This was an extreme example. At least, that is what I thought when we finished the project. But after encountering it three more times with other enterprise clients, this may be the most common situation for most.
My team’s job was to modernize (a fancy word for renovate) payment processing software for an enterprise client.
As a consultant, you want to find the problem, develop a solution, and deliver results.
In this case, we were literally prevented from doing that by the bureaucracy in the company.
Things that slowed us down were:
- Dozens of meetings
- Review boards galore
- Lack of planning
- Lack of subject matter expertise
- Outdated processes
- Lack of motivation
This was on the software side of the business, but from what we heard, the same problems plagued the rest of the organization.
Here’s how we made a change in one week that helped us deliver results 5x as fast.
Cut the meetings
Everyone on the client team attended every meeting. We removed our team from attending half of them (there were 15 meetings each week). For the rest, we designated one person to attend those meetings and represent us.
Implement standard frameworks
Review boards are there for quality control. We implemented a standard test-driven design (TDD) framework to reduce errors and provide proof-of-quality metrics to the board. This reduced our approval time from weeks to days.
Agile Approach
We implemented an agile system for goal setting and delivery. We planned weekly, checked in with the team and provided daily guidance and help. At the end of the week, we demoed our results and reflected on our progress.
This was just the start. We also:
- Implemented a documentation system to keep the SME knowledge in-house.
- Reviewed existing business processes, removed redundancies and automated several steps.
- Developed a lunch-and-learn schedule so that team members can share their knowledge and showcase their accomplishments.
Next client, we encountered a similar situation.
Rinse and repeat.