were backlogged.
There was no formal planning process to bring the two groups together to decide what should be worked on when. Project assignments were determined behind the scenes by influence and maneuvering. Priorities continually changed, and no one knew who was really responsible for a given project.
When a weekly, cross functional planning meeting was established, with a well-defined prioritization model and clear accountability, the time to complete the average project was cut in half, and the annual productivity improvement rate doubled.
A capital goods manufacturer faced a severe bottleneck in its final assembly operation and was desperately looking for a fix. They had targeted their initiatives at the assembly area itself with no success. Upon investigation, we determined that the cause of idle machines in assembly was incomplete custom design work due to a problem in the sales process. When the sales process was fixed, the assembly bottleneck vanished. Until the Company took a total value chain view, it was unable to define its true problem. Its functionally oriented initiatives could only address symptoms, not the root cause.
A well-known high-tech company was making a big push to use Six Sigma tools and techniques outside its manufacturing organization. Six Sigma black belts and green belts were deployed everywhere with the charter to go forth and do good work. There was a lot of pressure to show activity, but no focus on either measurable P&L impact or alignment to strategic objectives. Results were disappointing. The company has since taken steps to integrate Six Sigma planning with its process for goal setting and review, and the effect is clear. Meaningful projects are now linked to higher-level performance objectives, and are delivering measurable results.
A process-focused approach, enterprise-wide priorities, and new performance metrics. How do you do all this? You may be able to get there on your own, but even the best companies can take several years and experience a few false starts.
You need a partner who has been there hundreds of times before. A partner who provides experienced managers, not fresh MBAs. A partner who speaks the language of results, not reports. A partner who knows how to achieve maximum impact.
You need Thomas Group.