Our industry has no shortage of examples that illustrate how far a faulty rollout can take a project from its original objectives. Companies routinely embark on large-scale efforts, such as technology renewal, acquisitions, new product introductions, and distribution channel transformation. They do so believing that careful planning and existing processes will adequately mitigate risk. At Nolan, we believe companies should go one step further and embrace the 80% likelihood that serious issues will arise. Our Expected Outcome Assessment provides a quick, accurate evaluation of the risks and obstructions for large, inflight initiatives and delivers an assessment of the anticipated outcomes based on the current trajectory. It also provides a roadmap for corrective actions.
The Nolan Approach
Most organizations have a framework for managing major change efforts. Typically, the framework includes risk assessment, program governance, scope management, change management, milestones, testing, and reporting. Our approach provides an inflight view of the overall effort from a different perspective. We begin with an Expected Outcome Model that details the initiative’s original goals and objectives, drivers, and timelines. We then outline where your effort is at risk of running short and pinpoint the potential obstacles to success. From there, we create a Revised Outcome Model based on predicted impacts if no changes are made, and we identify opportunities to close the gap and move the project back toward the original desired results.
A High-Value Addition To Any Major Initiative
The Expected Outcome Assessment model provides a consistent, proven framework for addressing the impact that unforeseen issues will have on desired outcomes. This rapidly deployed, high-value service is particularly well suited for:
- Organizations that are undertaking an unusually large initiative and want to incorporate an inflight status check into their plan
- Organizations in the midst of a large effort that has proven problematic
- New stakeholders who have inherited an ongoing initiative and want an objective assessment of its status
- Companies that have had problematic rollouts in the past and that wish to keep history from repeating itself
- Companies that have managed successful efforts and are seeking to further improve their processes
Reap the Benefits
The unique benefit of the Expected Outcome Assessment is that it allows your executive team to view and manage risk in the broader context of how other companies have succeeded with major initiatives.
Rather than simply deferring to the established process and expecting success, your team accepts the hard truth that 80% of large initiatives encounter substantial obstacles that materially affect the desired outcome. As a result, they can take proactive steps to make the hard changes needed to get the expected results.