David Young

Telecoms Consultant and Programme Manager

Divisional Merger – Major UK ISP & UK Mobile Operator

Summary:

As part of a group initiative to reduce Opex it was identified that ‘in-country’ integration would show benefit where each ‘division’ had common organisational remits and skill sets. In this regards, the technical teams of two divisions (combined 4,000 people) were first on the list to blaze this trail and prove that savings could be made. Working within one of these divisions, David led a transformation team to:

Establish goals and required outcomes

Establish outline plan of transformation (design, communicate, analyse, communicate, implement, communicate, etc.)

Work with other division to establish a more detailed view of their ‘modus operadi’, their internal customers and the nature of their own strategic requirements

Gain board agreement of required benefits

Contribute to organisation design and engage stakeholders to evaluate against required benefits and likely internal disruption

Coached the internal buy-in against the agreed benefits, risks and design

Present and communicate benefits and risks (including innovation, responsiveness and financial) to internal stakeholders (250 Managers, through use of a stage based event) and divisional executive board

Report progress against plans

Key Skills Deployed:

Senior stakeholder management (Cxx level)

Coaching [internal teams]

Organisational Design

Financial Analysis

Benefits Realisation

Communication, Communication, Communication

Outcome:

All division managers agreed benefits and the design and each understood (and abided to manage) specific risks within their area. Implementation of the plan was therefore successful and key risks (such as ability to deliver against other key programmes) were managed to the point of very minimal impact. On later discussion with affected staff, they felt that the integration had been successful, well communicated and fair.

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