Situation: In many organizations, keeping up with business as usual gets in the way of executing strategic plans, especially those that involve developing new markets or new products (or services). There are a variety of underlying reasons why this happens, but the end result is the same – sufficient resources are not allocated to these activities. The situation was no different at a large professional services consulting firm where the global head of a growing business wanted to develop a new market for his unit’s services. He understood that senior level talent was needed on the initiative, but could not afford to take experienced consultants completely out of the field. However, anyone who has tried to get a large scale initiative completed knows that five 20% FTEs (full time equivalents) is only theoretically equal to one dedicated person. In practice, a group of people who are partially committed to an effort lack focus and cannot sustain the momentum needed to carry a large initiative forward.
Approach: To provide the necessary focus and sustained momentum that the internal resources could not, RGsquared joined the initiative as a team leader. The team leader role complemented the project leader role which was assumed by one of the internal consultants. As team leader, RGsquared not only performed blocking and tackling for the team – scheduling, conducting, and documenting weekly team meetings by phone to monitor progress, managing relationships with the company’s marketing department, etc. – but also provided strategic oversight – leading six-month planning and reporting efforts which were used to provide status reports to the global head of the business. We also supported the major new service development projects within the initiative by researching and creating materials and tools that were needed to convey the company’s expertise in the market and by participating in discussions with partners and prospects.
Result: The slow and sometimes tedious process of implementing strategy has begun to bear fruit for the business. Existing services have been adapted for the new market and meetings with prospects and partners (companies with whom the company does business and who serve the same market) are beginning to take place. The company’s profile is being established in the new market as the project team members speak at industry conferences, publish research and thought papers, and distribute an online research newsletter to the market several times a year. Through the slow and steady execution of its strategic plan the business has been able to gain traction and establish a footprint in the new market.
