Why Centralised Delivery functions are invaluable to your Transformation journey

In my time working within this space, I’ve seen an age-old cycle where organisations flip flop between centralised and decentralised operating models within their Transformation offices, flitting between having established communities of practice across key areas such as Business Analysis, Project Management and Change Management (amongst others) and simply allocating resources directly to specific projects or programs of work.

Typically, these centralised functions are put in place to add significant value in making your Projects and Change teams slicker, more robust and more consistent and sustainable over a long period of time by uplifting skillsets and driving a support network. However, they can often be seen as a luxury function and therefore most susceptible to sudden shifts of priority and being dismantled, often because of a focus on reducing cost.

Here I’d like to talk through why I believe these centralised functions and communities of practice are priceless and highly conducive towards building consistently high performing Transformation outfits, with a multitude of reasons discussed, and based on some clear tangible case studies that I have witnessed. All of these positive results are interrelated, intertwined and are mutually supporting of one another too, which also means that the benefits have a knock-on effect on one another.

Creating a sense of community

So, to kick off with, for me the biggest positive that makes centralised teams a no-brainer is that they build community spirit, camaraderie and team culture. If managed correctly, it provides people with a base camp that they can always revert back to, and therefore provides a safe haven, a feeling of togetherness, as well as a soft landing from the outset.

Ultimately, happy individuals are more likely to be high performing individuals, and high performing individuals move the needle forward, driving productivity and positive business outcomes. By driving a community, with defined leaders, we can also focus on wellbeing and resilience focused initiatives, giving people a platform to grow and flourish, but also to call upon others when in need. It’s a huge plus!

People at the heart of it all

From this solid foundation of a community of practice that puts our people at the centre of the Transformation journey, this then emanates out to so many other invaluable benefits, such as creating consistent ways of working and defined structures that allow the team to scale up and scale down with clearly defined methods and processes. These methods and processes can also be tweaked with the added benefit of information sharing, so there are learning opportunities too. Interwoven into is the ability to mobilise talent and effectively workforce manage by looking introspectively at what talent is available as and when projects scale up and down too, whilst also fostering an environment that encourages learning and development.

We can pivot, be nimble and more agile, in the true sense of the word, thus reacting quicker to challenges and actually be more proactive than reactive, pre-empting issues before they arise on many an occasion.

Controlling the controllable

All of this also just provides a sense of control, which also resonates with the fact that our communication and leadership messaging should become more consistent, enhancing collaboration and providing clarity and allowing people to feel that they are a part of that journey, which again improves motivation, purpose and often productivity as a consequence. We can focus on the bigger picture if the smaller iterative elements are clear and consistent. There’s that word again, consistency!

(Nearly) Bullet-proof Transformation

Over time, when momentum builds, all of these elements look after themselves and through a nurturing of these practices, they become increasingly more resilient and effective as time goes on. Essentially, when these teams are humming, they just work in the background and become so dependable that they perform as the bedrock to all your Transformation initiatives, allowing your attention to be focused on continuously improving because it creates a feeling of comfort that your house is in order. This is particularly true when faced with Risk implications too, because everything should be documented in a clear and concise manner, and everyone should know where everything is up to.

It's a no-brainer!

As you can see, there are so many interlaced advantages of setting up and growing clearly defined communities of practice, whatever the nature of your business. In a world where we have to act quickly but also decisively, having this element of consistent control and togetherness can only help and I’ve seen and heard of countless examples of this coming to the fore, steering some phenomenal stories.

As discussed at the start, quite often the sad reality is that these teams are often the first to be deconstructed if the chips are ever down, but my response to that is simple: play the long game and you will see the impact and legacy built over a far greater length of time because it’s an investment in your people, putting them at the core of all that you do.

I'm under no illusions that there are so many cost restraints in the market, but it also costs a lot more to get things wrong and it's my belief that centralising your delivery creates consistency, more effective planning and execution, improved recruitment and workforce planning, as well as a genuinely more fulfilled and resilient workforce that will perform over a more sustained period of time.

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