Not so long
ago I was watching an episode of “Kitchen Nightmares” with Gordon Ramsay and it
got me to think about how he effortlessly swoops in finds all the issues with
the kitchen and the front of house, makes some adjustments, slaps on some new
paint and voila, the issues are fixed in the course of an hour. Granted the
filming looks like it takes several days with some degree of prep bookending
before and after the filming. But regardless it is an overall improvement
initiative that is quick and seems to stick…or does it. Each year he revisits
some of these ‘makeovers’ and with some transparency there are some that are
still doing well and some that have reverted back to where they were before he
arrived.
Like any
improvement initiatives, Service management can be like this as well sometimes.
A consultant may come in for a limited period of time and facilitate a review
of current state, make some adjustments, even facilitate a new tool, but this
might all be lost if there isn’t something consistent which remains with the
organization after the consultant is gone.
A good
consultant will tell you that one of their goals is to leave the organization
in a better position than when they arrived. In the kitchen nightmares example,
Chef Ramsay often has an experienced chef come in to help transition the staff
at the newly improved restaurant. This is an important component of the
improvement initiative. The question has to be asked, “What do we do when the
consultant is gone?”
In the case of
a good consulting outfit they will have addressed this question before you even
ask it, in fact as part of their review of current state and looking to roadmap
the future they should have identified if there is a gap in the long term
sustainment of whatever it is you are trying to improve in the first place.
This will include resources such as staff, training and yes, even possible a
tool.
So how do you
ensure that your improvement initiatives stick?
If you have a
resource steering your team through this improvement initiative ask them
questions. I know this sounds obvious but the trouble in some cases with having
an expert on site guiding you through something is that it looks easy and may
make you think that this will be just as easy after they are gone.
Know what the
landscape will look like during the improvement cycle. Avoid people doing this
off the side of the desk as this will always be a point of contention with
resourcing and the first thing dropped when it gets busy.
Ensure that
the changes that you are making are small enough to show some improvement over
a short period of time. Small changes are simple, easy to manage and having
some wins which we can demonstrate will generate some inertia in the forwarding
the improvement cycle.
The key here
is that while this may look easy from the outside, the reality is that a
marathon of hard work is about to take place, so make sure that you are as
prepared for this by working with professionals who are looking out for your
ability to achieve your improvement initiatives.
Labels: ITIL, ITSM, ITSM Consulting, Mentoring, Service Management