A Practical Guide to Delivering Results
The Delivering Results framework is a tried and tested methodology that can be applied to all levels of change activity, serving as a mindset for small changes, through to providing a formal structure to transformational strategic programmes. It provides a toolkit of templates and techniques that provide practical help as you work through the different stages. Delivering Results is intended to be flexible, providing a structure that can adapted and tailored to different situations.
Delivering Results Lifecycle
When planning any type of change activity, it is useful to consider some key questions as part of a process to enable successful delivery. Why do things need to change? What will be the scope? How are we going to deliver it? Did we achieve what we set out to?
These phases are a guide to help make sure all aspects of the change are considered and you ask those key questions, that will improve your chances of success. This process is flexible and can be scaled to suit the full range of change activity.
The tools within each phase can be used independently and for a mix of different purposes, feel free to pick-and-mix or combine the ones that are helpful to you.
Establish the Need
This phase is answering the ‘Why?’ question. Why do we need to do this initiative?
Purpose
- Agree the strategic need.
- To understand why the initiative is needed and how it supports the University.
- To achieve a broad understanding of the opportunity or need through assessing where we are now and where we need to be.
- To understand the scale of activity required.
Steps
- Understand the strategic needs and objectives of the initiative.
- Check alignment with the University’s strategic plan.
- Understand high level outcomes and benefits.
- Confirm the key roles in delivering the activity including sponsor and service/academic lead.
- Estimate the potential high-level costs for the overall initiative from start to finish.
- As well as provide detailed costs and resources estimates for the immediate next phase.
- For larger initiatives, all the above information should be captured in the Strategic Need document.
Define the Scope
This phase is answering the ‘What?’ questions. What needs to happen to make the initiative a success?
Purpose
- Confirm the viability within the agreed budget.
- To have a clear and shared understanding of what needs to happen.
- To assess the feasibility of options and understand the potential impact of the activity on areas / processes / systems and people.
Steps
- Understand the current and to-be processes impacted by the change.
- Define the key requirements and success criteria.
- Develop clarity over the expected benefits.
- Identify and engage with all relevant stakeholders.
- Investigate the feasibility of each solution option and make recommendations.
- Identify risks and obstacles and plan how to reduce or overcome these.
- Identify the detailed activity, timescales and costs required to conduct the next phase. See Set Up phase for more information.
- In large initiatives, all the information should be captured in the Outline Strategic Business Case and a Definition Document.
Set Up
This phase focuses on ‘how’ the initiative will be delivered i.e. what funds and resources do we need to enable the change?
Purpose
- Confirm the initiative or change activity is set up for success and continued viability within the agreed budget.
- To set up and develop an implementation plan based on a preferred solution that ensures all the necessary resources and activities are in place to deliver the change.
Steps
- Develop a detailed plan for delivering, implementing and sustaining the changes.
- Understand activities and allocate resources.
- Confirm costs of delivering the initiative and understand any changes to business-as-usual costs as a result of the initiative being delivered.
- Understand the issues, risks and dependencies with other initiatives.
- By the end of this phase, the Full Business Case can be completed.
Test and Deliver
This phase is the delivery of the initiative, putting the plan into action.
Purpose
- This is the doing phase where the plan is actioned and results are tested and implemented in a controlled way.
Steps
- Following the go/no-go decision, execute the implementation.
- Undertake engagement and communication activity to ensure people in the impacted areas are ready for the change.
- Identify, plan and deliver the training.
- Plan the implementation and launch.
- Measure and evaluate the impact of the change.
- Continue to manage risks and issues.
- Confirm the benefits are still on track to be realised.
- Maintain continued support.
- Depending on the size and type of change, you may want to have a go / no-go decision point towards the end of this phase, to ensure everyone is ready for the implementation or launch.
Sustain Results and Review
Purpose
- A chance to look back over the initiative, evaluate what went well or could have been improved, and confirm that we have delivered what we said we would.
- Ensures that the University is able to sustain the implemented change.
- It provides the steps to close down the initiative properly and to measure whether the change realised the benefits that it set out to achieve.
Steps
- Ensure the change is embedded and monitoring is in place.
- Plan for a controlled initiative closure. Remember that it is important to close an initiative down and not to let it continue running indefinitely.
- Conduct a review to understand whether measure of success/benefits were actioned. A post initiative review is a useful way to capture a summary of what was delivered.
- Identify learning points for the team and University. Hold a lessons learned workshop and make available for other initiatives to learn from.
- Confirm handover including agreeing ownership of outstanding issues.
- Celebrate success!
Delivering Results Themes
