Situation
In most cases, the businesses needed to introduce change to remain competitive. They could
not afford to bring in external change teams, so they needed to implement the change(s) with the
people and skills they already had.
They were looking for practical methods and tools that would work in their situation with a
minimum of problems.
Challenges
The CEO of the businesses identified their main challenges as:
- Change must be implemented along-side on-going processes
- Service levels must be maintained to existing clients.
- Budgets are tight so external support is usually not affordable
- Available training time is minimal, so on-the-job training is preferred
- Most people are multi-skilled, so they make many contributions
- Change management and project management skills are minimal
- They had many outstanding staff who they didn't want to burn out
- They needed a simple change process that was easy to learn and apply.
Implementation
TASKey was asked to provide a simple change and project management solution. The objective
was to give all staff the practical knowledge and skills they needed to both survive and implement
the change(s). In most cases, businesses employed TASKey TEAM on-line so all users had web
access without needing a VPN.
TASKey provided the TASKey TEAM method and tools. While the method is relatively simple,
applying it consistently in a dynamic complex real-world environment is not easy. The main
problem was remembering to do the actions required to keep track and coordinate the many
tasks and the people involved. Simple reporting that lets everyone know what is happening in
close to real-time was also very difficult.
Basically a simple framework of tasks that needed to be done was agreed. Then users created a
simple list of ToDo's for each task. TASKey TEAM then automatically created and maintained a
customized ToDo list for each user. Users then simply ticked off ToDo's when completed. Then
TASKey TEAM automatically updated progress charts and sent emails to other team members.
Training was limited to a combination of Webinars and on-line tutorials that took approximately
half a day to complete. Users found the comprehensive on-line Help provided additional relevant
detail when they needed it.
Once users saw the power of TASKey TEAM to manage change implementation they found they
could use TASKey TEAM for all their major tasks and projects. Consequently their ToDo lists
soon covered all their important work and made their personal time management easy.
ROI
Changes were more easily implemented because TASKey TEAM tracked, coordinated and
reported on all tasks. This allowed users to spend more time on value adding work.
Users were able to significantly improve their productivity without unacceptable levels of stress.
The requirement for costly external consulting support was minimal, because business members
were able to implement the change by refocusing some of their time and effort. In summary,
TASKey's methods and tools had made all users better managers with minimal formal training.