Preparing for Cross-Organisational Transformation: CRISIS

Kelly Southcott on September 2, 2021

Crisis

The challenge: 

Crisis has grown exponentially and ongoing success has meant a lack of time and focus on internal capabilities, technology and data. Like many charities, it’s fallen behind and become limited in the personalised and relevant experiences it can offer to its audiences, with the largely off-line product offering means they are missing opportunities to engage more effectively for a greater impact. With outdated technology and processes, and increasing expectations from stakeholders, staff were becoming overwhelmed, stuck in a loop of expectation management and underdelivering.

Enter COVID, and many beneficiaries and a wealth of volunteers expect to engage digitally, meaning the need to strategically align on how the Charity needs to change and invest in the digital, data and technology increased in urgency. 

What we did:

Embedded ourselves within the organisation, driving a team of change-leaders to shift the mind-set to audience-led, setting out audience visions, change roadmaps and a strategy for change rooted in organisational priorities and needs. We did this by facilitating face to face and virtual workshop events, bringing together board members, managers and subject matter experts, to identify how thinking differently about digital, data, technology could accelerate impact and growth. 

Working with the Director of Corporate Services, we are leading business planning workshops to build new capabilities and initiatives into organisational plans to ensure deliverable and sustainable improvements. 

We designed a refreshed target operating model that put future-facing capabilities at the heart of delivery and ensured the right space and capacity for strategy, new thinking and innovation. 

We designed a change programme leadership and model which builds dedicated capacity into the organisation and reduces the reliance on short term, external, consultancy support (including ourselves!)

The outcome / results:

We helped to shift the organisation to a strategic focus, and Crisis is now working towards a shared vision and goals, with full commitment and support from the leadership team. A shared cross-organisational prioritisation approach, means we are able to ensure the right focus on fixing the foundations, day to day support, delivering projects, innovation and change, and cultural transformation.

By investing in digital products and services, strategic and digital marketing, our data strategy and management and technology evolution, Crisis are on track to revolutionising the experience they offer audiences.

With people actively and energetically working towards a shared vision and collaborating across teams to drive change, leaders and change-makers are better able to articulate how digital, data and technology – when done properly – will add value to the organisation and ultimately end homelessness sooner. 

They are currently recruiting a Programme Director, who will lead the charge in embedding the new Target Operating Model, enabling more effective, scalable expert teams to respond, whilst driving empowered cross-functional teams with an increased ability to self-serve and co-design solutions with users.

Framework for people-driven transformation: The Samaritans

Kelly Southcott on September 2, 2019

Samaritans

The challenge:

As the external environment in which Samaritans operates continued to evolve rapidly and the demand for support was increasing, the Samaritans embarked on a huge programme of change, to develop a better service for callers, through modernising services and improving the experience of volunteers. As a predominantly volunteer-led organisation, changes at any scale are understandably complex and with such an important service to maintain, The Samaritans head office and volunteer leadership knew that change needed to be carefully planned and managed to ensure it drove value with minimal disruption.

What we did:

Working with the team, we consolidated the lessons learnt of previous projects, to ensure that the programme approach would take these into account. We defined and consolidated outcomes and benefits and developed a benefits map that clearly articulated how benefits could be realised, and where changes may be disruptive

Carried out interviews with staff and volunteer leadership and branches to understand change impact and likely response to change, including where we could expect resistance

Developed a bespoke change approach bringing together The Samaritans tried and tested methodologies and our expertise

The outcome / results: 

Through increasing the change capabilities within the core team, we were able to raise awareness of the need for a considered and people-led approach to change. Our deliverables were used to further our vision and change narrative and gain the required support from leadership and the board.

Digital Transformation at Save the Children UK

Kelly Southcott on September 2, 2019

Save the Children

The challenge:

Expectations of an excellent digital experience were growing by the day. With more and more people engaging with charities via social and the shift to online giving gathering pace. However, Save the Children UK was still operating in a largely traditional, off-line way and disconnected way. With extremely limited digital capabilities, and teams working in silos, the quality of technologies and the external audience experience was suffering, whilst existing resources were being under-utilised. 

What we did: 

  • Strategy and Leadership: Working with the leadership team, we supported the strategy and business case development
  • Organisational design: Design design and implementation of new, digital and tech teams, a cross-functional delivery model and agile ways of working.
  • Change Consultancy: Supported the processes design and implementation of new ways of working, coaching and supporting individuals and teams through change

The outcome / results:

Increased organisational capabilities in content strategy and SEO, UX design and analytics, digital marketing and digital development, an improved support model and effective team dynamics meant that SCUK were able to better meet supporter needs and improve their visibility, campaign performance and online conversion. Digital got air-time at Exec and Trustee level, with the introduction of a new amazing Director of Digital,  and the team we embedded were the first step in the longer term transformation which SCUK is progressing. By building capabilities and proving the benefits of a more agile way of working, we set the organisation up for wholesale agile transformation.

Save the Children: New enterprise digital solution

The challenge:

The SCUK online platforms were suffering from historic under investment, leading to multiple disjointed technologies, confusing user journeys, poor quality infrastructure and lost income. In addition to this, through neglect of platforms and reliance on multiple third parties, they were vulnerable to cyber attacks. A lack of expertise alongside the instability and complexities within the current technologies had led to significant challenges in resolving urgent issues as they arise. 

What we did: 

  • Strategy & Leadership: We supported the Director of Digital and Director of Technology in developing the strategy and roadmap for change. Engaging with the SLT and Board of Trustees to ensure leadership support, dedicated resources and budget.
  • Transformation consultancy: we led on delivery of the significant transformation programme to equip Save the Children with the people, processes and technologies to maintain performance and grow within the increasingly digital landscape, and deliver the Cause of Millions 2016-2018 strategy. 
  • Agile Delivery: Working with agency partners and technology partner Adobe we transformed digital platforms and developed the infrastructure to build great user experiences, increase agility and better respond in emergency situations, to maximise impact for children.

The outcome / results:

  • Enabled the successful delivery of the Cause of Millions 2016-18 strategy.
  • Increased online income by driving up SCUK website traffic and improved user experience with better forms leading to improved conversion across cash, regular and emergency giving.
  • Enabled cost savings with better focused spend on paid search.
  • Reduced reliance on third parties doing web development by bringing more capability in-house, increasing agility efficiency and ability to respond to opportunities and innovations, and increasing speed to market.
  • Improved relevance and quality of digital content.
  • Empowered SCUK to use live data to understand the performance of design and content and build the capability to respond urgently, ahead of the competition.
  • Aligned website strategy across Save the Children UK and US, building in cost savings and a successful global partnership

Kelly and the Kivo Team have played a crucial role in the defining phases of our digital transformation. Providing programme management, project management and business analysis support, they have helped build the case for change, achieve board approval for investment and have successfully delivered the first phase.

They continue to play a leading role in our programme delivery. Kelly and the team not only share our ethos, they appreciate and understand our unique challenges, and have built a collaborative team across Save the Children, Kivo and our systems integrator, working hard to overcome constraints and maintain focus on delivery.

They have been considered part of the team at Save the Children, leading across organisational, technology and process change, whilst ensuring the internal team has the capability and capacity to take further phases of the transformation forward.

Karl Hoods

Chief Information Officer, Save the Children

Kelly is a change and technology expert with huge amounts of energy and determination. She is always solution-orientated and pro-active.

As programme lead for our Digital Transformation, Kelly supported in shaping the business case, getting buy in at Board and ELT level and she went on to effectively deliver the programme of work including recruitment of new roles, delivery of new technology, training and implementation of new processes.

Kelly was a step ahead across the programmes, intuitively identifying risk and quickly outlining solutions, ensuring that even if we did hit bumps in the road there were always clear options available to keep the programme moving.

Kelly is a great communicator, comfortable in discussions on business benefits through to technical requirements. This gives her the ability to communicate with a variety of stakeholders, gaining trust and buy in.

Linda McBain

Director of Digital, Save The Children UK