Successful business change depends upon four things: a clear objective, a practical way forward, positive people and effective communication.

• Ideas or vision for change must be grown into a clearly-defined objective through listening carefully, understanding both wants and needs, and telling it like it is.
• Any implementation strategy depends upon a realistic analysis of what can be achieved in the time available without undue disruption to business-as-usual. All planning should be in the simplest form possible to keep focus and enable crisp decision-making, delegation and action.
• Leadership is vital. So are people who can. People are best motivated if they are inspired, involved, important and respected. Good team spirit depends upon clarity of relative roles and responsibilities.
• Communication is a two-way street. Leaders must listen if they are to be heard. Everyone has a “Need-to-Know” without an overload of “Want-to-Say”.

In these examples, the key was having a strong and supportive personal relationship with the relevant Business Leaders....

Telling it like it is

Two German Energy companies were merging. One had strategic and organisational dilemmas. I quickly analysed the first, and used practical logic to reverse initial instincts; this avoided unnecessary costs and potential regulatory issues. I resolved the second quietly and sensitively by recommending how key personnel could be integrated into the new business structure. The Finance Director said it was the best advice he had ever received from an external consultant.

• Result: The merged company is now one of the biggest of its kind in Europe.

Keeping it simple

A major British insurance company wanted a secondary listing on the New York stock exchange, a goal demanding broad and complex changes to financial reporting standards, organisation and processes. My solution was a three-level cascade of pictorial milestone plans. At the top of the pyramid was a single page used by the Chief Accountant to control the project and report to the Board. The second level coordinated interdependencies and held team leaders accountable. Day-to-day activities and deliverables were managed at Level 3.

• Results: Crisp decision-making at the top. Effective coordination at the workface. Time, cost and business benefit targets all achieved.

A global Energy company wanted to improve customer satisfaction across Europe. Its seven-stream business transformation programme spanned eight effectively independent areas of operation. I devised a tailor-made strategy to enable the HR Director to keep focus, balance all the different agendas and drive out the benefits. Two simple tools were key – an interdependency matrix and a simple dashboard to manage and report progress.

• Results: Customer satisfaction improved by 40%. Internal shared services costs reduced by 30%.

Keeping focus

The BBC had a vision for digital TV and radio broadcasting. I worked closely with BBC visionaries to meet their demand for the highest technical standards by managing the construction of the UK’s first nationwide digital fibre-optic telecommunications network, over 3,000 miles long, installed on electricity distribution infrastructure in just 19 months.

• Results: The Royal Television Society recognised the achievement with its 1995 Award for Communications Innovation. The network still carries all BBC digital broadcasting on the first leg of its journey to our televisions and radios.

A major UK retail bank needed to modernise critical clearing and payment processes. We analysed current operations, devised a new vision, and examined options. I broke down each step in the construction, equipping, restructuring and relocation process into separate but interdependent work packages and led management of their execution, ensuring that savings on each package were re-invested to fund increased value in others.

• Results: The new facility was fully operational within four weeks of the 50,000 sq ft building being completed on time and budget. Operational efficiencies returned the capital investment in a little over two years.

Companies across the world were converting to International Financial Reporting Standards. Such far-reaching changes to accounting principles and processes could risk disruption to “business-as-usual” financial management. I developed innovative accounts conversion and embedding methodologies for a “Big Four” accountancy firm, and implemented an intense training programme to enable the delivery of consistent and comprehensive services.

• Results: The firm attained global market leadership. Over 3,000 companies made the change successfully.