| Life certainly was
complicated enough for Tony Teague, Director of Group Project Management, faced with
steering Abbey National through the unprecedented period of cultural and regulatory change
which coincided with the advertising campaign convincing consumers to simplify their
finances by entrusting them to the first building society turned bank. We reduced
delivery time scales
by as much as half
With the dot com era in full swing new technology was
changing the face of retail banking. There was a need to take advantage of the technology
to deliver new products and services to the customer in more effective ways - easy for the
dot coms with no legacy systems but less so for established players with customer data
locked into them and management mindsets to match.
Meanwhile the regulator, in the shape of the FSA, was
introducing exacting new rules for the new products and services on offer. Systems and
culture had to change fast to maintain Abbey National’s corporate reputation and
market share. This need for change spawned change management projects. With over 70 in
progress, each due to take between 1 and 2 years to complete and a danger of new line
managers ‘bumping into each other’ instead of getting together behind the new
goals, it was time for innovative project management to ensure Abbey National didn’t
fall behind having taken the market lead. |
|
Tony Teague called
in Eddie Obeng of Pentacle to cut the change management task down to size and make it
happen. Describing him as "the best deliverer in this space", Tony selected
Eddie for his ability to ‘chunk up’ projects, motivating the managers and
deliverers involved to prioritise resources effectively, take the necessary decisions,
prepare for uncertainty, organise and evaluate the action and communicate results where it
mattered. Pentacle worked at three levels with Abbey
National staff, getting them together behind the programme with a mass motivational
address, working within project groups to help them define, innovate and deliver and
coaching key individuals.
Pentacle’s support achieved the overall goal of cutting
delivery time. This was done by helping those involved to identify and deal with
priorities using objective experience of successful ‘new world’ change
management practice, tailored to their needs to inspire innovative solutions. |
|
Commenting
on the success of the working partnership with Pentacle, Tony Teague points out,
"There are plenty of consultants out there who understand projects but few who could
get to grips successfully with such a monolithic change management challenge. Eddie
Obeng’s innovative chunking up process was just what we needed to cut the challenge
down to manageable proportions. With Pentacle on the team we reduced delivery time scales
by as much as half by smarter management. We opened our minds to innovation. We outsourced
systems provision and general insurance. We took our services to the customer with
branches in stores and supermarkets and we brought other services, such as coffee shops,
into our branches. We built a delivery culture and got staff at all levels to understand
the benefits and get behind it". For further details please contact Sheila Hart on 01386 438681
/ 07786 266585 sheila.hart@publicom.biz
. |
