How can you measure the success of your transformation initiative?

How can you get there if you do not know what there looks like? Defining success gives clear expectations and a common goal.

Any transformation initiative requires some level of resource and gaining commitment of that resource depends on having clear and agreed benefits. A problem for many is the absence of a baseline. Without this, it can be difficult to generate support. In my experience, it’s important to create a view of ‘current state’. This may be through your own calculations or observations, or could involve ‘crowd-sourcing’ data or opinions from colleagues. Sometimes, external benchmarks or comparisons may provide the necessary support. The key point is, recognise the importance of baseline data and don’t give up just because it isn’t instantly available.

The most successful transformations I have been a part of, dedicated significant time to defining their problem and goal and clarifying the vision to the point where ALL employees and stakeholders knew if their actions were taking them closer...or further from this transformation vision. "If you don't know where you are going...any road will get you there". (Lewis Carroll). Poor transformations can be spotted before they start as the leadership team appear to be deliberately weak on the vision and measurements of success... so it's harder to tell if they missed the mark.

Achievement of Specific Goals: Based on my experience, defining clear, measurable goals at the beginning of the transformation is a highly critical metric to measure success. These could include financial targets, market share growth, customer acquisition numbers, etc. Measure the success of the initiative against these predefined objectives.

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are ideal for measuring the success of a transformation initiative due to their focus on clear, aspirational objectives paired with specific, measurable outcomes. Objectives set the direction and inspire change, while Key Results provide quantifiable targets to gauge progress. This framework ensures alignment across the organization, maintains focus on critical goals, and allows for regular assessment and adjustment. By using OKRs, an organization can effectively track whether the transformation is achieving its intended results and make necessary adjustments for continuous improvement.

The first step in the method must be benchmarking the KPIs that drive business impact identified in prior stage and putting in place the measurement tools and processes to create a KPI assured that continuously monitors against those few key KPIs that drive impact. Without this you cannot measure and adopt succesful outcomes

The succes of a transformation is measured by its impact. Impact that was predefined, impact that is only appearing and understood during the transformation journey. It's a mix of predefined measurable business and organisational impact, as well as unexpected, often not measurable and subjective impact. The latter being hopefully positive. And if not, guidance for continuous transformation. As transformation is not a predefined path. That's Western management illusion.

Development of a coherent set of SAP business transformation goals requires an upfront Strategic Systems study. Traditional management consulting studies for large enterprises can take months, cost millions and yet still fail to discover maximum value opportunities and key risks. Better to combine a short series of business executive workshops with use of an advanced Process Mining or Data Quality tool that can detect hidden gaps and opportunities inside highly complex and geographically dispersed business operations running inside legacy ERPs. Executive stakeholders must build business plans together with consultants to ensure full agreement on change impact.

Indeed true to be clear on: Tools, Methodologies, Processes are key, Stakeholder maps etc. And the starting point is the Choice of the Team Leader or Mgt team. At some points, the decision not to choose a pathway is a choice itself. If the choice of the Team Leader is wrong or suspect, the project is Dead on Arrival.

Choise of tools depends upon the change process itself. Stuff we have found useful (1)Social contract to obtain leadership alignment (2)Focus Groups for socialisation using internal change agents. (3)360 assessment for reviewing behaviour change (4) Situation Judgement Tests for igniting dialogue (5)Defining key stakeholder experiences for tracking progress. Cheers

- Start by clearly articulating the strategy and the reasons behind the transformation. It's crucial to communicate how the transformation aligns with the company's vision and mission. - Ask leaders to demonstrate the desired attitudes and behaviors, thereby setting a strong example for the rest of the organization. - Involve employees in the transformation process by creating cross-functional teams to lead change, holding workshops, or simply asking for feedback - Review and update your procedures to ensure they support the new strategy and culture - Provide trainings that equip employees with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to support the change - Establish KPIs to measure progress and provide feedback to the organisation

Here is some stuff that has worked for us in defining and measuring key outcomes. (1)% revenue coming from new products/services introduced in the last one year. - To measure innovation activity/ transformation in R&D. (2)Reduction in warranty claims for transformation in quality systems. (3)Reduction in attrition at junior levels for transformation of performance & talent systems. And many more.....

Culture is set by example, not by having pool tables in the lobby! The best way to create a good culture is to flatten the organization, bring leadership down from their perch and mix them in with the operational and tactical levels of employees. Let them work one day a month or similar as the lowest customer facing role in the firm. This will increase participatory leadership, which is a key driver for innovation. Additionally, identify the natural leaders in the work place, they are going to set the cultural tradjectory no matter what, so recruiting them to your cause is crucial.

This is one of the most sensitive topics and one that gets overlooked at most fast paced agile growth focused organizations. I believe, strategy is a measure that gets trickled down from the top of the pyramid and culture is its reflection beginning at the bottom of the pyramid. A strongly articulated and crystalline strategy set and followed by a CEO/senior management provides a nesting bed where great behavioral, responsive and empowered cross-functional result driven teams thrive and in turn produce exceptional outcomes.

The best way to ensure alignment with strategy and culture is to involve executive management in analysis workshops and business plan development from the start. Ask the right industry / culture specific questions and listen carefully.

In my experience, this is one of the biggest challenges for the leadership of an organisation. The KPI’s set up at the beginning of the transformation phase are often no longer in phase with the new organisation. It is paramount to keep checking whether the KPI’s and other methodologies used to measure change are still up to date. Nothing dents change more than a leadership that refuses to change.

In my transformation initiatives, I always prioritize an 'adapt and improve' mindset. For example, while leading a tech implementation, we faced unforeseen operational challenges. Sticking rigidly to the original plan would have been a mistake. Instead, we conducted swift, iterative reviews after each phase, learning and adapting our approach based on real-time data and feedback. This allowed us to fine-tune our methods, leading to better alignment with our objectives. Avoiding rigidity and embracing adaptability has been crucial for the success and continuous improvement of the projects I've led.

I have learned from leading companies and advising others that the first iteration of a new initiative would almost always meet with a less-than-desired result, and so our teams would use the first launch of any initiative as a means to gather more data for us to tweak it for a relaunch, and in more drastic cases, redesign the offering or processes to meet the intended outcomes from the target audience. This calls for quite a different mindset that I needed my clients to adopt - from launching-to-score to launching-to-learn. This need to constantly look at data to adapt, improve, pivot and even replace what we have originally proposed is pivotal to the success of any transformation program.

By all means adapt and improve the approach as you go along. However, do not commit the very common IT executive error of starting a new SAP business transformation initiative based on wrong business assumptions, inadequate analysis and minimal executive support for organisational change.

It has been said and proved that Adapt or Die. Meaning if you do some same thing many times while expecting a different response or result, you're in failure mode.

- Start by regularly reviewing your KPIs. This will give you insights into whether your transformation efforts are producing the desired results - Identify trends and patterns in your data. For instance, are certain KPIs consistently underperforming? - Facilitate cross-functional collaboration and share their KPI data and insights - Once you've gathered insights, use this information to test and experiment with new strategies or processes - Evaluate the results after implementing changes - Iterate and improve. Use the insights you gain from each iteration to constantly improve your transformation process. Share the results with everyone - Encourage a culture of innovation by providing resources and training for innovative thinking

The shocking reality is that at least 95 % of existing SAP customers worldwide fail to learn and innovate effectively ! Key reasons include; lack of understanding of critical SAP business performance, lack of knowledge of industry best practices, internal politics / CYA mentality, prioritising the status quo over beneficial change, and disinterest in the importance of data quality in driving business performance. This problem is unfortunately equally shared by many so-called SAP SI Partners.

In my experience, OKR's are essential for setting clear goals and measuring success in transformation initiatives. A transformation is an ongoing process, and OKRs can help organizations track progress and adapt to evolving landscapes. Implementing OKRs in transformation initiatives requires a structured approach and adherence to best practices. Real-world examples of OKRs in transformation projects can serve as inspiration for organizations looking to set their own transformation goals.

Quite often, the transform goal is a well intended one. Where many projects fall short is indeed in change management. To do so, some key factors to consider are: - clear articulation of the vision and goal - stakeholder analysis and buy-in is paramount - realistic timelines and outcomes - putting yourself in the “Day in the life of” scenarios for impacted stakeholders - understanding preferred communication modes and styles at each level and department - true support with upskilling to the new ways of working where handholding is provided to those who need more help - leadership expectations are managed and to expect that the first month of Go Live will involve a drop in productivity as teams become used to new ways of working.

We need to get to the fundamentals of doing business when we are working to transform one. We know from action psychology that humans don't normally seek changes unless the current interaction is no longer stable. In business, this could mean, a drop in revenue or market share, or a realisation from Management that their current position may no longer be defensible. Thus they are open to transforming their businesses to remain relevant. Once we know what triggers the perceived need for transformation, we could use that as a basis to design frameworks that measure how successful a transformation process is.

Many transformation projects flounder and dont reach their end objective. They remain at the leadership level as tasks to be achieved but dont penetrate the Firm. The big reason for that is because we dont see transformation as a social process where navigating the change through social networks is as important as the technical aspects of the performance. Reengineering the KRAs of the teams is the start of the process. Not the end.

Many organizations might loosely use the term "Transformation" for incremental changes and might use the term to drive rigor from different teams. Its essential to note that when an organization undergoes "real transformation" (which could be embracing new technology, new target operating model, new client experience model, product innovation etc.), it may not have a clearly articulated program to drive the same. It should, however, have - 1. Multiple Change leadership ambassadors. 2. Robust governance mechanism to track progress and take effective actions. 3. Empowered colleagues to call out challenges clearly and an environment to ask for support. 4. Learning and agile mindset.

Most often companies fail to measure critical metrics (outlined below) to measure the sustainable success of transformation initiatives. 1. Long-Term Sustainability: Assess the long-term sustainability of the changes. Have the new processes, technologies, or strategies been fully integrated into the organization’s operations? 2. Stakeholder Feedback: Collect feedback from various stakeholders, including customers, employees, shareholders, and partners. Their perspectives can provide a well-rounded view of the transformation's effectiveness. 3. Cultural and Organizational Changes: Evaluate the impact on organizational culture and structure. Has the transformation led to a more agile, collaborative, and customer-centric culture?