Our first article, Why innovation is so important for organizations and why it is not being driven properly, highlighted why innovation is so crucial and how companies are failing in their efforts to innovate. We demonstrated that innovation was not being promoted properly and that leaders were not informing employees about how things would change and how they should carry out their day-to-day operations. The team is capable of driving and facilitating change, but the company distrusts it. We explained in our second article, Developing a project-centric culture for organizational improvement, that the PMO’s standard approach actually creates a divide between them. The PMO should combine their skills with those of the departmental staff to ensure that the change is accepted by the entire team.
This article will give you a brief example of how I helped transform a department within a large retailer that was stuck in a place where business didn’t want them to become the innovators.
Unique Approach and Situation
The problem team was an internal development department at a large retailer. This team had, for all intents & purposes, become a dinosaur and the company’s confidence was at an all-time low. The department, which had around 50 employees, was supposed to be innovative. They were stuck. Their discipline was at an all time low, the rest the organization didn’t want to work with them, and most of the development initiatives were being outsourced.
The leader of this team was an inspirational leader. He believed he had the right people to provide the service, but he knew he needed to have an external skill set to effect the change in attitude and approach. He knew that the team had been trying to bring about change for many years, but it just wasn’t happening. He approached the project management office with a unique question. He was looking for a programme manger to help him drive the change. While the PMO would oversee and guide the programme manager, he wanted the programme manager to be a permanent member of his team.
The leader of this team was an inspirational leader. He believed he had the right people to deliver the desired service, but he knew he needed to have an external skill set to change his attitude and approach. He knew that the team had been trying for change for many years, but it wasn’t happening. He approached the project management office with an unusual question. He was looking for a programme manger to help him drive the change. While the PMO would oversee and guide the project manager, he wanted the programme manger to be a permanent member of his team.
Team trust
I was introduced to the large team of software developers, which included more than 50 people, including analysts, testers, and developers. The team knew I was new but they also knew that I was part the team, and not the PMO. This was a completely different feeling than any of my previous engagements. The department had chosen a programme to update their software library and rewrite their infrastructure. The program had been in existence for five years, but it was not approved by the rest of the company. We began by conducting surveys and workshops with representatives from different teams to find out their biggest pain points and challenges. These people became my change army. These were the key points of the change army
