At Nimbl Consulting we are passionate about helping organisations identify their goals, optimize business operations and develop actionable plans to achieve sustainable competitive advantages and long-term success.
The Challenge and Opportunity
In 2022, a public sector digital branch went through a structural change designed to shift it from an IT product-based focus to a service-based focus. In April 2021, Nimbl was asked to help the branch create a roadmap to complete this transformation, design and facilitate its quarterly planning, and begin designing some of its operating methods.
Our Mahi (work)
Combining our Strategy & Operating Model expertise within our Programme Management capability, we facilitated the design of an operating model blueprint, an implementation roadmap, a quarterly planning cycle approach, and a work intake & engagement model.
We quickly forged deep relationships with the leadership team to become a credible and trusted partner.
We took a highly collaborative and co-design focused approach to work within the branch and formed a hybrid Nimbl/branch team comprised of two Nimbl consultants and four branch staff at varying levels of time commitment. This ensured that we designed a fit for purpose solution that met the needs of the new operating model, while building their capability to carry on the work in the future. Nimbl consultants took a mentoring and development approach to guiding the project team, encouraging and supporting team members to lead aspects of the work while ensuring that their efforts were well scaffolded and monitored so it was a safe learning environment.
To inform and guide our mahi, we established regular recurring workshops with their wider branch leadership team comprised of representatives from across multiple teams within the branch. This previously established group had been newly formed after the 2022 restructure but had only been used to pass on information from senior leaders. The project developed this wider leadership group by encouraging them to engage deeply in the project and slowly changing the group’s culture to one of collaboration, challenge, and interaction. In return, the group provided valuable testing and insights that strengthened the final products of the work.
Our Impact
Designed and created the operating model blueprint of the branch.
The blueprint was developed with the intention of it being the “destination” for the desired operating model roadmap. It includes design principles, operating principles, value chain, summary of key desired shifts, and an articulation of current and target future state capabilities.
Future state capabilities:
Created an implementation roadmap including a gap analysis, priority actions, high level schedule, and high-level accountabilities for key actions.
Developed and ran two quarterly planning away days. Both received excellent feedback and the leadership team noted the critical role the days played in shifting mindsets to the new ways of working and fostering alignment and collaboration among teams.
“We liked these connections and getting a view of all the work we have on” - participant
“Really impressed to see collaboration across the teams and how knowledgeable each team is about their area” - participant
Introduced the need for good programme management to guide the ongoing transformation; worked with appointed programme manager to identify steps for setting up the programme, provided high level training and guidance.
Created a full work intake and engagement model including an articulation of the end-to-end workflow for new work requests, establishment of a triage system and assessment system, a decision-making framework, a high-level technology system map, and detailed steps and engagement requirements for each process.
As a result of our work, the branch is now better able to envision, enact, and achieve its new operating model, and better deliver public good.
Our Skills
Strategy and Operating Model Design
Project Management
Workshop design and facilitation
Collaborative approaches to working (e.g., cross-functional teaming)
Stakeholder engagement and communication
Get in Touch
If you're looking for a truly people focused transformation partner, then get in touch. We'd love a kōrero about how we could work together.