(The Second in the Series-IV of ‘The 7 Mavens of SOPs’)
By Dinesh P. Bhrushundi @ dbknowledgey©
Profound Gratitudes, yet again from ᵭᵱᵬ’the मितवा’ for Great Response to Series-I, II & III, and a warm welcome to Series-IV of ‘The 7 Mavens of SOPs’. As you know by now, ‘ᵭᵱᵬ’ is my initial and ‘मितवा’ (Mi-Ta-Wa), a Marathi acronym for Friend (मित्र-Mi ), Philosopher (तत्वज्ञ-Ta) and Guide (वाटाड्या- Wa), my humble role to ‘Sit Back and Give Back’, after 4 decades of career.
Series Title: ‘7 Mavens of SOPs’ is expression for instilling some of my learning as “seven propositions in sets of seven SOPs (norms)”, befitting the human mental capacity and attention span. This part of the series is again the learnings through my involvement with various initiatives and programs, both as a team member and team leader. Some of them were triumphs other failures. They gave me my 7 ‘Sin Qua Non’s for success Of a Program. Sin Qua Non means essentials or prerequisites. The figure shows these seven Essential Principles (EPs), which were outcome of an effectively implemented program titled ‘Building Customer Focused Organization’ at the airport in nation’s capital. These principles emerged from the strategic vision of organization’s leadership team and of course espoused by it. They were then extended through the organization to enable various ends.
EP1: This features the top management as the key driver. Enterprise-wide Patronage by them is critical to success of any program. The different aspects of EP1 entail scripting strategy and penning down plans, mentoring, monitoring and the likes. All the program requires serious sponsors.
EP2: Every program necessarily has a CUSTOMER internal and/or external. Identifying this customer unambiguously and gathering the expectations is first step of EP2. The main part is Expectation Parameterization which requires careful sieving of these requirements (noise Vs voice) and assigning a tangible measure/milestone to key ones. A famous quote goes, ‘what gets measured, gets managed’. Often missed, EP2 is very critical for accomplishment of program/plan.
EP3: The strategic program emanating from leadership calls for the support of dedicated deployment and effective execution down in the organizational ladder. Thus, the mindset of ‘making it happen’ is cornerstone for any program to see the light of the day. A balanced combination of enforcement to begin and involvement to sustain can do the trick well. So, Execution Paradigm is indispensable throughout the tenure of the program.
EP4: When the programs are run at an organizational level or at a large scale, an Extensive Promotion is fundamental to its successful foundation. Constant communication, visual blitzkrieg, motivation for competitive collaboration and celebration are some of the key ingredients. It is vital to recognize the work of key contributors during the progress and upon completion of important milestones. EP4 more than justifies its placement in the middle of the pyramid.
EP5: Completing complex programs is like eating an elephant. Slice and bite approach can turn around such tasks well. They call for simplified, user friendly implementation methods. Easy Processes, therefore, become crucial to realization of program objective. The processes are required for standardization and uniformity of approach. However, it is often overlooked that the processes are means to achieve an end and not the end in themselves. Hence the right balance is recommended to design the processes just enough to do that is needed.
EP6: EP3 touches an essential element of an enterprise, its people. They are like a ‘Lifeline’ that controls the other three viz-a-viz Topline, Midline and the Bottomline. Program sponsors are responsible for involving, motivating, and enthusing people by making them own the Enterprise Program. Exited People are the sure kingpin to win the battle even against odds.
EP7: The organizations these days, face the race against time, complexities, and dependencies. And the first two factors are pivoted on the last one. Consequently, the dependencies of concerned program partners outside the organization, should be identified. Cordial communication is obligatory : initially to assimilate and address their point of view, and later for a constant consistent update and feedback. They must buy-in and back the program. Engaged Partners are a great deal help for fetching the required results.
EP-LOG: Last but not the least is this EP of Experience Pyramid as an addon while working on EP2. It is a good idea to keep this as reference and aggregate the requirements according to the respective drivers shown in the adjoining.
As said in the beginning, my Experiments and Practicals have led to distillate of these Essential Principles. I hope that the readers find them Easy to Practise in implementing their Enterprise Programs and achieving Everlasting Propagation.
Bestest!
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