HighTechCo

Challenge: Control sudden surge in company growth

Solution: Utilize the services offered in the KOMANDing Management package to devise a strategy and operational plan for
the client

Results:
– Eliminated bottlenecks and out-of-date processes
– Introduced tools for software tracking and knowledge management systems
– Implemented a one-year operational and human resource plan

The multi-media software industry is considered a fragmented industry with low entry barriers and thus leading to increasing competition. The industry is also growing very rapidly with an estimated growth rate of 20% in annual revenue increase over the next year. In order to survive in the industry, companies need to:

– Create top quality products
– Respond quickly to competitive threats
– Stustain stable growth in order to maintain or increase market share

Challenge
Over the few months preceding our agreement, our client had increased personnel due to three new large-scale projects that they had accepted. As a result of the new additions to their workforce and the multiple simultaneous projects that had been taken on, our client was noticing inefficiencies in their workflows that had not been present in previous years. Also, the additional personnel would prove to be a significant expense after the new projects were completed. The following challenges needed to be overcome:

– Identify and eliminate bottlenecks in their current workflow processes
– Restructure the company in order to support the new size
– Determine a strategy for future growth

Solution
KOMAND consultants needed to discover the source of all bottlenecks and inefficiencies and eliminate them before any other changes could be made to the company. To do this, an internal analysis of the company was performed by the consultants, which allowed them to map out the current workflow of the client, from the first customer contact until the final project delivery. Once this task was completed, the KOMAND consultants interviewed key personnel (ranging from management to customer service representatives and software engineers). The information obtained from the interviews indicated that inter-departmental knowledge sharing and communication was weak and sometimes non-existent within the client’s organization. This lack of information sharing also influenced the new employees causing them to feel disoriented and consequently leading to inefficient work habits.

In addition to the personnel interviews, an anonymous, on-line survey questionnaire was created by the KOMAND consultants, which was sent out to all of the employees in the company. The survey was composed of mainly Likert-Scale questions with a few ranking and open-ended questions. Although the survey was not mandatory, 100% of the employees responded. After analyzing the results, the consultants discovered that employee performance was inhibited by a lack of aknowledgement and rewarding by the client’s management team.

As a final step, a financial analysis for the company was performed. The goal of this was to determined the organization’s current financial situation and consequently create an affordable marketing plan that would result to additional large-scale projects and continued company growth. Financial projections as a result of the marketing plan were created along with a sensitivity analysis of best and worst case scenarios. The consulants had to ensure that the marketing plan would generate enough revenue to sustain company growth and also cover all expenses including those of the new personnel.

Results
Eliminated bottlenecks and out-of-date processes – When the client’s organization was smaller in size, the performance evaluation process that was currently in place was adequate. However, after the company grew a new evaluation process need to be implemented. The old process was causing inefficiencies due to work repetition and misaligned performance reviews. The KOMAND consultants created a new process that included performance evaluation timing, review committees, and semi-annual peer reviews. A new performance appaisal system was also introduced that accurately reflected the employee’s performance with his/her reward.

Introduced tools for software tracking and knowledge management systems – Software bugs identified by customers or personnel were not tracked and fixed in an efficient manner. The KOMAND consultants selected a new state-of-the-art software bug tracking system that would allow information to be shared by both the software engineers that were responsible for fixing the bugs as well as sales, marketing, and mangement personnel. A system was also put in place by the consultants that would assist in prioritizing the bugs in terms for their severity and their hit rate. This significantly reduced the time required for bug fixes and also allowed the customer-facing groups to provide accurate reports to their customers regarding the progress and estimated time for the bug fixes.

Implemented a one-year operational and human resource plan – The positions and tasks of most of the management team were not clearly defined. The KOMAND consultants restructured the organization so that management could focus on areas that would contribute to maintaining the company’s competitive advantage. Certain functions, such as internal training and IT were outsourced to external organizations. This decision resulted to the elimination of unecessary overhead and also allowed the employees to focus on their key strengths.