setting up it communities of practice sfia nov 2007
DESCRIPTION
This presentation describes my experiences setting up and running professional communities of practice in Norwich UnionTRANSCRIPT
Setting up and running internal IT Practices Peter LeatherHead of Practices, Norwich Union Life
© Aviva plc
A bit about meA bit about me …
A bit about Norwich Union …
NU i th UK• NU in the UK• Norwich Union Life (NUL)
N i h U i I & RAC• Norwich Union Insurance & RAC • NU UK IT Services
NUL – Business Change and IT• In scope - 900 permanent staff, 250 contractors• Large, complex environment: 10,000 customers, 100 mission-
critical systems, 10 product lines, 5.5 million customers
A bit about our transformationA bit about our transformation …
Why practices?Why practices?
• Assignment based working
• Process transformation
• Common ways of workingCo o ays o o g
• Support career developmentSupport career development
• Raise level of employee engagement• Raise level of employee engagement
A Focussed People Management ModelA Focussed People Management Model7 x Practice Leaders
10 x Resource 40 P f i l10 x ResourceDeployment Managers
40 x Professional Development Managers
Many Task Managers
Implementing & Running PracticesImplementing & Running Practices
Exploiting
Embedding
Starting Up
Time
Implementing & Running PracticesImplementing & Running Practices
Exploiting
Embedding
Starting Up
Time
CommunityCommunity
PROBLEMS
Too busy to think
Help not available
Little personal stake
Hierarchy
CommunityCommunity
SOLUTIONSPROBLEMS
Too busy to think Headroom
Help not available Community of SME’s
Shape the agendaLittle personal stake
Hierarchy Voice for everyone
Professional StandardsProfessional Standards
PROBLEMS
Team specific jobs
Descriptions out of date
Local ways of working
Local interpretations
Professional StandardsProfessional Standards
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS
Team specific jobs Organisation wide roles
Descriptions out of date Descriptors owned
Local ways of working Common processes
Local interpretations Common language
Professional StandardsProfessional Standards
PROBLEMS
Manager led promotions
Blue eyed boy syndrome
Fuzzy criteria; locally interpreted
Ad hoc promotions
Professional StandardsProfessional Standards
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS
Manager led promotions Organisational perspective
Blue eyed boy syndrome Cross practice validation
Fuzzy criteria; locally interpreted
Clear organisation wide criteria
Ad hoc promotions Clear timetable; transparent to all
Professional StandardsProfessional Standards
PROBLEMS
Job for life
Stagnant Careers
Ad hoc, undirected
Professional StandardsProfessional Standards
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS
Job for life Employability
Stagnant careers Renewed focus
Ad hoc, undirected Aligned
What practices did we implement?What practices did we implement?
7 practices covering the Business Change & IT delivery lifecycle• Business Analysis• Project Management• Business Operations• IT Development & Analysis• Design & Architecture• Testing• Service Management
Key Set Up ActivitiesKey Set Up Activities
•Agree number and scope of practices
•Get everyone into a tipractice
•Get key players on board S t i iti•Set priorities
•Agree change agenda –local v globallocal v global
•Mobilise and engage the communitycommunity
What roles do you needWhat roles do you need
Practice Sponsor- Exec direction and overall accountability
Practice OwnerPractice Owner- Direction, strategy and org priorities
Practice Leaders- Operational implementation
f- Member of community, respected- Need to be flexible and quick to learn
Process Owner Volunteers
Accountabilities of Key RolesPRACTICE SPONSORLeadership & Strategy
Accountabilities of Key Roles
PRACTICE OWNERp gy
• Overall accountability for Practice delivery• Review, contribute business context to and endorse individual & overall Practice(s)
strategy• Promote understanding & support of Practice objectives & progress to fellow senior
PRACTICE OWNERLeadership & Strategy• With the Practice leader, set out the Practice’s environment, drivers, constraints, mission
and strategic direction
PRACTICE LEADERLeadership• With the Practice Owner define the Practice vision and set out the Practice’sg pp j p g
managers• Decide on resolution of major Practice issues & changes of strategy escalated to them• Advocate that Practices are adequately resourced (financial and man hours), and that the
optimal balance of Practice & Delivery activities is achieved
• With other Practice Owners and the Head of Practices, set the overall direction of BCIT Practices
• Build strong competency based communities that are active and self supporting• Establish Practices as the major home for all professionals
With the Practice Owner, define the Practice vision, and set out the Practice s environment, drivers, constraints, mission and strategic direction
• Define & communicate the roles & responsibilities of the Practice members, and what they can expect from the Practice
• Engage Members in Practice events & initiatives• Gain a high level of senior Stake-holder’s (including other Practice Owners & the Practice
sponsor) support of the Practice’s activitiesCompetency & Capacity• Engage with senior BCIT Capacity Planning stakeholders to understand long term
b i it i t
g g• Engage Members in improving the Practices professional standards and QMS
Processes• Encourage innovation and individual empowerment of Practice membersCompetency & Capacity
business capacity requirements• Input to long term BCIT capacity plans and set Practice establishment in response to
them.• With the Practice Leader, ensure that successors to key Practice roles are identified and
committed sufficiently far in advance
p y p y• Input to BCIT capacity plans and set Practice establishment in response to them.• Participate in forecasting of QMS & tool deployment workload, plan resource
requirements and identify & recruit appropriate resources, including process owners.• Identify, recruit & deploy resources needed to support Practice development activitycommitted sufficiently far in advance.
• Take responsibility for the health of the Practice’s QMS processesTraining, development & recruitment• With the Practice leader, approve the Practice’s training, development and recruiting
requirements and budget
Identify, recruit & deploy resources needed to support Practice development activity• With the Practice Owner, ensure that successors to key Practice roles are identified and
committed sufficiently far in advance.• Develop/improve, validate and publish Practice professional career paths Training development & recruitmentrequirements and budget
• Balance the needs of individual Practices in meeting business Training, development & recruitment• With the PDM community, ensure consistent execution of skills assessment and
professional methods approaches• Lead the creation & maintenance of high quality Practitioner skills information, and base
core Practice decision
Organisation Structure
Senior Leadership Team
Organisation Structure
Senior Leadership Team Business Operations
Director
Business Change & IT
Directors
Practice Sponsors
x 7x 7
100% 20%Head of
PracticesPractice
Owners x 7
Practice100%
ProcessProfessional Development Practice
Leaders x 7
Process Owners
Development
Implementation PlansImplementation Plans
GRP AS – IS IMPLICATIONS VISION ACTIONS PRIORITY DEPENDENCIES RESOURCES/ COSTSCOSTS
ETH
OD
People tend to use methods and techniques which are familiar to them rather than any universal standard. There is no standard
More difficult to read deliverables
Harder to move between projects
A single development method used throughout NUL
A method which is customisable to meet needs of each
Agree a suitable approach to requirements gathering and documentation within an overall development
Participate in Business Requirements TWG to ensure suitability of method to BAs
Catalyst Process and Project Framework workstream (John Curtin) will agree overall approach Catalyst Business
c. 3 man weeks to participate in Business Requirements TWG
(Education costs included under Work
LOPM
ENT
M There is no standard NUL BS method for BAs
BAs are trained in Prince - but this is not used on projects
project development method
Ensure method is sufficiently flexible to handle all types of project (e.g. custom development, package
yRequirements workstream (Rash Gandhi) will run a TWG to agree requirements content
Products)
DEV
EL package implementation)
Communicate method to BAs and educate them in its use
Implementing & Running PracticesImplementing & Running Practices
Exploiting
Embedding
Starting Up
Time
ResourcingResourcing
PROBLEMS
Ad hoc hiring
Local / job level hiring
Recruitment with HR
Different planning assumptions
ResourcingResourcing
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS
Ad hoc hiring Capacity Plan
Local / job level hiring Wider Organisational needs
Recruitment with HR Business Accountability
Different planning assumptions Global approach
Process DeploymentProcess Deployment
PROBLEMSShelf ware
Difficult to deploy
Centralised
Templates
Process DeploymentProcess Deployment
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONSShelf ware Support on the job
Difficult to deploy Education by practices
Centralised Leadership within practice
Templates Exemplars
The BAU Scope for Practices (1)The BAU Scope for Practices (1)Careers & Skills:
Providing career development opportunities which are alignedProviding career development opportunities which are aligned to the future of Norwich Union. Defining roles, career paths and learning & development opportunities which enable you to realise your career ambitions.realise your career ambitions.
Tools & Processes:Supporting the deployment and institutionalisation of the QMSSupporting the deployment and institutionalisation of the QMS processes. Actively owning our processes and driving process improvements which enable us to achieve our business objectives. j
Community: Building a community of professionals who are actively engaged in the future of Norwich Union. y g gCommunicating via a variety of mechanisms (e.g. newsletters, practice forums and institutes, informal and formal networks) in support of our business objectives. j
The BAU Scope for Practices (2)The BAU Scope for Practices (2)
Knowledge Management:Deriving business benefit from actively sharing knowledge andDeriving business benefit from actively sharing knowledge and experiences. Re-using process assets to make us more productive.
Resourcing:Influencing our resourcing strategy and supporting it by growing the capability of our practices e g by skillsgrowing the capability of our practices e.g. by skills development, career progression, recruitment
Infrastructure:Infrastructure:The practice management system that ensures we are successful in what we do and that practices add value to Norwich Union.Norwich Union.
What do our people feel about practices?
The Testing Practice provides a great sense of
community and has helped a
The Test Practice has
brought great
… very happy to work at NUL and to be part of the BA practice. The
practice, PDMs and RDMs do a great What do our people feel about practices?y pgreat deal in the transition in changing business units and settling in to my new
role in IT
g gbenefits to my
profession.
p , gjob of supporting their staff. I feel that NUL provides the opportunities for staff to make a good contribution
and progress their careerrole in IT and progress their career.
The BA practice is a great asset to the individuals who
On a positive note, the introduction and Practices over the last few Progression plans and are members. It provides
training and support as well as a Focus for activities like
process improvement
years has really made a difference to the feel of the organisation and
the recent CMMI level 3 achievements have been a great
Progression plans and development;
promotional and career opportunities;
I think practices are fantastic. They give an opportunity to I have really enjoyed the
process improvement achievements have been a great achievement.variety and
challenges of work; being listened to / having input into They give an opportunity to
step away from your typical day job and work with people you wouldn't normally. The
y j yopportunity to interact with
the Leadership Team through Practice Events,. I believe that
these kind of opportunities
having input into practice plans and where the practice 'goes' in the futurey y
forums and institutes are a great way of getting everyone
together to address issues, spread information and build
these kind of opportunities help foster an inclusive and
open culture which will enable employees to make a more
M h ld th h spread information and build relationships.
p yeffective contribution to the achievement of BC goals and
objectives.
More should go through practices as these are our
change enabler
Implementing & Running PracticesImplementing & Running Practices
Exploitingp g
Embedding
Starting Up
Time
The true value of Practices has emerged over timeThe true value of Practices has emerged over time
Capability Management
Talent Management
Value
Process Deployment
Resourcing
Professional Standards
Process Deployment
Community
Time
Developing Our CapabilityDeveloping Our Capability
Setting Direction
Senior Leadership
Team
Senior Leadership
Team
Practicesvia
sponsors
Trans-
p
EnablersTrans-
formation Programme
Transformation
Programme & Practices
Practices
TransformedCapability t tOutcomes Practices Transformed
Capabilityto execute
our strategy
Time
Success StoriesSuccess Stories
Community: All in a Practice; active Practices with governance boards; Forums; Institutes; regular L&Lboards; Forums; Institutes; regular L&L.
Careers & skills: Paths defined; competencies and skills assessed; information being used. Strategic approach to L&D. Practices g g ppmanaging their talent.
Knowledge: People are sharing – lots of volunteers for initiatives, processes coaching/mentoringprocesses, coaching/mentoring.
Resourcing: Practices driving activities to get the right resource mix and leading on planning for future skill requirementsleading on planning for future skill requirements.
Processes: People have taken real ownership. Achieved CMMi Level 3 – practices recognised by external assessors as key to this achievement.
Infrastructure: Well developed management system. Documenting our people processes NU UK now looking to exploit practices across allpeople processes. NU UK now looking to exploit practices across all 3 BC&IT organisations.
Sustainability Making it stickSustainability – Making it stickOrganisational Focus• Have roles focussed on implementing and running practicesHave roles focussed on implementing and running practices • Get the right people into these roles• Evolve and grow the model
Formalise• Develop a programme to deliver the agenda, not just BAUDevelop a programme to deliver the agenda, not just BAU• Ensure senior level governance at the most senior level• Define a dashboard of Critical Success Factors• Use a mix of 100% dedicated and part time resources, not just FTEs
Sell to EngageSell to Engage• Define and articulate personal, community and business benefits• Build activity and performance expectations into objectives • Engage / leverage the community – not just “usual suspects”• Find people’s passions, use emotion and celebrate success
Thank-youThank you