As a management consultant, I am your sparring partner in the development of an implementation strategy for the Agile Transformation and Digital Transformation of your company.
Digital and Agile Transformation
Agile transformation describes the transition from a planning organization with a long-term focus to an agile business organization that is constantly changing and thus adapts flexibly to market challenges. The majority of all companies today have long planning and implementation periods. The larger the company, the more cumbersome the necessary adjustment processes. In the past, this was not a problem. With the market entry of agile companies that realize high margins with high adaptability and innovation speed, a planning organization becomes a corporate risk. Disruptive market developments remain a survival risk for a company until solutions are not only found on an agile basis, but also implemented as quickly as possible within the impact period. The fast realizes the high margins and uses them to expand the advantage. The fast one develops and secures its markets with high capital investment. The slow mover is forced out of the market and loses capital.
A shortage of skilled workers and cost pressure are constantly driving companies to optimize in the face of global competition. Digital transformation describes the mapping of manual activities in digital tool processes that are automated across systems as far as possible. This enables companies to reduce ongoing costs through one-off investments. Digital transformation also includes the development of service-driven business models that are primarily provided via software, the analysis of transaction data and (I)IoT to offer customers added value.
Consulting
For the management and the supervisory board, I bring in both my good and my bad experiences from previous projects and show ways to successfully implement the Agile and Digital Transformation. By asking specific questions and including relevant challenges, we enrich your business objectives in the operatinal and stretigic value streams. We put the goals and values of a planning organization to the test, adopt the existing goals aligned with customer benefits and develop further goals based on agile challenges.
Top-down strategy
Agile transformation begins on the supervisory board with the interests of the shareholders and, if applicable, the interests of the employees, and then permeates the entire company “from top to bottom” via the management. Agile transformation is an operational task for senior management, not middle management or even IT. Agile islands are doomed to failure due to interface conflicts between organizational forms. Agile transformation inevitably leads to change in the existing organization. In Agile Transformation, delegation is replaced by active value creation to a large extent. Hierarchical structures are transformed into team structures. Conversely, this means that middle management has to deliver the greatest amount of change.
Portfolio Management
Management consulting begins with the analysis and revision of existing portfolio management. If portfolio management is not yet practiced, I introduce it together with the management and the shareholders if necessary, preferably by using the Lean Canvas and working in a structured way with the SWOT analysis and the TOWS matrix to break it down. Alternatively, I have also had good experiences with weekend workshops as part of mountain tours, where we record values and requirements. Experience has shown that product portfolio management exists almost exclusively in the upper midmarket. Our task is to extend this approach to other areas such as ideal values, financial values, personnel values, sustainability, sales values, etc. Existing and operationally practiced values are maintained in the operational value stream. For values to be achieved, solutions with corresponding capabilities are defined in the strategic value stream, and programs and projects are prioritized, planned and set up with the necessary divisions. In the programs and projects, business processes are defined from the capability requirements of the solutions, which are implemented according to prioritization. In contrast to the planning method, prioritization is not fixed in agility, but is reprioritized at short intervals depending on internal and external boundary conditions. This requires constant cooperation between all company roles, including the management and shareholders.
Change Management
A successful change process is only possible with professional change management, which takes the objectives of the shareholders and the management, which are aligned with the customer’s needs, and accompanies them with solutions at the personnel level by HR. Implementation is carried out by each individual employee, who adapts to the new requirements with a high degree of personal responsibility and develops professionally and personally accordingly. An elementary component of the implementation strategy is the correct sequence of change management measures that actively involve employees on the path to organizational change, develop them professionally and personally, and motivate them in the process. Planning by management and HR and subsequent career development agreements with employees must occur “before” the change process is communicated to the workforce. If the child has already fallen into the well through blind actionism and the workforce boycotts the change process, then correction is difficult or impossible.
Duration
My work as a management consultant is not intended to be permanent. The goal is to support my contacts with my wealth of experience and thus gradually make myself superfluous. When developing a strategy for agile transformation, I usually work for no longer than 6 months. In our experience, my assignments are spread over many individual appointments due to the low availability of the management. During this time, we either reach the set goal, or we do not reach the goal for whatever reason. In this case, I will urge termination as soon as possible to avoid wasting resources and budgets. Only when obstacles have been removed is a promising new start possible. If required, I can provide long-term support for the agile transformation with reduced time expenditure.
Training
The management and the supervisory board can also only achieve a goal if they know it. In order to create a common basic understanding in this circle about goals and the methodology for achieving them, the necessary knowledge must be imparted. Knowledge transfer must be carried out “before” the operational start, because otherwise the foundation for cooperation is missing or a large part of the valuable time is used for the transfer of basic knowledge.
I have now reached the point where I no longer only provide the training required for this on site and in the form of face-to-face events, but can offer my customers the much more flexible solution in the form of online courses. Only in this way can each participant take advantage of the training individually, flexibly and independent of location in the phases in which operational tasks permit this. Valuable personnel resources are thus better utilized and not forcibly taken away from important tasks. In addition, this form of knowledge transfer is far less expensive, better structured, adaptable to individual company needs, and more easily compatible with regulatory contact restrictions than traditional classroom training. Of course, I also offer face-to-face trainings if required.
