Accelerating Data Migration Efficiency for a Global Professional Services Company

Finding Flow

The initial phase involved deep engagement with the project team to understand the root causes of the delivery challenges. Through targeted workshops and collaborative discussions, several key obstacles to effective workflow were identified.

A significant issue was Meeting Mediocrity, characterised by numerous meetings that consumed considerable capacity but yielded few useful outcomes, often involving the wrong people at inappropriate times. This contributed to a general Flow Fog, a lack of clarity regarding the progress and status of work, hindering data-driven decision-making and misdirecting focus.

Further challenges included Problem Percolation, where known issues within teams were not addressed quickly enough due to poor description or incorrect routing to the appropriate individuals. Assumed Accountabilities were also prevalent, with team members unclear on their specific roles or unintentionally taking on the responsibilities of others, leading to a lack of clear ownership.

Beyond these, the project suffered from a general lack of collective experience in working together on new digital products and reacting effectively to emerging conditions. The turbulent history of the programme, with five different programme managers prior to our engagement, had resulted in a significant loss of momentum. Compounding these issues were constraints on available resources, coupled with scope creep driven by the need to onboard new clients while managing existing complexities. This, paired with a lack of clear technical direction, resulted in a disorganised backlog for a complex, time-sensitive product. Meetings were often overly technical with little actionable output, and conflicts were frequently lengthy and unproductive.

Taming Turbulence

To begin addressing the identified turbulence, the initial interventions focused on establishing fundamental improvements in collaboration and rhythm.

Recognising the critical need to shift from a sluggish, baseline-driven approach to a more collaborative mindset, Project4 Learning Lab introduced and implemented a "Collaboration Cadence". This involved working with team leaders to define a clear team structure across relevant organisational levels and establishing a set of regular interactions designed to enhance collaboration within the programme. These initial steps aimed to create a more predictable environment and lay the groundwork for more effective workflow by fostering clearer communication channels and interaction points between previously siloed groups.

This phase focused on implementing the initial changes derived from the "Finding Flow Map" to begin improving the work flow and removing some of the most significant immediate obstacles.

Accelerating Flow

With a basic structure and collaboration cadence in place, the "Accelerating Flow" phase focused on embedding Agile methodologies and increasing the pace of impediment removal. Project4 Learning Lab facilitated workshops to provide the team with an overview of Agile principles, emphasising the importance of defined roles, limiting work in progress (WIP), and implementing regular rituals. To significantly boost the programme's ability to remove blockers and improve communication, a full-time Project4 Learning Lab Scrum Master was integrated into the team.

This role was crucial in ensuring Agile rituals were implemented effectively and in focusing the team on converging to solutions faster. The existing Azure DevOps (ADO) tool was leveraged more effectively to improve planning, manage the backlog, track blockers, and provide clearer visualisation of the work flowing through the system.

The Scrum Master specifically worked to build a method within ADO that allowed team leads to better manage their tasks and understand the impact of blockers on higher-level objectives. This phase was dedicated to transferring the ownership and capability for broader implementation of interventions, empowering the internal team to drive the changes.

Keeping Pace

The final phase, "Keeping Pace," centred on sustaining the improvements and fostering a culture of continuous workflow enhancement.

This involved ongoing coaching and support for the team leads to ensure the embedded Agile practices and collaboration cadences remained effective. The Project4 Learning Lab team provided continued guidance on conducting rituals and planning sessions, reinforcing the new ways of working.

This phase focused on building internal capability and providing the necessary support structure for the team to continue optimising their processes autonomously, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the positive changes achieved.