This presentation describes my experiences setting up and running professional communities of practice in Norwich Union

1. Setting up and running internal IT Practices
Peter Leather
Head of Practices, Norwich Union Life
© Aviva plc

2. A bit about me …

3. A bit about Norwich Union …
• NU i th UK
in the
• Norwich Union Life (NUL)
• N i h Union Insurance & RAC
Norwich U i I
• NU UK IT Services
NUL – Business Change and IT
• In scope - 900 permanent staff, 250 contractors
• Large, complex environment: 10,000 customers, 100 mission-
critical systems, 10 product lines, 5.5 million customers

4. A bit about our transformation …

5. Why practices?
• Assignment based working
• Process transformation
• Common ways o working
Co o ays of o g
• Support career development
• Raise level of employee engagement

6. A Focussed People Management Model
7 x Practice Leaders
10 x Resource 40 x P f
Professional
i l
Deployment Managers Development Managers
Many Task Managers

7. Implementing & Running Practices
Exploiting
Embedding
Starting Up
Time

8. Implementing & Running Practices
Exploiting
Embedding
Starting Up
Time

9. Community
PROBLEMS
Too busy to think
Help not available
Little personal stake
Hierarchy

10. Community
PROBLEMS
SOLUTIONS
Too busy to think Headroom
Help not available Community of SME’s
Little personal stake Shape the agenda
Hierarchy Voice for everyone

11. Professional Standards
PROBLEMS
Team specific jobs
Descriptions out of date
Local ways of working
Local interpretations

12. Professional Standards
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS
Team specific jobs Organisation wide roles
Descriptions out of date Descriptors owned
Local ways of working Common processes
Local interpretations Common language

13. Professional Standards
PROBLEMS
Manager led promotions
Blue eyed boy syndrome
Fuzzy criteria; locally
interpreted
Ad hoc promotions

14. Professional Standards
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS
Organisational
Manager led promotions
perspective
Blue eyed boy syndrome Cross practice validation
Fuzzy criteria; locally Clear organisation wide
interpreted criteria
Clear timetable;
Ad hoc promotions
transparent to all

15. Professional Standards
PROBLEMS
Job for life
Stagnant Careers
Ad hoc, undirected

16. Professional Standards
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS
Job for life Employability
Stagnant careers Renewed focus
Ad hoc, undirected Aligned

17. What practices did we implement?
7 practices covering the Business Change & IT
delivery lifecycle
• Business Analysis
• Project Management
• Business Operations
• IT Development & Analysis
• Design & Architecture
• Testing
• Service Management

18. Key Set Up Activities
• Agree number and scope
of practices
• Get everyone into a
practice
ti
• Get key players on board
• S t priorities
Set i iti
• Agree change agenda –
local v global
• Mobilise and engage the
community

19. What roles do you need
Practice Sponsor
- Exec direction and overall accountability
Practice Owner
- Direction, strategy and org priorities
Practice Leaders
- Operational implementation
- Member of community, respected
f
- Need to be flexible and quick to learn
Process Owner
Volunteers

20. Accountabilities of Key Roles
PRACTICE SPONSOR
Leadership & Strategy
p gy
PRACTICE OWNER for Practice delivery
• Overall accountability
• Leadership & Strategy
PRACTICE LEADER
Review, contribute business context to and endorse individual & overall Practice(s)
•strategy the Practice leader, set out the Practice’s environment, drivers, constraints, mission
With
Leadership
and strategic direction support of Practice objectives & p g
• Promote understanding & Owner, define the Practice vision, and set out the senior s
• With the Practice Owner
g pp j progress to fellow Practice
vision Practice’s
•managersenvironment, drivers, constraints, mission and strategic directiondirection of BCIT
With other Practice Owners and the Head of Practices, set the overall
Practices
• Decide onDefine & communicate the roles & responsibilities strategy escalated to them and what
• resolution of major Practice issues & changes of of the Practice members,
•Advocatestrong competencyadequately resourced (financial and and self supporting the
Build they Practices are basedPractice
that can expect from the communities that are active man hours), and that
•
•optimal balance of Members&inmajor home for allis initiatives
Establish Practices as the Delivery activities& professionals
• Engage Practice achieved
gg Practice events
• Gain a high level of senior improving the Practices professional standards and QMS
• Engage Members in Stake-holder’s (including other Practice Owners & the Practice
sponsor) support of the Practice’s activities
Processes
Competency & Capacity
• Encourage innovation and individual empowerment of Practice members
• Engage with y & Capacity Capacity Planning stakeholders to understand long term
senior pBCIT
Competency
p y
business capacity requirements
bi it i t
• Input to BCIT capacity plans and set Practice establishment in response to them.
• Input to long term BCIT capacity plans and set Practice establishment in response to
•
them. Participate in forecasting of QMS & tool deployment workload, plan resource
requirements and identify & recruit appropriate resources, including process owners.
• With the Practice Leader, ensure that successors to key Practice roles are identified and
• Identify, recruit far in advance.
committed sufficiently& deploy resources needed to support Practice development activity
advance
• responsibility for the health of the that successors to key Practice roles are identified and
With the Practice Owner, ensure Practice’s QMS processes
• Take
committed sufficiently far in advance.
Training, development & recruitment
• Develop/improve, validate and publish Practice professional career paths
• With the Practice leader, approve the Practice’s training, development and recruiting
requirements and budget recruitment
Training,
Training development &
• With the PDM community, ensure consistent execution
• Balance the needs of individual Practices in meeting businessof skills assessment and
professional methods approaches
• Lead the creation & maintenance of high quality Practitioner skills information, and base
core Practice decision

21. Organisation Structure
Senior Leadership Team
Business Business
Operations Change & IT
Director Directors
Practice
Sponsors
x7
100% 20%
Head of Practice
Practices Owners x 7
100%
Professional
Practice Process
Development
Leaders x Owners
7

22. Implementation Plans
RESOURCES/
GRP AS – IS IMPLICATIONS VISION ACTIONS PRIORITY DEPENDENCIES
COSTS
People tend to use More difficult to read A single development Agree a suitable Participate in Catalyst Process and c. 3 man weeks to
methods and deliverables method used approach to Business Project Framework participate in
DEVEL PM ENT M ETHO D
techniques which are throughout NUL requirements Requirements TWG workstream (John Business
Harder to move
familiar to them gathering and to ensure suitability Curtin) will agree Requirements TWG
between projects A method which is
rather than any documentation within of method to BAs overall approach
customisable to meet (Education costs
universal standard. an overall
needs of each included under Work
Catalyst Business
y
There is no standard development
project Requirements Products)
NUL BS method for method workstream (Rash
BAs Ensure method is Gandhi) will run a
BAs are trained in sufficiently flexible to TWG to agree
Prince - but this is handle all types of requirements content
not used on projects project (e.g. custom
LO
development,
package
implementation)
Communicate
method to BAs and
educate them in its
use

23. Implementing & Running Practices
Exploiting
Embedding
Starting Up
Time

24. Resourcing
PROBLEMS
Ad hoc hiring
Local / job level hiring
Recruitment with HR
Different planning
assumptions

25. Resourcing
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS
Ad hoc hiring Capacity Plan
Wider
Local / job level hiring
Organisational needs
Recruitment with HR Business Accountability
Different planning
Global approach
assumptions

26. Process Deployment
PROBLEMS
Shelf ware
Difficult to deploy
Centralised
Templates

27. Process Deployment
PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS
Shelf ware Support on the job
Difficult to deploy Education by practices
Centralised Leadership within practice
Templates Exemplars

28. The BAU Scope for Practices (1)
Careers & Skills:
Providing career development opportunities which are aligned
to the future of Norwich Union. Defining roles, career paths
and learning & development opportunities which enable you to
realise your career ambitions.
Tools & Processes:
Supporting the deployment and institutionalisation of the QMS
processes. Actively owning our processes and driving process
improvements which enable us to achieve our business
objectives.
j
Community: Building a community of professionals who are
actively engaged in the future of Norwich Union.
y gg
Communicating via a variety of mechanisms (e.g. newsletters,
practice forums and institutes, informal and formal networks)
in support of our business objectives.
j

29. The BAU Scope for Practices (2)
Knowledge Management:
Deriving business benefit from actively sharing knowledge and
experiences. Re-using process assets to make us more
productive.
Resourcing:
Influencing our resourcing strategy and supporting it by
growing the capability of our practices e g by skills
e.g.
development, career progression, recruitment
Infrastructure:
The practice management system that ensures we are
successful in what we do and that practices add value to
Norwich Union.

30. The Test
The Testing Practice … very happy to work at NUL and to
Practice has
provides a great sense of be part of the BA practice. The
brought great
gg
community and has helped a
y p p
practice, PDMs and RDMs do a great
, g
What do our people feel about practices? benefits to my
great deal in the transition job of supporting their staff. I feel
profession.
in changing business units that NUL provides the opportunities
and settling in to my new for staff to make a good contribution
role in IT and progress their career
career.
On a positive note, the introduction
The BA practice is a great
and Practices over the last few
asset to the individuals who
Progression plans and
years has really made a difference
are members. It provides
development;
to the feel of the organisation and
training and support as well
promotional and
the recent CMMI level 3
as a Focus for activities like
career opportunities;
achievements have been a great
process improvement
variety and
achievement.
challenges of work;
being listened to /
I think practices are fantastic.
I have really enjoyed the
y jy
having input into
They give an opportunity to
opportunity to interact with
practice plans and
step away from your typical
the Leadership Team through
where the practice
day job and work with people
Practice Events,. I believe that
'goes' in the future
you
y wouldn't normally. The
y
these kind of opportunities
forums and institutes are a
help foster an inclusive and
great way of getting everyone
open culture which will enable
together to address issues,
employees to make a more
py
spread information and build M More should go through
h ld th h effective contribution to the
relationships. practices as these are our achievement of BC goals and
change enabler objectives.

31. Implementing & Running Practices
Exploiting
p g
Embedding
Starting Up
Time

32. The true value of Practices has emerged over time
Capability Management
Talent Management
Value Resourcing
Process Deployment
Professional Standards
Community
Time

33. Developing Our Capability
Senior Senior Practices
Setting Leadership Leadership via
Direction Team Team sponsors
p
Trans
Trans-
Trans- formation
Practices
Enablers formation Programme
Programme & Practices
Capability
Transformed to
t execute
t
Practices
Outcomes Capability our
strategy
Time

34. Success Stories
Community: All in a Practice; active Practices with governance
boards; Forums; Institutes; regular L&L
L&L.
Careers & skills: Paths defined; competencies and skills assessed;
information being used. Strategic approach to L&D. Practices
g g pp
managing their talent.
Knowledge: People are sharing – lots of volunteers for initiatives,
processes, coaching/mentoring.
processes coaching/mentoring
Resourcing: Practices driving activities to get the right resource mix and
leading on planning for future skill requirements
requirements.
Processes: People have taken real ownership. Achieved CMMi Level 3
– practices recognised by external assessors as key to this
achievement.
Infrastructure: Well developed management system. Documenting our
people processes NU UK now looking to exploit practices across all
processes.
3 BC&IT organisations.

35. Sustainability – Making it stick
Organisational Focus
• Have roles focussed on implementing and running practices
• Get the right people into these roles
• Evolve and grow the model
Formalise
• Develop a programme to deliver the agenda, not just BAU
• Ensure senior level governance at the most senior level
• Define a dashboard of Critical Success Factors
• Use a mix of 100% dedicated and part time resources, not just FTEs
Sell to Engage
• Define and articulate personal, community and business benefits
• Build activity and performance expectations into objectives
• Engage / leverage the community – not just “usual suspects”
• Find people’s passions, use emotion and celebrate success

36. Thank you
Thank-you