our mission e⁴

Preparing the Business for Software Implementation

Client Situation: Our client was a global energy company among the largest private sector energy corporations in the world, and one of the six supermajors. The client needed a trading system that would support a modern trading operation and provide real-time positions essential for effective trading and risk management. The industry was changing rapidly and advancements were needed to keep pace with the competition. The client operated with a legacy system that provided no visibility into positions, primarily because the majority of the deals were captured on spreadsheets. This client believed that the new trading application would allow for easy deal entry for daily trading, point balancing and term origination.Then new application would improve the effectiveness of the organization by reducing re-work in the front, mid and back offices.

Cynthia Sepety
Managing Director - Organizational Change Management

Lesson Learned: Successful ERP implementations require active participation of business leaders and users during the design and development of the solution.

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The client required an application to allow them to track daily gas and first-of-month exposure and make Bid Week much more effective and successful. It was also necessary for the information to allow quicker  decisions based on better knowledge of their physical positions in a potentially volatile market. The new application would allow them to more accurately and efficiently pinpoint the values derived from their deals and include on-demand mark-to-market. Finally, in the post-Enron trading business, this client needed substantial controls to diminish unplanned financial exposure.

Endeavor Management Solution:  We used several techniques to get the business ready to receive the new solution including:
1.    Establishing a working committee of business experts
2.    Business process changes
3.    Leadership engagement
4.    Single points of contacts (SPOCs) at strategic locations
5.    Comprehensive communication plan
6.    Selection of detailed checklists
7.    Organizational readiness assessment
8.    Job-focused training and tools

1. Establishing a Working Committee of Business Experts
The working committee was composed of individuals who represented appropriate functional groups from all geographic regions of the company. Business leadership empowered the working committee with the authority to make decisions regarding the best course of action for the trading business. The working committee usually met weekly and attendance was mandatory. However, each working committee member had a back-up person who was well-informed and could act on behalf of the committee member if required.
 
2. Business Process Changes
The new application introduced numerous process changes into the business, requiring the attention of the working committee to understand potential business impacts. The working committee analyzed the potential options and solutions presented by the business analysts from the project team. Ultimately, the working committee was accountable for acting on the optimal business decisions and incorporating those decisions into communication or training.

3. Leadership Engagement
The leadership of the business was given a clear role in the project. They would handle any issues that required executive decisions (such as policy changes) or decisions where the working committee became deadlocked on the correct course of action. It was required that the executive project sponsor stay current with project status and organizational readiness progress. The executive project sponsor was asked to communicate directly to the business when the message required that it be delivered by a senior management person.

4. Business Unit Change Leaders (BUCLs)
The BUCLs were identified by the working committee as individuals who were well-respected by the business people (influence leaders). The BUCLs acted as the communication channel, reporting any rumors or rumblings and delivering information when appropriate. The BUCLs used a checklist assessment to evaluate the readiness of their group or location for the go-live, and following go-live were the key contact points for identifying and escalating questions or issues to the project team for resolution.

5. Comprehensive Communication Plan
A comprehensive communication plan was developed conducting a key stakeholder assessment. Included in the plan were the business process changes, the key points and timing of the messages. The chairman of the working committee wrote weekly email updates and sent them to the entire business on the progress being made and upcoming milestones. During the evaluation at the end of the project, many people cited these messages as "extremely useful" and "everyone looked forward to these". An intranet portal was also developed that included a high-level project plan and a section on Frequently Asked Questions for reference. During the roll-out period, a bulletin was issued to keep the user community abreast of new developments and FAQ's. The roll-out communication plan also included a "hotline" that people could call with questions, concerns or issues.

6. Selection of Detailed Checklists
There were a variety of checklists developed during the course of the project to help key people remember the tasks or items they were responsible for as the business prepared for the new application. The checklists enabled the working committee to provide clear, concise direction across many geographies and functions.

7. Organizational Readiness Assessment
This tool was implemented for the business to assess whether they were ready for the new application and allow corrective action as required. It followed the proprietary methodology requirements from our Engineering Organizational Change, and enabled the business leaders to pinpoint areas of strength as well as potential risk.

8. Job-Focused Training
The process changes were incorporated into functional training to help each affected individual get ready for doing their job after go-live. The training included quick reference guides and other job aids, and both classes and job aids were tailored for specific job functions. The training established new standards and better consistency to meet business. The project team and trainers were very visible on the trade floor during roll-out to provide any assistance people needed during go-live.

Results and Benefits:
Traders found the functionality to be user-friendly and a real improvement for the day traders. Many of the business people surveyed expressed surprise at how well the implementation went on the first day, considering the magnitude of the transactions that were handled. They also felt that the hotline was excellent in both the quality of the responses and the speed of the responses. People viewed the sponsorship by the leadership team and the working committee as a "must" for the project. They viewed the visible role of both the project sponsor and the working committee chairman as the business voice for the project as critical success factors. The overall level of communication was viewed as about right both before and after the roll-out. Finally, many suggested the project implementation was one of the best systems roll-outs they had experienced.