Hands on the Wheel, Eyes on the Road

 

You don’t drive a car without paying attention.  Paying attention in Business Change Programs is done through a combination of governance and steering, in the forms of rigorous risk management, reporting and periodic panel reviews.

 

Anyone who drives a car knows you don’t drive down the highway with your hands in your lap and your eyes closed.  Your grip on the steering wheel, the focus of your eyes on the road (constantly scanning) and the amount of corrections you make as you drive vary as conditions change.  If it’s a drive of two blocks that you make every day, you are almost on autopilot.  If it’s a long drive over rough, unfamiliar roads in icy conditions, you are likely to be focused more, your eyes scanning constantly and your hands not straying off the wheel much! 

 

Managing change in a company can be approached similarly.  If it’s change that is small and familiar, then you just barely keep tabs on it and usually get the desired results.  If it’s a strategic business change, which impacts the fundamental way your company works, then you probably need to keep your hands more firmly on the wheel and your eyes more proactively on the road.  Risk management provides the monitoring of the eyes, the use of memories and the processing of ideas in the brain, and tells the hands (Program, project and/or executive management) what corrections to make.

 

Big change programs entail a lot of planning and expense.  They require high level sponsorship and guidance.  And they need to be steered to keep them on track.  But to steer, you need to be able to see both where you are going, and what’s on the road between you and your goal.  Risk management tells you what may or will be in the road and allows you to plan appropriate responses to whatever happens.  It’s a combination of the stored responses to stimulae and the dynamic reactive capabilities that ensure you are ready for whatever you find.  Before the program begins, risk management can lay out a fairly complete list of the risks and start planning responses based on experience and history.  As the program progresses, risk management continues to drive the program, making the little corrections to keep the program on track.  Hopefully, this is done proactively enough to avoid having to make radical corrections….swerving is hard to control.

 

A risk is something that might happen.  An issue is a risk that has happened.  Typical risk management focuses on negative risks, though positive risks (e.g.—opportunities) can be managed this way as well.  Risk Management should track all risks and issues, as well as all plans for mitigating (avoiding) risks and contingency plans to minimize the impact of risks that become issues.  Decisions and actions taken in response to mitigation or contingency plans should be captured. Prioritizing risks by their likelihood to occur and the severity of their impact (and their scope) helps focus on the most likely and most damaging risks and issues.   If you think about the risk of hitting a deer or a wild boar on a forest highway in the evening ahead of time, you will be better prepared to mitigate (e.g.—honk you horn to warn the animal off the road) and should mitigations fail, you are more likely to have more contingencies available when you get there (slow down or stop, steer around the animal, etc.).  That’s more important to worry about on a dark country road than a bridge being out (serious impact, but not as likely to happen) or a mouse in the road (not near the impact of a deer, but more likely).

 

Reporting of progress (measurements), risks, issues, actions, and decisions should be frequent.  This is what keeps the various groups involved in a program on the same road.  Effective reporting of risks and issues also prepares everyone for upcoming course corrections and prepares management for escalations. 

 

Panel reviews are inspection points and gas stops.  They are simple, but incredibly effective for validating progress and engaging those accountable to deliver to show where they are and how they are going to get to the destination.  The senior sponsor, one of the senior suppliers and one of the senior customers sit on a panel and hear the state of things from the people responsible for delivering the program.  This is where course corrections are made, or progress is even stopped.    The Panel Review will validate the effectiveness of the risk management and program progress and approve the continuance and spend.

 

How much effort, time, money and other resources do you put on risk management, reporting and panel reviews?  It depends on how rough or rugged the road is likely to be and how familiar you are with the road.  Embedding the processes and approaches is crucual.  Just remember that driving without your hands on the wheel or your eyes on the road can get you into trouble very quickly even on your normal 2 block commute if a group of tourists is standing in the way!