Define, design, deliver, discuss:
How to keep your projects moving forward
Definia is The IN Group’s technology and transformation consultancy, helping clients bring transformation to life. Its aim is to guide organisations towards tomorrow’s opportunities at a sustainable pace while maximising their existing teams and resources.
In 2023, Definia underwent a rebrand and while we’re still feeling a little existential, I wanted to share some of the opportunities, ideas, solutions and challenges that resonate with our clients, associates and communities today.
I’m starting with our WHY. Why would The IN Group and Investigo – a well-established and reputable recruitment business – step into the world of consulting? Well, we think the statement of work (SOW) and outcome-based proposition has become a vital cog of your human capital management strategy.
There has never been a more pressing time to ensure you have the right frameworks, SOW and deliverable based engagements as part of your supplier ecosystem. Let’s look at how Definia approaches every engagement using our model of Define, Design, Deliver.
For a number of reasons, this is a really difficult time for business leaders to cope with the demands of the changing business landscape:
The ever-evolving human capital management trends, encompassing hybrid working, boundaryless programmes, a new order to the worker-organisation relationship and the formal understanding of prioritising impact and purpose.
The challenge of delivering digital transformation, digital consumerisation and digital workplace, while building dynamic operating models that have the ability to pivot to business demands.
The drive from the board to understand how the business is accelerating growth and achieving efficiency and productivity gains, while improving the experience for all stakeholders.
So where and how do you start? We all understand the traditional approaches to building your workforce: an accomplished permanent core team; flexible contingent workers to help with demand fluctuations; conventional consulting partners for innovation, strategy and delivery; or service integrators for extended, cost efficient service provision.
However, we’ve seen accelerated demand for the new approach to consulting and talent provision, which we call the hybrid consulting approach. This is driven through both changes in legislation (think IR35) and maturing buyer behaviour which focuses on outcomes, not effort. This is fast becoming a proven, successful approach for an organisation’s human capital strategy.
But how do you bring in expertise without outsourcing the whole problem, or carrying all of the risk?
This is where we provide the best of both worlds: the skills, agility and flexibility of the contingent worker market combined with the accelerators, proven methods and greater accountability of traditional consulting approaches. This model also helps to mitigate some of the negatives, such as loss of IP, through shared risk, greater quality assurance and increased ROI.
How do we put together this hybrid consulting model? Here are the key components that make up the design phase:
Hybrid working – psychological factors such as engagement, belonging, wellbeing and preventing burnout, ensuring everyone understands the organisation's plans, tactics strategies and visions.
Dynamic operating models – one of the greatest demands will be the ability to pivot or shift, which is achieved through dynamic operating models that allow the business to scale up and down to meet demand and bring in new capabilities.
Keeping secure – both by protecting the business from cyber threats and staying in line with compliance and governance.
Driving new ways of working – ensures consistency in approach across the enterprise, be it products, projects or services, embracing automation, continuous improvement and learning through retrospectives.
Building capabilities – in a digital-first world, how do you build capabilities such as reusable/evergreen assets, frameworks, architecture and products? Do it right and do it once, leveraging tech and the power of AI and automation while retaining both tangible and intangible intellectual property.
Data driven decision making – using data to make better business decisions and embedding a ‘fail fast, learn well’ culture.
The never-ending skills shortage – looking at ways to plug the gaps in your workforce.
The final stage involves developing the right strategies through partnerships. Here’s how we bring the solution to life:
Think culture – the organisation’s collective as well as individual thinking is valued, visible and part of your people’s everyday experience, so we promote people-first solutions.
Outcome based – accountability and delivery.
Governance – transparency, visibility, compliance and measurement of ROI.
Transformation assurance – TMO and PMO, project and programme delivery. How to effectively prioritise, manage, track and deliver against business demand.
A digital core approach, leveraging tech disruption through data, AI, automation, cyber, products and services, covering digital transformation, digital consumption, digital strategies and digital consumerisation.
Subject matter expertise – the right person for the role (not the best on the bench). Leveraging expertise through fractional and portfolio engagements.
Dynamic operating models – injecting burst capability focused on products, projects and services. The ability to spin up and close down for agility and delivery.
Continuity and knowledge transfer – lessons and retrospectives.
Sounding board and partnership – we’re on your side.
Clearly, no two projects are the same and we’ll work closely with you to understand your specific needs before we put the right plan together for your business. But we genuinely believe that executing the basics beautifully is a fundamental aspect of successful transformation programmes and that’s why we’re passionate about striving for improvements every day. As we keep saying, keep moving forward…
