Thought Piece

Typical business situations which require Programme Management encompass any type of strategic change for an organisation; process improvement, cost reduction, mergers and acquisitions, demergers or disposals. Other times a business recognises that without a transformation, creating new ways of operating and new structures, the very existence of the business is threatened.

From my twenty five years experience of Programme Management, it's become clear, as in every area of management, that good communication with all stakeholders — including all levels of staff — is absolutely crucial. Running a programme can be compared to being a mini Managing Director. Change management programmes are often difficult, but if the communication is clear about why the programme is happening the people in the organisation contribute to make it happen.

From the start it is important to be aware of the risks and issues that you are likely to face. With experience it is possible to gauge the level of the risk and to be able to react to rapidly emerging and changing situations. That again, comes back to good communication, as you work through and with people to resolve difficult and unexpected situations. A clearly thought out communication process increases the likelihood of success.

Another vital characteristic of successful Change Management Programmes is the support of the senior client stakeholders, for both the change and the means of producing that change. They must see the programme as a priority. It helps if the programme manager is reporting to the highest level within the organisation. If support and sufficient priority are not in place then success is unlikely. It's about team work and mutual respect between those leading the programme and those working on it. Delegation is an absolute must and in many situations the programme manager is involved in coaching and mentoring, helping those in the team to understand the risks, face the challenges and minimise the mistakes and errors. Even though there is no substitute for knowledge and experience it can be shared.

One Change Management Programme I recently managed consisted of forty separate projects, each with a project manager reporting weekly on their individual project's progress. This complex, multi-faceted programme, ensured that each project received adequate resources in terms of budget and the right personnel and depended on clear and disciplined time management.

Banks are not charities. But they do calculate the lifetime value of the customer and they understand the reputational risk to themselves of the slash and burn exercises they are sometimes accused of.

That brings us to the role of the banks, so often the largest creditor and certainly the one with the most intimate knowledge of how a company is faring. We all love a stereotype and the heartless, faceless bank pulling the plug on sound businesses over a minor blip sits deep in the business consciousness. But not all banks fit this caricature. "We want to work with management of a business facing difficulties to help identify the issues and provide solutions to get them back on track," says a senior manager with a leading retail bank. "We can make the most impact when the problems are identified early. We are keen for management to be open with us."

Banks are not charities. But they do calculate the lifetime value of the customer and they understand the reputational risk to themselves of the slash and burn exercises they are sometimes accused of. Most solutions to business difficulties involve access to more funds and/or different products (hedging, leasing, factoring) and that all adds up to continued and profitable involvement for the bank.

A Repositioning Turnaround may mean divestment of a troublesome subsidiary. It may mean embarking on (yet another) cost-cutting exercise, including turning away revenue opportunities if they are not of a sufficiently high margin. It most certainly involves a first step of getting an impartial and pragmatic overview of what the problem actually is, from Turnaround Professionals who also know the kind of language with which to talk to banks. The moment you take this kind of decisive action, you're likely to discover that there's no crisis, no drama, only urgent action that must start now.

Peter Charles 2010