How to Master Delivery

The plan is built, you have the budget, why can’t you deliver? 

It’s the issue that is widely known, the easy part is building the plan and getting the money (well sometimes) but being able to deliver the plan is the hard thing. When the plan is unclear or money hard to get it’s a good excuse, when that’s done there are no excuses you need to be able to Execute. 

At Whiteark this is where we see our clients need help and this is our sweet spot, being able to help deliver a program of work. There are 4 key steps that need to be taken to ensure the plan is successfully executed.

Key four steps:

Step 1: A detailed plan is required.

The plan must be very detailed and provide information on the following:

• Tasks

• Timeframe

• Responsible Party

• How success will be measured

Building out the program is critical with the required detail to measure if things are offtrack and the flow on impacts. Understanding key dependencies is critical and managing them as well (in this case Technology Services).

Step 2: The right capability must be identified to execute the plan

This might be a mix of internal capability, partners and other consultants but being clear on roles & responsibilities and having the right capability to:

• Deliver the required outcome

• Do it at a speed that is sustainable 

• Deliver the right outcome

Allow coaching and training so the team left behind after the project are upskilled and can do it without external help

Step 3: Flexibility to pivot, change direction & work some of the program out along the way is critical.

The original plan won’t work perfectly, the program needs to allow an element of flexibility when things don’t go to plan, you identify something else along the way.

Step 4: Sponsorship.

Strong sponsorship on the program. Executive sponsorship that is willing to go into battle will be critical. Absolutely critical. There will be roadblocks, issues that prevent the program moving and you need someone to move these out of the way and be focused on seeing the program deliver.

What we know from experience is?

All four steps are required to ensure effective execution. Things don’t always go to plan, but having a clear plan to be able to pivot or make changes in the program is critical. 

But just start, the team will see change, will embrace the change and lean it but just start the program, piece of work and get delivering. It will give you credibility, and the naysayers will go quiet or change their tune.

Making change, transforming and the building the new is hard. It’s harder than you think but it’s rewarding, fun and definitely worth the effort from an organisation to put the right leadership to deliver.

Get the delivery right is critical. Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start, but once you start you’ll get the momentum to keep going.

At Whiteark, we love helping companies execute their plans. Taking the strategy and what success looks like (goals) and building a roadmap and plan that can be delivered. We coach and help businesses set up their program with test and trial and an approach that works for them. Our goal is to ensure they can execute and that the capability in the organisation is developed to own the go-forward.