The situation
In a landscape where industry super funds are expanding their membership to the general public, a prominent superannuation fund, stood at the forefront of innovation and member service excellence. With an effective delivery, governance, and funding model for large projects, they adeptly managed risk for significant initiatives. However, the path for ongoing improvement to existing capabilities and delivery of mid-sized work remained unclear, presenting a crucial gap in their operational model.
The challenge
The Fund’s existing process for mid-sized projects were the same process used for larger ventures. The extensive ideation work needed, was often not viable to pursue for mid-sized projects. Leading to missed opportunities in a highly competitive market. Making ongoing changes and improvements to existing platforms and solutions was also a key challenge. The need to swiftly adapt to the evolving demands of both existing and prospective members called for a revolutionary approach to prioritising, planning, and adjusting mid-sized work more dynamically.
Additionally, internal reviews and staff engagement feedback showed a strong desire for employees to work in more adaptive, agile methods. This was coupled with a keen wish to be more collaborative and aligned with the value they create for the client, resulting in a keen drive to uplift employee experience.
The process
Cprime Elabor8 embarked on a comprehensive engagement journey, collaborating with stakeholders across business and technology domains to unearth the core of the challenge before defining the future state.
The engagement focused on three main stages:
- Discovery: a deep dive into the current state to understand what was working well and opportunities for improvement
- Co Design: leveraging the outcomes of the Discovery to collaboratively tailor the future Ways of Working, design to ensure a custom implementation which was context specific.
- Pragmatic and Consistent Implementation: a considered and consistent approach to implementation that was pragmatic to the needs of each individual team to ensure adoption and create a safe environment for people to learn and grow.
Collaboration between the client and Cprime Elabor8 was critical to the outcomes of all three stages to ensure alignment, engagement and a heavily contextual design which leveraged their existing strength. This was achieved through a series of targeted workshops, collaborative design and aligned prioritisation of improvement opportunities to build a rollout model that would work at multiple layers in the organisation.
The solution
This collaborative approach resulted in a strategic launch and training blueprint, tailored to inaugurate four agile delivery teams and a shared capabilities team at the fiscal year’s outset, marking the pilot phase for new Agile methodologies. This was backed up by a team capacity based funding model that would enable the teams to re-prioritise and be flexible. The solution targeted the below three areas:
1. A context specific, bespoke Agility Framework
The Co-Designed Agile framework, carefully tailored to meet the needs of the client, enabled the teams to seamlessly work within existing business constraints whilst adopting Agile ways of working. This ensured that the primary goal of the transformation was met, while also providing the flexibility to scale the model as needed.
Cprime Elabor8’s development of a lightweight governance framework for program management assisted with fostering an agile environment. This approach not only addressed the unique needs of each team but also cemented a robust communication and governance structure, essential for the program’s success. The framework enables collaboration and prioritisation at the right layer and at the right time, whilst enabling clear focus for each team that is aligned to customer or business strategic outcomes.
“Empowering Stream Leads to prioritise has led to the delivery of valuable improvements.” Senior Manager: Strategy, Governance, and Partnerships.
2. Pragmatic and Customised Implementation
To ensure success from the outset, the model’s implementation was designed to position every team and employee for success. Meticulous planning underpinned the rollout of the new model, emphasising the importance of a consistent and replicable implementation. This approach was crucial, as it allowed for the adaptation of each team within its distinct environment.
Understanding this, Cprime Elabor8 developed a consistent approach across 3 phases for rollout:
LaunchA consistent approach to launching each team through collaborative workshops and learning sessions. |
FoundationsBuilding off of the Launch Phase, targeted training, tooling implementation and specific WoW design and learning that was highly contextual to each individual team needs |
Flow EfficiencyIncreasing the efficiency and effectiveness of each team by leveraging key data sources, metrics and insights, and growing capability across the organisation. |
To enable the delivery teams to fully realise the benefit of the training, established Cprime Elabor8 patterns were modified to deliver bespoke team launches and ways of working. This enabled each team to reflect and focus on the variety of different types of work they needed to deliver.
“Defining our team’s workings from the start was empowering.” Team member.
3. Capability and Cultural uplift
A transformation is always more successful when all layers of the organisation are taken through the journey and understand what it means for them. Working with the leadership teams all the way down to the delivery team level, three ‘Agile for Leaders’ sessions were facilitated by Cprime Elabor8. These sessions were open invites to the entire organisation, and focused on Agile Ways of Working, navigating current processes, and devising a way for the program and teams to collaborate effectively within the existing guardrails.
To build baseline knowledge, Agile Fundamentals training was provided to over 50 staff and contractors, laying a solid foundation for the new Agile way of working. This, combined with focused initial program and team backlog understanding and Product Owner certification for pivotal team members, ensured a smooth transition and the establishment of productive team dynamics.
“Investing in staff skills and training was key to our smooth transition to Agile.” Cprime Elabor8 Consultant.
The results
The results were unquestionable. Within the first six months, the newly formed teams demonstrated remarkable agility in delivering several mid-sized initiatives, previously stifled under the old funding model. This newfound flexibility significantly propelled the clients’ member acquisition efforts, proving the efficacy of the team funding model and agile practices in responding to market demands. Outcome highlights included:
- An increase in business revenue through new development
- An increase in employee engagement
- Increased member engagement
- Faster processing time and reduced time to market
Notably, the initiative led to a 14-point increase in employee engagement scores compared to other areas, underscoring the positive impact of Cprime Elabor8’s people-centric strategy and the collaborative change management approach. Furthermore, the teams’ 18 successful releases in this period underscored the tangible value generated through this partnership, illustrating the power of skilled, empowered teams in driving business success.
“Teams truly reflect our values of Better Together, Genuine Care, and Passion for Outcomes.” CEO
The organisation will be expanding the scope of the transformation. Many teams in the organisation have put a case forward to be part of the next phase.
Final thoughts
The collaboration between the client and Cprime Elabor8 has set a new benchmark for agile delivery in the superannuation industry. By embracing a suitable funding model, investing in staff development, and fostering an environment where teams are encouraged to learn, fail, and iterate, they have established a scalable and effective delivery model. This model not only meets the challenges of today’s competitive landscape but also positions the fund for future success and innovation.
The Team Launch showcases a successful Agile transformation, with a people-centric approach at its core. The initiative has led to a more engaged workforce and a delivery model that aligns with the fund’s commitment to its members.
