Appendix 9.1: 50 Shared service risks – and what to do about them

10/03/2010

Risk factor Why this is a risk Steps to mitigate 1. Lack of top

management support

Shared service developments involve a major

change to operating practice. Unless top

management – including elected members in the

case of councils – are fully supportive of the case

for change, achieving buy-in and access to

resources further down the organisation will be

virtually impossible.

� Ensure that top management understand the rationales for

sharing and the benefits that are likely to flow from it

� Choose partners that share a similar outlook and set of values to

those of the organisation and those of its leaders

2. Failure to collaborate

– no real cross-

departmental

organisational

sharing due to

entrenched

practices/vested

interests

For service sharing to succeed, there needs to be a

shared objective at the operational level and a

willingness to act in the collective interest. Where

service departments continue to focus on their

individual needs and resist common practices and

standards, the broader goals of collaboration are

unlikely to be realised.

� Involve service managers in the process of designing and

implementing the new Shared Service Arrangement (SSA) and

ensure they have opportunities to build relationships with their

counterparts in other bodies, as well as the SSA itself

� Seek to understand and address concerns where possible

� Put in place clear standards, targets, rewards and sanctions that

encourage collaborative behaviour, and take action where this

does not happen

3. Limited scope – not

extending the project

far enough to deliver

a sufficient level of

gains against the cost

of change

All change will involve investment of time and

resource. During the pre-implementation stages,

this will include analysis and business case work.

Once change happens, it could also include

spending on new technologies, facilities and

training. The get a sufficient payback, the benefits

need to outweigh these costs, which will partly be

determined by the number of services/processes –

and possibly organisations – that are taking part in

change.

� Ensure that the costs and benefits of change are fully understood

� Understand the dynamics around economies of scale, and whether

there is an optimum size for the services/processes within scope

� Check whether more services, processes and/or organisations

could be included as part of the change without creating

unnecessary complexity or delay

Risk factor Why this is a risk Steps to mitigate 4. Lack of clarity – no

vision/big picture to

help stakeholders

understanding what

the change is about

and why it’s

happening

The make change successful and optimise the

benefits of it, all key stakeholders need to buy-in to

the rationale for change. Unless leaders can paint a

clear picture of why the change is necessary, what

benefits will flow and where individuals and groups

fit into it, this is less likely to occur.

� Ensure that change is led by capable leaders who understand how

to build and communicate a compelling vision

� Ensure that key stakeholder groups are identified and their

interests understood, and create a vision of change that they will

find motivational

5. Failure to address

redeployment and

redundancy issues

early on, leading to

uncertainty and

muted support

Sometimes change may have a potential downside,

such as redundancy, or create concerns about the

nature of redeployments. If these are not dealt with

early on they can create anxiety and resistance that

will negatively affect the course of the initiative.

� Try to understand the consequences as early as possible for

individuals and groups and communicate with them about it

� In the absence of clarity of consequences, explain to people the

process that will be gone through, the basis on which decisions

will be made, and how and when they will be informed

6. Failing to tackle the

role of the “leave

behind”/retained

organisation

In redesigning services and processes for an SSA,

roles and tasks in the retained organisation will also

be changed. Unless all people and parts of the

organisation are addressed, the change is unlikely

to deliver maximum benefits.

� Ensure that people and processes in both the SSA and retained

organisation are within scope as part of the redesign

� Devote appropriate resources to both sides in order that they have

the skills, systems, systems and tools needed to perform their

roles effectively in the new environment

7. Not realising the

benefits originally

set-out in the

business case or

failing to conduct a

post-implementation

review to understand

the gaps

Unless change in managed with a view to realising

the benefits set out in the business case, the

change is likely to fall short of expectations.

Equally, once change is ‘complete’, a review is

needed to check that benefits have been delivered,

and if not, identify what work is still needed.

� Ensure that an effective benefits realisation process is put in

place, backed up by benefits realisation plans agreed with in-

scope areas

� Ensure that benefits are reviewed post-change and lessons learnt

(of successes and failures) before other tranches of work are

attempted

� Make time and resources available to address critical gaps

between planned-for and realised benefits

8. Cost overruns and

delays – particularly

due to

unanticipated/hidden

costs

Where costs overrun original budgets, the whole

business case for change may be negated, with the

benefits that do occur taking longer to come

through than planned

� Ensure that baseline costs, together with the anticipated costs and

savings from change, are rigorously calculated – and ideally held

open to independent validation and benchmarking

� Ensure that implementation is rigorously managed, with close

attention to costs and early warnings of any overruns

Risk factor Why this is a risk Steps to mitigate 9. Resistance to change

among staff and

other stakeholders

Where there is outright resistance to change it will

be difficult to realise anticipated benefits, with time

and resource needing to be devoted to dealing with

the causes and symptoms of opposition

� Ensure that the human and cultural parts of change are

understood and potential conflicts anticipated and planned for

� Make sure that change is led by capable leaders, who devote time

and energy to working with staff and other stakeholders to explain

the rationale for change and surfacing and resolving areas of

conflict

� Put in place a communications plan that keeps all staff and

stakeholders informed about why change is happening and what

will happen when

10. Partners withdraw

from the initiative,

imperilling the

business case

Where several partners are involved in the

collaboration, the business case may be based on

the assumption that all parties see the project

through to fruition. Where partners do withdraw,

the business case may no longer stack up.

� If possible, build a partnership – and business case – that allows

for the scenario of some parties backing out, before or after

launch

� Invest heavily early on in building the partnership and

understanding each organisation’s aims and interests. Check that

all parties are committed going forward, and that there are no

‘passengers’ once serious resource is being put into business case

building and procurement exercises

11. Threat to corporate

reputation,

particularly if service

performance is poor

or costs higher than

expected

If the service delivered post-change is poor, and/or

costs area greater than expected, the reputations

of the SSA will suffer - making new

partners/customers unlikely to join and existing

ones possibly consider leaving.

� Ensure that baseline costs and performance levels are properly

understood (not least to avoid unfair and subjective comparisons

post-change)

� Make sure the new service is designed in a way that meets

customers’ needs and is an improvement on the cost and

performance of baseline services

� Manage the change process effectively to ensure that the benefits

set out in the business case are delivered and the service’s

blueprint is realised

� Where problems do occur, make sure these are addressed quickly

and effectively, and back this up with good communications so

that negative perceptions do not spread

Risk factor Why this is a risk Steps to mitigate 12. Increased supplier

dependency,

particularly on the

SSA itself

A shared service initiative may introduce a new

supplier, on which the organisation is increasingly

dependent. This may particularly be the case where

the supplier is a commercial partner to the SSA.

� Ensure that the procurement of suppliers is conducted rigorously,

with attention paid to getting the right fit in terms of outlook as

well as skills and services

� Put in place governance arrangements, including user groups, that

ensure the actions and decisions of suppliers are made in

agreement with client organisations

� Put in place contracts and service level agreements that protect

the position of customers, including penalty clauses and

opportunities to withdraw from the contract if service is poor

13. Knowledge and

expertise is lost to

the SSA

Where the client organisation passes

responsibility for tasks to a separate SSA,

there is the danger that they will lose the

experience and expertise needed to

understand key processes – and thus not be

able to perform them if they wanted to take

the work back in house.

� Assess how critical SSA activity is to the core business of

the client authority. If necessary, check whether it should

be retained

� Consider employment models, such as secondment, that

will enable the risk to be reviewed in the light of experience

� For activity that is shared, make sure that good records are

kept (and updated) of the processes undertaken, the

procedures involved, and the technology and information

that supports them 14. Failure to understand

and address the

added complexity

and new relationships

created by the

shared services

If relationships are formed with other

organisations without thoroughly understand

each party’s perspectives, interests and

underlying values, it will be difficult – and

perhaps expensive – to anticipate and resolve

problems and areas of disagreement further

down the line.

� Devote time and resources early on in the collaboration to

understanding the values and perspective of each

organisation or professional group

� Identify the goals and outcomes each side would like to see

from the collaboration, their priorities and perceived risks,

and the constraints (such as legal and governance

obligations) that may reduce their scope for manoeuvre 15. Lack of

understanding of

business processes

and service delivery

If change is attempted without understanding

the business processes to be shared and how

the service should be delivered, the quality of

the final service may be poor with cost and

time overruns occurring (for example, to

address variations in ways of doing things and

agreeing a standard approach).

� Ensure resources are devoted early on into understanding

‘as is’ processes and the consequences there may be for

bringing different units’ and organisations’ processes

together

� Agree a standard (simplified, efficient and effective) set of

process designs and delivery structures, as well as the

steps needed to bring these together

Risk factor Why this is a risk Steps to mitigate 16. Cultural

misunderstandings

between the councils

and its partners and

the councils and

suppliers

If the different parties to the collaboration

have a different outlook or perspective, there

is scope for disagreement or conflict. If left

unchecked, this could erode trust and bring

about delays.

� Ensure that attention is paid to understanding each parties

motives for collaborating, how they will judge success and

what values will guide decision-making

� Ensure change is led by people with the authority and skills

necessary to surface potential problems and bring about

agreement 17. Data protection and

security breaches Client organisations – and the SSA itself –

have a legal duty to protect information.

Where data is lost, stolen or otherwise

misused, it can also have financial and

reputational costs.

� Ensure that legal obligations are understood early, perhaps

with the help of outside experts

� Build this into processes, procedures and governance

structures, so that access to information is carefully

controlled and reviewed over time

� Make data security a key element of any procurement or

technological change planning, and not an afterthought 18. Business disruption

during the process of

change

Business as usual will need to continue despite

the change taking place, as customers

(internal and external) will still need to be

served.

� Plan effectively for disruption to tasks involved in change –

such as by providing extra support or back-filling their roles

� Prepare a business continuity plan that will anticipate

potential interruptions to service and put in place measures

to address them 19. Poor communication

between partners

leads to

misunderstandings

If effective communication does not exist

between partners, expectations may become

misaligned, goals and plans may not be

properly understood, and trust may be

undermined.

� Ensure that effective communications plans and systems

are in place, which identify agreed channels, content,

timing and targets of communication

� Ensure that a range of media are employed and that skilled

communicators are used to convey important messages (for

example, at open meetings and consultations with staff) 20. Benefits are

overestimated and

over-promised

If the business case is based on unrealistic

returns, the rationale for change may be

flawed, leading to waste of time and money.

� Ensure that benefits are robustly calculated, perhaps using

reference sites and benchmarking

� Invite independent scrutiny of planned-for benefits (such as

through Internal Audit or 3rd parties)

� Work with those affected by change (such as SSA managers

and service managers) to agree and get commitment to

delivering of change outcomes

Risk factor Why this is a risk Steps to mitigate 21. Inadequate training

and staff

development before

migration

If staff on both the client and SSA sides are

not properly prepared for change, the

processes and services will be difficult to

operate as planned, leading to delays and

lower than anticipated performance.

� Understand the skills needed to operate new processes,

systems and technology

� Conduct an audit of existing skills and prepare and deliver a

suitable training plan in line with the schedule for

implementation and go-live 22. Inadequate financial

planning and tax

exposures

Unless expert attention if paid to the financial

side of change, the price of investments and

timing of returns can lead to higher than

expected costs. Liabilities may also exist on

the tax side that were not anticipated in the

initial business case, undermining the financial

case for change.

� Ensure that expert financial input is made into the

development of the business case and that this is line with

the financial regulations of all parties to the change

� Ensure tax expertise is part of this, if necessary bringing in

external people. Make sure that the legal basis of the

collaboration minimises tax exposure (excepting that other

factors will also determine which vehicle is chosen) 23. Customer

expectations vary

from service to

service and partner

to partner, with

different assumptions

about what they’ll get

Where there is variability as to what the SSA

will deliver, it will be difficult to generate a

common sense of what the SSA is for and why

change is happening. Some people are likely

to be disappointed, with potential for

disillusionment spreading.

� Ensure that clear and consistent statements are put out

across all parties with a common vision and set of

messages about the nature of change

� Ensure that leaders of change get out and talk – and listen

– to different groups, and pick up and respond to different

signals

24. Lack of access to

skills and experience

needed to change

Because most organisations may not have

been through shared or collaborative

initiatives before, they may not have the

experience and expertise necessary to make a

success of it. This may cause them either to

avoid change, or not to make the most of the

opportunities presented.

� Understand the type of change being attempted, the skills

and experience demanded (which may involve desk

research, attendance at seminars, bringing in expert

trainers or consultants, and visit to reference sites)

� Identify the extent to which suitable people exist within the

organisation and its partners to make a success of change.

Where skilled and experienced people do exist, try to bring

them into the change team

� Identify skills gaps and train up internal people where

possible

� Work with external providers, or bring in outside expertise,

where necessary and if budgets allow (these should be

accounted for in the business case for change)

Risk factor Why this is a risk Steps to mitigate 25. Systems capabilities

and platforms are

inadequate and

costly to upgrade

In order to operate the blueprint for change –

and allow for parties to work on common

systems – certain upgrades or technological

changes may be needed. These may be costly,

and for some partners could imperil the

business case for involvement.

� Understand what change is really necessary. For instance,

could application interfaces be created for existing systems,

which would not be unduly costly or technologically

complex?

� Understand the risks of not changing against the added cost

of upgrading or changing systems. Does the business case

still stack up?

� Check if there are opportunities to share upgrades or

technologies, such as by pooled procurement, use of a

shared managed service or ‘piggy-backing’ on a partner’s

system 26. There are too few

opportunities to

benefit from

economies of scale

The processes and services that are deemed

to be within scope may not present major

opportunities to realise savings by grouping

them together. This may mean that the

efficiency benefits from change are minimal or

non existent.

� Consider whether other processes/services or partners

could be included as part of the change – either now or in

an acceptable timeframe

� Check whether scale economies are really a key benefit. Is

the sharing of expertise to create a more rounded

competency centre, which can act more effectively, a

greater benefit?

� Check whether there are potential benefits – such as from

cooperation or pooled procurement – that might deliver

efficiencies sought after 27. Policies and

compliance

regulations frustrate

progress or create

unanticipated costs

Despite a strong business rationale for

change, the process that must be gone

through creates delays and costs that were

not anticipated at the start.

� Bring in legal experts, or talk to people at reference sites,

to check whether legal requirements have been properly

understood, if there are ‘smarter’ ways of dealing with

them, or whether there are different approaches (such as

alternative legal vehicles or procurement routes) that may

be better

� Whichever approach is adopted, make sure that legal and

procurement resource is invested early on to do this, so

that the full costs and time implications are understood and

can inform the business case

Risk factor Why this is a risk Steps to mitigate 28. Employment and

TUPE regulate

present job mobility

constraints

Assumptions may be made about the ways

staff can be transferred to an SSA, including

what the costs will be. Where these in fact

start to create barriers to realising initial

ideas, the plans for change may need to be

rethought.

� Ensure early on that staff transfer and cost issues are

properly understood in terms of the different models for

sharing

� Be clear about the benefits that are sought after are

consider all options that will deliver this and what the staff

transfer issues are 29. Unique business or

operational

requirements in

particular partner

organisations create

added complexities

and costs

Some partners to collaboration may have – or

believe they have – certain requirements that

must be addressed in the design and

operation of the shared service. This may

mean that a standard approach is not possible

in all areas, with implications for costs and

returns.

� Check whether these requirements are real or just

perceived. Work with the parties involved to see if more

flexibility is possible

� Understand what the cost of catering for this requirement is

– and check with the party involved whether it outweighs

the benefits of a ‘tailored’ solution

� Try to find similar organisations that might have set up

shared arrangements and see whether they have been able

to resolve this issue (and create a standard approach) 30. Party politics, within

and between

councils, frustrates

the ability to build

consensus

Political manoeuvrings and election timetables

can make it difficult in some organisations to

deal with issues in an objective and non

partisan way.

� Start by identifying as much common ground as possible

between parties, focusing on agreed outcomes and

objectives

� Separate the ‘ends’ from the ‘means’ where possible

� Ensure that change is led by skilled politicians who have an

understanding of the personalities involved and can, if

necessary, appeal ‘over their heads’ to address the greater

good 31. Change threatens

individuals’ jobs and

career paths

Major change is likely to change the career routes

open to people. This may be including fewer

promotional opportunities or work experiences, or

even possible redundancy.

� In designing new jobs and roles, be conscious about responding to

people’s needs for variety and career progression

� As early as possible in the process of change, explain what the

new jobs structures and roles will be and highlight positive aspects

of change (e.g. new career routes and expanded job roles)

� Anticipate areas of conflict and put skilled managers in place to

explain the reasons for change and try to resolve negative

perceptions

Risk factor Why this is a risk Steps to mitigate 32. Anomalies created by

differential terms and

conditions among

staff makes

harmonised working

practices difficult

When staff from different organisations are

brought together (and sometimes from

different departments too) there may be

differential term of employment, such as

salaries, holidays and pension entitlements.

These will lead to complications in terms of

human resource management, but may also

cause resentment and frustrate team working

and a sense of mutuality.

� Where possible (especially where staff have been TUPEd

and not just seconded), seek to negotiate common

contracts that preserve a balance of benefits

� If possible, try to bring employment terms ‘up’ to those of

transfers on preferential terms (this may pay off in terms of

improved motivation, perceived fairness and sense of

shared endeavour)

33. People lack the skills,

experience and

ability to adapt to the

new roles and

working practices

Without the skills and training, staff may not

be able to perform their new roles effectively,

leading to fewer than expected benefits from

change.

� Understand the skills needed of the new roles and audit the

skills of staff expected to fill them

� Ensure that suitable people are appointed to the new jobs,

where necessary providing additional training to help them

work effectively

� Ensure that people on both the retained (client) side and

the SSA side are included and that skills and training needs

are regularly reviewed 34. Customer service

attitudes and

behaviours are not

consistent with the

concept of an SSA

Where a new service culture and service

management arrangements are part of the

SSA vision, there is the danger that staff

transferred from jobs in more traditional

functions will not easily adopt the new

behaviours expected.

� Understand the behaviours and attitudes expected in the

new SSA roles and what the implications will be for staff

transferring

� Explain to staff why new behaviours are thought important

and how this fits into the bigger picture of change

� Create a behaviour framework and appraisal and reward

systems, and make sure these are clearly explained to and

discussed with staff

� Identify development needs and provide training, reviewing

this on a regular basis

Risk factor Why this is a risk Steps to mitigate 35. Opportunities for

staff to enhance their

skills and broaden

their experience are

restricted

The change that takes place will not

necessarily lead to enhanced job roles and

career openings. This can be a cause of

resistance to ideas for change, as well as

frustration once it happens.

� Ensure that suitable attention is given to the design of jobs

(and broader work structures) to ensure work is sufficiently

stimulating and opens up possibilities for career progression

� Ensure employees are matched to the new jobs. This may

involve recruiting people directly to the SSA who would be

more suitable than existing staff (for whom more

appropriate work may be found elsewhere) 36. Quality of work is

below standard

and/or high levels of

rework are needed

(which may be

reflected in customer

complaints)

If performance is poor the SSA will not be

delivering the benefits anticipated, possibly

invalidating the case for change. Customers

will be dissatisfied, creating a negative

impression of the service, undermining any

hope for expansion and possibly causing poor

morale in the SSA.

� Ensure that the service is well designed in the first place,

with appropriate people/skills in post

� Check problem areas to diagnose and address causes. Do

processes need changing? Are more resources or extra

training needed? Are the wrong people in post?

� Put in place – or beef up - quality control procedures, to

ensure a better and more reliable service

� Explain to customers what actions and been taken, and

why, and what they can expect in the future

� Do not attempt to roll new processes or customers into the

SSA until underlying issues have been sorted 37. Productivity levels

are poor/below target If productivity is poor, this may cause a poor

service to customers and mean that costs are

higher than expected. This may invalidate the

case for change and/or make the SSA unviable

commercially.

� Check the design of work and the systems and skills

supporting it. Are there problems in design?

� Check whether new resources or different people are

needed

� Check whether targets set at the start are unrealistic. Can

these be changed?

� See whether management can be improved to get more out

of existing people/resources

Risk factor Why this is a risk Steps to mitigate 38. Performance remains

below that of

groups/benchmarks

against which targets

have been set

The case for change may be predicated on the

performance of reference sites and external

benchmarks, which have also informed

operating targets.

� When putting together the business case, and later when

setting targets, make sure that benchmarks have been

realistically drawn

� Check whether the operating model for the service is likely

to emulate the external benchmarks. If not, produce a

design that will deliver similar outcomes or ensure that

targets are set that are more achievable

� Examine areas of underperformance to identify underlying

problems. Where necessary, redesign the work that is done,

provide additional resource, or change and train people to

enable work to be done better Technology

39. On the client side, IT

capabilities, training

and skills cannot fully

support the process

of change or working

with the new SSA

Because there may be a need for technological

changes on the client side to support shared

service change, hardware, software and

people resources can be a major barrier to

progress. These will need to be resolved if

implementation is to succeed.

� Ensure that an audit is carried out in the early stages of

visioning and analysis to understand where the organisation

is now and the gaps that exist in moving to the future state

� Robustly calculate the cost of change in terms of technology

and skills upgrades and how these will affect the timeline of

change

� Work with partners to see how these costs and actions

could be addressed collaboratively, for example by sharing

personnel and equipment and/or by involving a commercial

partner

Risk factor Why this is a risk Steps to mitigate 40. Legacy systems are

fragmented and/or

bespoke and difficult

to integrate with any

new IT systems

Implementation of a shared service will often

involve moving to a common system (such as

an ERP system in the case of finance and HR).

Various systems in the retained organisation

may need to interface with this. Where several

partners are involved, there is potential for a

range of systems to have to be integrated,

creating complexity and expense.

� Understand the technical options in moving things forward.

Should ‘line-of-business systems’ systems on the client side

also be replaced, as well as investing in IT for the SSA? Can

costs be shared with partners? How will this affect the

business case? What additional benefits would this bring?

� Are there cost effective and technically straightforward

ways of integrating legacy systems, for example by

adopting interface standards

� Check whether there is a cost effective option of moving to

a single, managed IT system, where the complexity could

be passed onto the supplier 41. There are multiple

clients in the SSA

partnership,

operating different

systems and creating

problems in providing

a cost-effective and

standard solution

The more systems and variety that exists, the

more difficult it will be to produce a common

approach to service delivery. Complexity may

go up, not down, creating additional costs and

few benefits from collaborating.

� Check how important it is to move to common systems, and

if not, what the consequences are for cost and complexity

� Understand the issues involved in migrating to common

systems, how long this will take and what the costs would

be

� Set out the implications of the different routes (common

systems versus different ones) and what this will mean for

the business case 42. Decision-making for

IT investment is not

robust

The IT function may lack the skills and

capacity to produce rigorous business cases

for change, meaning false assumptions are

made about costs and savings.

� Ensure that additional internal support is provided to IT (for

example, from Finance) to enable robust cost and revenue

calculations

� Where necessary bring in additional skills, using outside

experts or by working with reference sites

� Provide training in business case and financial

management, so that a strong and consistent approach is

adopted across the organisation in identifying benefits,

measuring costs and calculating returns over time

Risk factor Why this is a risk Steps to mitigate 43. A focus on cost

savings may mean

that the IT

infrastructure does

not provide a real

enabler for change

Where shared service change is driven by a

determination to cut costs, it may be difficult

to argue for investment in the enabling

infrastructure that supports collaborative

working.

� Understand the infrastructure that is needed to support

collaborative working, both for in-scope projects, as well as

more strategic enablement. How critical is this to realising

the blueprint for change? What are the implications if there

is not proper infrastructure in place?

� Calculate the costs of change and explore different models

under which these could be reduced and defrayed 44. Focus of IT is too

much on the ‘hard

savings’, thus failing

to realise many of

the ‘soft’ benefits

from new IT systems

In a cost saving environment there is the

danger that decisions will be driven purely by

saving money without considering how IT can

support service quality and desired customer

outcomes.

� Ensure that the case for IT change, and the procurement of

new skills, software and hardware, is also informed by

measures of ‘effectiveness’

� Build a balanced profile of change benefits, highlighting how

these depend on different types technology and support

45. Lack of ownership

from critical

stakeholders to

execute agreed

actions

For collaboration projects to succeed a range

of stakeholders will need to play their part.

Unless all are committed and willing to

contribute along agreed lines, the objectives

may not be achieved.

� Invest time at the outset to ensure that all stakeholders are

signed up to shared goals and committed to taking action

required

� Where individuals change, make sure new people are

committed to carry through agreed actions; if not, revisit

plans and assumptions to understand the implications for

the partnership

� Ensure that those involved in discussions and decision-

making are in a position to take action 46. The governance

arrangements for

change includes

people with different

agendas and is not

united towards a

common goal

Where people governing change have different

agendas, the possibilities of agreeing common

goals and priorities may be undermined, with

the partnership under threat - particularly

when difficult decisions to be made or when

problems occur.

� Ensure and open and honest discussion about goals

happens early on in the partnership, which also surfaces

different values and criteria for success

� Work to identify and accommodate differences, being open

and honest about these and what their implications might

be going forward

� Ensure a high trust environment exists at all times,

deepening this across organisational representatives so the

partnership is not dependent on a few key individuals

Risk factor Why this is a risk Steps to mitigate 47. There are delays in

finding solutions to

problems and

barriers that make

progress along the

project lifecycle

dangerously slow

Problems are always likely to crop up during

projects, which can derail them unless they

are addressed quickly and vigorously. In some

cases, those against change may even engage

in delaying tactics, hoping to wear down

enthusiasm for change.

� Invest early on in anticipating potential barriers to

progress. Do not attempt change where these are

insurmountable

� Put effort into removing obstacles before they happen; or

have plans in place to take action if they do

� Quickly escalate problems so that senior decision-makers

can resolve issues/conflicts before they become major

concerns 48. There is a lack of

willingness to

collaborate and share

ideas as a

partnership or team

For shared services to work, people in

different departments and (possibly)

organisations will need to work together,

sharing views on problems, opportunities and

solutions.

� Invest in team building and communications to ensure that

all staff affected understand the reasons for change, what it

is intended to achieve and how they can/are expected to

contribute to it

� Ensure appropriate leadership is in place, at all levels of

change, and that team and project meeting are facilitated

in such a way as to generate openness and consensus 49. There is a lack of

willingness to take

tough decisions or

change direction if

aspects of the project

are not going to plan

External events and other facts can require

change to original courses of action. Leaders

must be willing to take unpopular decisions,

possibly curtailing or cancelling change

programmes if it proves necessary.

� Be clear about the drivers for change and assumptions that

underpin the business case for it

� Ensure ongoing monitoring of events and progress and

continually check that the business case remains valid

� Where the necessity for change is identified, ensure the

rationales for it are fully explained and that clear plans are

put in place – and communicated – for a change of course

50. Risk of not acting/

the opportunity

cost

There will be an opportunity cost associated

with not taking steps towards collaborative

working and shared services.

� Understand the broader drivers for change and the range of

responses (projects, programmes etc) that the organisation

is making to them

� Understand the potential role that forms of sharing and

collaborating have to play and what the missed opportunity

might be if they are not part of the portfolio of change

© CIPFA 2010. For more information, visit www.cipfa.org.uk/sharingthegain