What policies and processes can be implemented to help employees keep up with the pace of change?
The external environment is evolving rapidly and we are all in an almost constant change cycle now. Organisations used to have a ‘big bang’ approach to change, where every few years there would be a significant step change and you would move through the cycle to the next version of what your job was. Now, we have agile, bite-sized change programmes that happen on a continuous basis, with release cycles every eight to 12 weeks.
Many organisations have designed an ongoing process of non-disruptive change, which people get used to and they learn to go with the flow. Realistically, not every person will be impacted by every change you make.
Many organisations have designed an ongoing process of non-disruptive change, which people get used to and they learn to go with the flow.
What do you see the role of AI and ML being in the future, and how will it affect the work people are doing?
There are processes that can be executed by machines instead of individuals and in many instances that’s already happening or planned to happen. I think that’s going to carry on up through value chains, through robotic process automation (RPA), if not full artificial intelligence (AI).
In financial services, RPA is being applied in more and more areas to reduce manual processes. RPA is seen as a step towards AI, because even if you’re doing automated decision making, you are still writing the code to underpin the decisions.
AI in financial services is still in its infancy in terms of self-directed machine learning. I think it will certainly flourish in other industries, but for now, I don’t think financial services is the best example of a sector where you see AI in action.
There are processes that can be executed by machines instead of individuals and in many instances that’s already happening or planned to happen.
How has the pandemic influenced the way your firm is delivering transformation services and delivery frameworks?
Virtual meetings and technologies allowed us to carry on through the pandemic. Without MS Teams and Zoom, we couldn’t have helped clients, so that provided a real backbone for us to continue to work seamlessly.
We always use daily stand-ups and huddles throughout the day and these moved online very quickly, when you add planned check-ins with clients on a regular schedule we can operate effectively virtually. These virtual routes were really helpful to cover the basics. We’ve also used interactive whiteboards and tools that help you run a meeting and engage everyone more effectively . It’s a great alternative to being in a room together, but face to face will always be more effective at real relationship building.
We will certainly see these technologies being used to communicate thought leadership and deliver online webinars, because they are helpful and time efficient. People can engage with the content that’s relevant to them and have the opportunity to tap into thought leadership from experts from around the world.
If you are a small company, I think you need to have something really interesting or different to say on a webinar. If you can do that, it’s a good way to get your voice out there. For large organisations that attract bigger speakers, then it is very efficient way to create a presence, alongside physical activity.
We always use daily stand-ups and huddles throughout the day and these moved online very quickly, when you add planned check-ins with clients on a regular schedule we can operate effectively virtually.
PHIL ROLFE
CEO
P2 Consulting
P2 Consulting is one of the world’s fastest growing consultancies with a strong track record in business transformation. The company’s team of 150 independent consultants all have real-world industry experience, so they can empathise with clients’ challenges and won’t hesitate to get in the trenches with you to deliver excellence in transformation delivery. At P2 the priority is to listen to the customer, understand their problem and move quickly to help them to achieve their objective.