Digital Roadmap Series: Define Where You Have Opportunity to Improve

In this series, we are learning how to simply and quickly get on the digital journey.  Last week, we learned about defining the problem statement.  This provides focus to the strategy and gives you a true north for the team.  This week it is all about where you have room for improvement.

Long ago, I was taught a valuable lesson.  I took someone’s process flow and assumed that it reflected what people were actually doing.  It bit me in the booty big time.  (Not sure if that was appropriate, but roll with me here…)

What I learned since then it that there is a big difference between the process flow and what is actually occurring.  In this step, we will take the time to clearly define what is actually occurring and where there is opportunity for improvement.  This is important to do because if you are going to change something, you can create a clear “as is – to be” to describe the change.  It also is critically important to understand what you should prioritize first in your journey.

To identify your opportunities, here is the approach I have found works best.

• Before the meeting gather all “process flows” that people have within your scope.  Ideally, you do not want to build the actual process from scratch, but if you have to, it can be done.  Take all of those process flows and try to combine them into one flow.  Indicate where there was conflicting information.  I have found that using Visio is the easiest way to create process flows, but there might be up and coming tools that you prefer.
• Get the same group of people together as the problem statement meeting.  In fact, I recommend this being held with the problem statement meeting, especially if you are flying people in or holding a 2 day session and get it all done.
• Post the process flow you created from your examples collected up on the wall.  Make it big, because we are going to draw all over it.  If you do not have a process to start from, put up blank paper because you are going to need to create it in the session, my friend.    This will take longer, so plan that into your schedule.  I would plan for 3 additional hours.  Just had to do this myself and it was not fun…sorry.
• Next, I like to reuse the same technique as in the problem statement session. Have everyone use their sticky notes again to write down what is not working for them within the process. Again, one idea per sticky note and then have them place it on the process flow on the wall. o You will notice typically large concentrations of sticky notes at the beginning of the process and certain steps along the way. Those are likely your biggest areas for improvement.
• Then, walk through each step of the process with a big red marker (or other bright color of choice).  Touching on all of the below:

o   Is this what actually happens today?  If not, change it on the wall.

o   What does not work well within this process step?  Write down why.

o   Does this step create a rework loop (where you go back to previous steps to redo work)?  Mark the loop.

o   Do you have all the information or data to make an effective decision?  Write down what data is missing.

o   Is the process step manual?  Mark that down.

o   Prone to error?  What errors, mark it down.

o   Does it take a long time to complete? Write down the estimated time if known.

• Now, you have this crazy masterpiece on the wall and a ton of areas for digital and process improvements. To close the session, create a summary of the session with the people in the room, listing the top areas of opportunity that were identified. REMEMBER – you are not solving in this session. This is a listing of opportunities to tackle.  
• If you want to go above and beyond, you can break out Visio (or enlist someone with that capability), to document three artifacts from the session.  The process flow, the marked up process flow, and the summary of opportunities. 

With that completed, you have a problem you are trying to solve and a listing of opportunities to start tackling.  You are well on your way to having a digital roadmap.  Next week, we will be covering re-imagining the process and building the plan.  

Step One to Developing Your Digital Roadmap

Let’s get one thing straight before we start into this process.  I was at a different conference several months back and there was mention that with digitalization – process is dead.  It shocked me.  Maybe I am not thinking about this correctly (and please chime in if I am wrong), but I do not want to apply digitalization on a broken process or on bad data.  Seems like the ol’ equation of just getting crap faster – and we have already lived through that too many times.  With that said, I do firmly believe that the processes we have today can be radically re-imagined and machine learning can help us with the data problem.  So, if you are in the “process is dead camp”, you might not like what I will be recommending in this posting.  Just a word of warning.  J

Ok, now that we are clear on that, where to start.  Step One is to define the problem you are trying to solve.  This is often overlooked and critically important, especially when you are trying to explain why you are changing to your teams.  Without a problem defined, you do not know if you are successful in solving your needs, how to communicate the change, and how to keep your scope locked in. 

Here is how you go about defining the problem:

1.  Pick a scope you want to work on.  Think of it maybe in terms of I want to digitalize procure to pay or source thru pay.  Be deliberate in your scope, as it sets the course for the rest of the work we are doing.
2. Define a team of people who are involved in the process.  Please remember those people upstream and downstream to the process – like in procure to pay – your end users and your suppliers.  Also, try to keep to it a group under 15.  If you feel like you need more people, it is a good indication that your scope is too big.  ;-)  Gotta love control points!!
3. Get those people in a room for a 1 to 1.5 hour session.  (Note – You can combine this session with the next session that I will talk about next week, making it a 4 hr session in total. Or, you can do a 2 day workshop and do all the steps I will describe.)
4. During that session, describe that you are trying to understand their pain points, what they believe could be done faster/more effectively, etc... It is very important to be humble and welcoming of all and any ideas. Also, share how this work ties into the bigger picture of what you are or the company is trying to achieve.
5. To collect the ideas, pass out sticky notes and have the attendees write one opportunity per sticky note.  This technique is call individual or silent brainstorming.  Give them as much time to complete as appropriate.
6. Once everyone is completed, you stick the notes on the wall and start putting them into themes and naming those themes.  You will be amazed how clearly the opportunities start popping out before your eyes. 
7. Now here is the fun part, you discuss those themes as a group, gaining a better understanding of the feedback.  You and/or your team should be in listening and “5 why” mode (asking why or clarifying questions).
8. Lastly, and the hardest part, is co-creating the problem statement.  Taking the key words in the themes, you create one statement that gives focus to what you are trying to solve.  It should read something like, “Due to the lack of information when we are making decisions, we have to spend valuable time researching supply markets, identifying suppliers, and making gut decisions, thus delaying the process further, impacting new product introductions and our stakeholder relationships.”  Totally just made that up, but hopefully you get the point. 
9. Keep that problem statement in the front of the room for all of the next sessions.  This is now your true north.  It should be used during the sessions to question if you are staying focused on solving the actual problem. 

Like I said before, hopefully, you will find that these are really simple techniques that do not require any investments other than your time.  The hardest part of the session is keeping it an open discussion, being objective, no defensiveness, and keeping people open to all feedback and ideas. If you do not believe that you can facilitate the meeting in an objective way, then maybe enlist a trusted colleague or a top performer to have the opportunity to facilitate.  Note:  I have had a lot of squirming in seats and even some emotional reactions from attendees that were just plain uncomfortable during the session.   If that happens, it is ok to take a break and regroup in a few minutes, as the intention is not to make people uncomfortable, but to get everything out on the table.   

Good luck with step 1.  Would love to hear from you all once you hold this session and how it goes.  Would also love to get questions on the above if something is not clear.  Happy to help in any way I can.

Are You Ready To Lead a Digital Transformation?

Hello strangers.  It has been awhile since my last posting.   I have been on quite the adventure over the last year at work and at home (all great things, but took my focus).  However, I feel like I have my blogging mojo back and I have time to dedicate. 

With that said, I had an amazing experience at Generis’ Supply Chain Summit in Dallas, TX earlier this week.  The presenters were mostly practitioners with a subtle mix of suppliers. It was great to hear the up and coming trends, what companies are already doing, and having the opportunity to meet so many talented people is always a great motivator. 

At the conference, I had the opportunity to present on a lot of the concepts that I have written about on this blog (video will be available soon, but if you do not know the concepts, please read the historical posts), with a particular focus on Sourcing Acceleration and the type of talent we need in Procurement to meet the consumer centric, individualized Supply Chain needs of the future. (Note - for some the future is very much now). 

In order to meet those needs, we have the perfect opportunity to get on the digital bandwagon.  95% of respondents in a recent Hackett study said that digitalization will drastically change Procurement in the next 2-3 years.  So, do you have a strategy to apply machine learning to make recommendations for you?  Do you have a pilot for RPA to automate your Sourcing processes?  Do you have an RFP scenario optimizer?  Have you thought of how to get data on demand for all decisions that are being made by your Sourcing team?  Do you believe that a simple sourcing event could take seconds and a complex one under 4 weeks?  What if you had a potential supplier database at your fingertips? 

Did I just overwhelm you?  Sorry.  You want some good news?  Unlike the trends of the past, you do not need to invest tons of money in this.  I do not even believe you need a slew of consultants to tell you what to do to make this happen.  And, you can move pretty quickly, as these solutions are fairly simple to implement (get that ERP implementation out of your head…).

Because I believe in Procurement so much and that we can make this happen TOGETHER, I would like to share in my upcoming posts about a) how to develop your digital roadmap and b) a suggestion around how to implement the changes, while getting engagement from your teams to drive the change. 

The concepts that I will share, I have learned through the several transformations that I have lived through and/or led.  Unlike blockchain, 3D printing, machine learning, these concepts that I will be sharing are not new but can be applied to this need. 

If you are in, please follow the updates in the coming weeks on Saturday mornings and share with a friend.  It would be my wish for all of you to be digital rockstars for your company by the end of the year.