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For those of you who weren't able to make our Skrum event last week, we've provided a bit of a summary, feel free to add your opinions or observations too in the comments!

The event focused on the topic ‘Consulting without Boundaries’ and the opportunities and threats that had been created through the pandemic. It proved to be our biggest event yet with attendees from all over the world participating. 

Craig Willis, CEO and one of Skore’s co-founders set the scene by examining the Global Consulting Industry. Craig explored the trends identified before the pandemic and the need now to extend the value of consulting beyond the boundaries of initial projects. Craig predicted that the Businesses that will leap ahead are those who will adopt and adapt. So many businesses have learnt agility through survival and rapid adoption of technology. Those who fail to accept this new hybrid way of working will struggle to survive. 

A lively panel discussion followed with our guest speakers Cathy Banks, CEO of South African based Analyze Consulting and Phil Ford, Senior Technical Consultant at Asia Affinity. Cathy highlighted the opportunities now available to expand business into new foreign markets. By embracing technology it is possible and fruitful to remotely engage with clients successfully.

For Phil, the pandemic again meant a chance to meet new clients and engage with them in different ways. Through technology we can engage and get our messages across to clients and open new doors. Phil agreed with Craig that a hybrid approach will be the way forward but added that he imagined it would mature hugely over the next 12 months. 

The key points our experts made were:

• We should be very clear when we engage with clients what tools will be used with them (for communication for example). We must ensure that we don’t use too many and that we are consistent with their use
• One of the key issues going forward is building trust with new clients. Trust is the fundamental building block of consulting and we must be acutely aware of this when developing new relationships. This can be even more evident when considering cultural differences with new customers.
• Remote working is here to stay and we need to embrace it. However we need to be able to facilitate those  ‘water cooler’ moments or share knowledge anecdotally and finding ways to do this remotely is not always easy.
• Technology needs to catch up to enable organisations to maximise on their engagement with clients. There is still a gap in the market to enable organisations to communicate clearly
• Those who can adopt this new hybrid model and master the right blend of tools and technologies will be the winners in this new world.

Following our panel discussion there were questions and networking. Many of the attendees shared their tips and views on how to successfully navigate remote relationship building and successful project outcomes. 

A big thank you once again to our guest speakers Cathy Banks and Phil Ford for their time. 

And so the conversation continues, what are your views on the matter? How do you and your organisation effectively own and manage relationships? What tools have worked for you? Let us know in the comments below. 

CRAIG J WILLIS - BLOG

Skore software enabled a logistics company to remove 9 weeks of process discovery off each project within a systems implementation initiative. Find out how Skore did it and the best way to organise your systems implementation project. 
 

In mid 2019 a well known UK based logistics company, with circa 6,000 employees, were in the early stages of a major HR systems transformation. This ambitious systems implementation project would completely replace systems across the full hire-to-retire employee lifecycle over the coming months.
 

In preparation the programme team were advised to plan 4 weeks to map and document processes for each individual project. However, due to a backlog of process projects, there was a 6 week wait. This made it 10 weeks before they could expect delivery of the necessary documentation. Unfortunately this date was 2 weeks after the proposed delivery for the first phase of the programme.
 

The programme team utilised Skore software to run the process discovery work. The team using the software captured As-Is processes, understood the future state changes and identified where these processes integrated with other parts of the business. The initial As-Is discovery was completed in 2 days followed by another 2 days to define integration points and agree the To-Be state. The original 10 week plan estimate reduced to 4 days. 
 

Skore is commonly used by change management teams to rapidly discover and make sense of business processes. Used in live workshops teams come together to collaborate, share information and make important decisions right there and then. Here’s how it works:
 

Saved Process Discovery Time 

Unlike most traditional approaches to process mapping, Skore captures processes live in a workshop. The simple, yet highly structured, process framework guides participants in the workshop by asking clear focused questions about the process such as; what happens, who does it and why.

In this case the project team quickly sketched out the complete end-to-end employee lifecycle in a simple diagram. Then taking each of these key steps they again listed out all the key processes in each area. From here they could drill down into each one and define the processes.
 

High level view of the end-to-end employee lifecycle
 

This meant that the whole team could constantly keep track of what they completed, what needed to be done and, most importantly, how each process related to the others. Most importantly it was at the click of a button.
 

Capturing the processes straight into the software means there was no need to write up the processes based on sticky notes and photos. Participants could agree and finalise the process there and then. 
 

One place to get all the information

 As the team mapped the process there were inevitable conversations regarding things they needed and ways they could improve. Traditionally these can slow down a process workshop. However Skore allows a variety of additional information to be captured against the process. For example requirements and improvement ideas.

Ideas, requirements and questions were mapped directly against the relevant step in the process. They were then available to report on, providing a log of requirements and ideas all in one place. If there were changes to the process, the corresponding requirement was visible and the impact understood straight away.
 

Furthermore as a web based product, it was very easy to securely share the content captured in Skore with colleagues. Not only could they access processes, they could leave comments and feedback in order to facilitate further improvements efficiently.
 

Instant insights accelerated decision making

Given the time pressure to get the new systems in, the team were focused on the most important requirements while still trying to understand as much as possible. Using the Custom Fields in Skore to capture requirements they then grouped them by Must Have, Should Have and Nice to Have. This allowed them to quickly get a sense of how these balanced out across the process. 

Before

After

At first it was clear that there were too many Must Have requirements and the team reviewed these and recategorised in order to get a better balance and more focus on the deliverable. Skore software provided insights to accelerate decision making. 
 

Capitalised on process awareness

Once the process and requirements had been captured and understood the configuration of the system was initiated with a high degree of confidence and well on time. Furthermore the process models captured in Skore, as described by the Subject Matter Experts, were then used to train the teams using the system. This became an extremely valuable reference material. Additionally it was also a way for the core users to feedback improvement ideas to the project team following go live.
 

Vital in an Systems Implementation Project

Skore software dramatically reduced project times for this logistics company. The value however not only lay in the impressive 9 weeks per individual project saved but also the sustainability of the process discovery work. Creating an easy to update, read and use record of HR processes ensured that the company was able to continuously align its people and processes for the future. The systems implementation project completed successfully and with the tools for continuous improvement.
 

Skore’s Software platform allows you to align your people, processes and tools seamlessly. Engage, collaborate and share – the easy way.