Unveiling Customer Experience Dynamics: Leveraging CSAT and NPS Scores to Find Areas for Improvement

Companies commonly use Net Promoter Scores (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) as a loyalty barometer. It comes as no surprise that when talking about Contact Center, CSAT and NPS scores become the center of conversations with our clients. CSAT and NPS play a pivotal role in unveiling the nuances of customer experience to a Contact Center organization.

At Kenway, we treat each client uniquely and bring a tailored approach to evaluating these metrics. Whether you’re a large corporation or a small regional business, CSAT and NPS scores might have different meanings for you. But with the right approach, you can leverage CSAT and NPS scores to pinpoint the highs and lows of your customer’s journey.

Our Contact Center experience has taught us that while valuable, CSAT scores offer a selective view. For instance, attributing a negative CSAT to a seamless IVA experience doesn't account for a, potentially, subsequent unfavorable interaction with an agent or vice versa. It would be incorrect to say the IVA experience was bad when the IVA did everything correctly. This is one simple example, but it illustrates the point that these are diagnostic tools, illuminating segments of excellence and areas that demand refinement.

Let’s go beyond a simple analysis of CSAT and NPS scores and look deeper at the story behind each metric. How do you define and calculate them? Why do you use these metrics and not something else? Starting with these answers helps us understand your mindset and strategies.

Understanding CSAT Calculation

IVA (Voice or Chat) CSAT

If you’re measuring your customer’s satisfaction based on their experience with your bot (voice or chat) you need to consider the experience. Did the customer need to provide a reason for contacting you or did you already know and anticipate that need? Did the customer need to provide some method of authentication (phone or account number, password, etc.)? Did the customer have to repeat any of these questions or go into a circular flow? Did you need to refine or disambiguate the customer’s intent? Was that disambiguation to support the customer’s need or was it to support your company’s routing? Yeses and Nos to the questions above aren’t necessarily bad on their own. The point is that customers will, in general, play along when they feel like they are making progress toward their goal. A smart flow that gives customers confidence will typically result in higher CSAT numbers.

Agent CSAT

When focused solely on human-agent interaction, this score becomes a beacon highlighting the role of agents in shaping the customer experience. Delving into the agent's experience unveils potential areas for improvement. Organizations should consider external factors when using CSAT and NPS scores. Is their product a commodity where switching to a competitor is easy for a customer? Is the issue the customer is facing beyond the scope of the agent? An agent can only do so much to help a customer if the company has turned off their service and charged them 4x their standard bill.

The Nexus Between CSAT and NPS scores

CSAT and NPS scores are not solitary indicators but are deeply intertwined with CSAT, jointly acting as compasses in the customer experience landscape. The focus extends beyond the Contact Center, with brand loyalty, technological preferences, and customer-centric practices influencing CSAT and NPS scores. Organizations that prioritize customer experience see higher CSAT and NPS.

In the broader context of Voice of the Customer (VoC) metrics, NPS and CSAT become powerful tools for identifying good and bad segments of the customer journey. When used correctly, these metrics not only contribute to higher customer retention or increased sales but serve as catalysts for continuous improvement.

The Kenway Approach to Evaluating CSAT and NPS Scores

Our approach is not a one size fits all when it comes to evaluating NPS and CSAT scores. We don’t force a framework for understanding and utilizing VoC scores to drive your business. We blend industry expertise, and your unique business needs to understand the significance of NPS and CSAT in discerning the intricacies of customer experience.

Connect with us to learn more about how our tailored approach can help your business navigate the complexities of customer experience management and drive measurable results.

 

Enterprise Agile Change Management

Organizations that have embraced traditional best practices for Change Management, we embrace the ADKAR framework, are familiar with concepts like “start at the top,” “create ownership,” “communicate the message,” etc. Those same companies execute job impact and change readiness assessments, communication plans, and change risk analysis. But is that enough? What if companies executed Enterprise Change Management agilely, achieving the same benefits Agile offers to software development (e.g., transparency, predictable delivery, improved quality, risk management, etc.)?

Risk vs. Uncertainty

Before we can answer this question, we must first accept that uncertainty exists in all change initiatives, whether the change is driven by IT or non-IT programs. With that in mind, it is important to recognize the difference between risk and uncertainty.

With risk, we may not know for sure that something will happen, but we do have an idea of its probability of occurring. With uncertainty, we have no quantitative basis to predict the likelihood of a future event occurring, or even what is the potential obstacle. Traditional change management techniques are not designed to guarantee outcomes that are inherently uncertain.

To ensure the success of our change initiatives, we must navigate through significant uncertainty. Agile methods allow us to manage uncertainty as we might manage risk, helping us accept and manage through uncertainty. The fundamental mental shift is accepting that we will learn or discover new things that necessitate an adjustment to our original plan. We accept the new situation and embrace that we must adjust when we make those discoveries.  Since we can never know enough to plot a fool-proof course, we must learn as we go and make course corrections along the way. This is Agile at its core!  You can implement the core Agile concept of multi-level planning to accomplish change management agilely:

 

How an Agile Change Management Plan Address the Three Primary Types of Uncertainty

There are three primary types of uncertainty, that if addressed agilely, can ensure an effective adoption of a change initiative even at the enterprise level. Consider below how multi-level planning addresses the three primary types of uncertainty:

From the very beginning, stakeholders not only participate in but share the change initiative.  The sponsor candidly admits what they don’t know and invites others to fill in the blanks.  By changing course in response to concerns, the sponsor demonstrates that they not only are in touch with reality but responsive to concerns and emergent problems.  Motivations may be obscure, but behavior is easy enough to ascertain if you take the time to observe.  This incremental collaboration will instill confidence that the initiative is on the right track.

Agile change management never positions the change sponsor as knowing more than they could possibly know.  Since management really doesn’t know everything up front, the fact that things are going off track will often be obvious to the staff before it is to management.  Agile change management does not provide a crystal ball, but it does provide ways to keep track of the emergent state of the evolving change initiative and to broadly share it.  Perhaps most importantly, it expects the plan will need to adapt rapidly and frequently over the course of the initiative.

Since agility expects change and the need to adapt to this change, it provides tools to stay tuned to developing conditions minute by minute.  If for whatever reasons (i.e., unanticipated consequences), negative patterns start to emerge, they can be addressed in a timely manner and before they get out of hand.

Enterprise Change Management inherently carries with it uncertainty. Often the response to such uncertainty is resistance. However, Agile Change Management provides a way to manage through the uncertainty. You might be surprised to learn that when offered the opportunity to change in an agile way, people don’t resist significantly less because they can influence the change and thus have ownership. So go out there and be agile with your Change Management!

Kenway’s Approach to Agile

Here at Kenway, our expertise is coupled with our passion to guide organizations through the process of adopting Agile methodologies and principles.  Regardless of where you are in your agile change management plan within your enterprise, Kenway experts are here to guide you throughout the entire process.  If you’re ready to take the next step in your Agile journey, connect with one of our consultants to learn more.

 

FAQs:

How is change management handled in Agile?
What are the benefits of agile change management?
Does Agile have a change control board?
What is the difference between change management in a waterfall and an Agile scrum?

 

Scaling Scrum Beyond the Pilot Team: Navigating Larger Agile Initiatives

Agile methodologies have transformed the landscape of project and product management, playing a pivotal role in shaping organizations' approaches to Agile initiatives. By promoting business value, continuous improvement, and adaptability to ever-changing environments, Agile has become the default operational mode for both enterprises and smaller application teams. This approach thrives on the evolving collaboration of self-organizing, cross-functional teams along with their customers or end users. It encompasses adaptive planning, evolutionary development, timely delivery, and encourages frequent reflection and enhancement. While Agile often yields immediate benefits for smaller teams, expanding its principles to larger groups or across the enterprise spectrum introduces a fresh set of challenges. The effectiveness that comes so naturally to Agile teams can be at risk if scaling is not undertaken thoughtfully and deliberately.

As organizations grow confident with the Agile framework within individual teams, some may contemplate scaling their processes. It’s a significant leap from managing single teams to coordinating multiple Agile teams working together on the same product or program. Before embarking on this journey, it’s crucial to ensure that you’ve mastered the art of Agile on a smaller scale. While no organization is perfect in all areas, you should look for signs that you’re ready to expand:

Blending Agile with Other Approaches: Hybrid Models

When scaling Scrum, it’s not always practical to stick to a single methodology, especially in complex environments. This is where Hybrid Agile/Waterfall models come into play, blending Agile's iterative nature with Waterfall's structured milestones and organizational leadership communication. This approach is particularly suited to organizations that manage a variety of project types or need to meet rigorous regulatory requirements.

The success of a hybrid model hinges on pinpointing the optimal integration points between Agile and Waterfall through trial and error. Adequate documentation and tracking, along with a communication cadence that supports the flexibility of Agile while respecting the defined milestones of Waterfall, are critical to this model's effectiveness.

Scaling with the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)

For large, intricate enterprises, the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) presents a more formulaic approach to scaling. By combining Agile principles with Lean thinking, SAFe enables broad collaboration and delivery at scale. Its structure, extending from individual teams to the entire portfolio, provides a robust framework for scaling Agile. It emphasizes the significance of alignment, built-in quality, transparency, and the essential Program Increment (PI) Planning events that guide the larger Agile endeavors.

Introducing Scaling Methods

As we navigate through the complexities of scaling Scrum, we recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Each organization must meticulously evaluate its unique challenges and select a scaling path that resonates with its strategic vision, culture, and project-specific needs.

Considering the move to scale Scrum within your organization? Whether you’re taking the first steps in scaling multiple Agile teams to work cohesively on a program, or deciding between a hybrid model and SAFe, the path ahead requires thoughtful navigation. Contact us to begin a conversation that could transform your Agile journey. Our expertise is in tailoring solutions to fit your scaling needs, ensuring that you maintain the Agile spirit while broadening its reach and impact.

FAQs:

What is scaling in Scrum?

Scaling in Scrum refers to the practice of extending the principles and practices of Scrum beyond a single team to encompass larger and more complex projects. It involves coordinating the work of multiple Scrum teams, often referred to as "Scrum teams of teams" or "tribes," and may involve the creation of an Agile Release Train (ART), to deliver a unified product or solution. Scaling Scrum is necessary when the scope of a project exceeds the capacity of a single Scrum team or when there's a need to collaborate across multiple teams to achieve a common goal.

Organizations typically leverage frameworks to scale Scrum effectively. Some notable frameworks include:

These frameworks and approaches help organizations maintain the agility, transparency, and customer-centric focus of Scrum while addressing the challenges posed by larger and more complex projects. They enable organizations to harness the benefits of Scrum across their entire enterprise and deliver value more effectively to their customers.

When should you scale Scrum?

Scaling Scrum should be considered when an organization meets specific criteria that indicate the need for a larger and more coordinated approach to agile development. Here are some key indicators:

What is the disadvantage of Scrum scale?

Scaling Scrum, while beneficial in many ways, also comes with its set of challenges and potential disadvantages. Here are some of the disadvantages associated with scaling Scrum:

Scaling Scrum can be a complex endeavor, but with careful planning, training, and a commitment to addressing these challenges, organizations can successfully scale Scrum and harness the benefits of agility at scale.

What is the main issue when Agile is scaling to large systems?

When Agile is scaled to large systems, several significant issues can arise, continuing to expand the ideas discussed in the disadvantages previously mentioned. Here, we'll provide more details on how these issues manifest in organizations:

These issues, if not effectively addressed, can undermine the success of Agile at scale in large systems. Organizations need to carefully consider how to strike the right balance between alignment and autonomy, streamline processes and ceremonies to minimize overhead, and select and implement the appropriate tools and technology solutions that enhance, rather than hinder, collaboration across teams.

 

Scaling Agile, the Right Way!

Agile is now the default way to run project and product initiatives. Either at an enterprise level or within just a few application teams, companies today have gone down the path of adopting agile methodologies into their development lifecycle in order to reap the benefits focusing on business value, continuous improvement and embracing that the environment will forever be changing.

For those new to agile software development, it is best described as an approach under which requirements and solutions evolve through the collaborative effort of self-organizing and cross-functional teams and their customers / end users. It advocates adaptive planning, evolutionary development, early delivery, and continual improvement to deliver software in a rapid and flexible response to change.

Success in agile can often be achieved with smaller sized teams (10 people or less), but many companies are struggling to take agile methodologies to the next level by either scaling to a large single application team or scaling at the enterprise level.

I have observed approaches to scaling agile that introduce new challenges and, ultimately, make a high performing agile team less effective. These approaches (with slight variations) are:

  1. Adding developers disproportionately to other agile team member roles.
  2. Increasing team member numbers but not scaling supporting tools & processes (e.g., Development Operations [DevOps] and Planning).
  3. Increasing the length of a sprint or the number of sprints.

These methods fail to increase throughput because they create bigger bottlenecks with testing, deploying, etc., or as with the case of the longer sprint, they increase batch size. This is an anti-pattern to the lean agile approach. Scaling agile effectively involves adding elements of all team members proportionally to create multiple encapsulated agile teams. These standalone teams are commonly referred to as feature teams. The number of feature teams can increase the overall development capacity by aligning them to logical scope within a single application.

In the following diagram, the feature teams include members from product management, development, architecture, security and the testing teams. Even though all the feature teams are working on a single application, these fully functioning agile teams work independently on separate backlog items with continual integration of the code.

agile

Successful scaling of agile incorporates the following principles:

  1. Ensuring collaboration between teams increases as much as scaling team member numbers. Often a feature lead role is used to ensure effective collaboration between the multiple feature teams. These feature leads are assigned very early in the product lifecycle.
  2. Scaling team members in proportion for all roles on an agile team. As noted in the diagram, the ratio of product team members, developers, architects, etc. are proportionally in line with other feature teams, and therefore staffed optimally.
  3. Increasing release and product planning activities as much (if not more) than scaling in team member size. Introducing Program Increment (PI) Planning concepts is an effective way to plan at scale. Pipeline meetings and cross program prioritization are critical activities when scaling agile.
  4. Increasing DevOps capabilities to support increased technical complexity such as multiple code branches, multiple environments, and additional development dependencies.

The benefits of scaling agile by creating multiple feature teams are:

  1. Effective communication between teams to ensure alignment and dependencies are identified and tracked.
  2. Increased overall throughput of development capacity.
  3. Increased flexibility to ebb and flow teams to specific functionality or capabilities.
  4. Re-enforcement of the team mentality.

For example, Kenway has guided clients that scaled their agile teams by adding many developers, without increasing their product management capacity accordingly. After correcting the proportions of all agile team roles or creating additional teams to maintain the optimal team size, we introduced a new feature engagement process that added a monthly pipeline review meeting, feature prioritization meetings, and ensured (well, maybe forced) collaboration between agile teams. Effective communication was significantly increased, and all agile teams felt more connected with the feature roadmap while optimally planning for upcoming features.

Kenway provides IT Strategy services that can help any team trying to scale agile or just wanting to take their effectiveness to the next level. To do this, we can provide embedded expertise inside your delivery teams to provide coaching and / or scrum mastering to teach effective agile techniques while performing work as part of the agile team. Or Kenway can help by conducting an agile assessment to provide an outside perspective with observations and recommendations to make your agile team(s) more effective.

If you’re interested in learning more about Kenway Consulting’s approach to agile methodologies, please contact us at [email protected].

 

Maximizing Private Equity ROI: A Comprehensive Approach to Pre- and Post-Acquisition Success

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, Private Equity (PE) firms are constantly seeking ways to maximize their return on investment (ROI) while minimizing risks in their portfolios. Throughout the deal lifecycle, Private Equity firms often hire management and technology consultants due to several challenges:

  1. Operational Complexity: Private equity firms handle diverse industries with unique operational challenges. Consultants provide the expertise needed for operational optimization.
  2. Market Dynamics: Rapid changes in market trends and global competition make it difficult for private equity firms to stay updated. Consultants provide valuable insights into these dynamics.
  3. Due Diligence Limitations: Private equity firms often lack resources or expertise for comprehensive due diligence. Consultants help mitigate acquisition risks by supporting in areas like technology, operations, or market analysis.
  4. Technology Advancements: Rapid technological change is a significant challenge. Technology consultants provide essential expertise, whether it's understanding new technologies, assessing the technology infrastructure of a target company, or leading a digital transformation post-acquisition.
  5. Change Management: Managing changes during and after an acquisition is complex. This could involve integrating the acquired company personnel, restructuring the organization, or implementing unified technology platforms. Consultants provide guidance during each of these transitions.
  6. Regulatory Compliance: Compliance is challenging, especially for firms that invest in different jurisdictions with diverse regulations. Consultants with regulatory expertise help to navigate this complexity.
  7. Exit Planning: Maximizing value upon exit is a key goal, but preparing a company for sale or an IPO is complex. Consultants provide support in areas like financial performance improvement and strategic positioning.
  8. Value Creation: Private equity firms must create value in their portfolio companies. Consultants help identify and implement opportunities for value creation, such as revenue growth, cost reduction, and operational improvement.

In essence, the complexities and challenges of managing investments across diverse industries and regulatory environments necessitate hiring experts to help. They fill knowledge gaps, provide fresh perspectives, and offer specific skills to help private equity firms overcome these challenges and achieve their objectives. Seeking help from the experts will ensure your investment’s growth prospects while de-risking the portfolio. Finding the right experts, however, is critical. The goal of external support should always be to provide a strategic edge in managing your investments effectively, ensuring optimal performance and value realization.

Here are some critical considerations during the due diligence and post-acquisition phases of transactions:

Due Diligence: Identifying Gaps and Opportunities

A thorough due diligence process is crucial to accurately assess a target company's potential and identify gaps and opportunities for growth. There are critical areas of influence to consider, including human capital, finance, accounting, sales, customer support, marketing, technology, compliance, security, and legal. By conducting a detailed evaluation of these areas, the team can quickly identify gaps that need to be considered during the valuation phases of the lifecycle and provide strategic recommendations to drive the desired outcomes.

Post-Acquisition: Driving Operational Efficiencies and Growth

Once the acquisition is completed, it's essential to align the investment thesis with the business and technology strategy of the acquired company. Experts will work closely with PE partners and their portfolio companies to deliver streamlined technology assessments, implementations, integration roadmaps, and business process design analysis. Post-acquisition approach should focus on five main objectives:

  1. Drive Operational Efficiencies and Cost Reduction: By decreasing support costs, rationalizing the application portfolio, and streamlining processes, costs are reduced across the portfolio.
  2. Operational Refinement and Visibility: Deploying enhanced processes, upgrading applications, and optimizing reporting and analytics capabilities enable better decision-making and business insights.
  3. Scalability: Utilizing cloud computing and data-driven strategies, identify new opportunities, improve operations, and bridge gaps in modernization.
  4. Technology as a Growth Asset: Companies need to be empowered to connect directly with customers, modernize data strategies, and develop new services, solutions, and products.
  5. Leverage Synergies: Facilitate cross-selling and up-selling opportunities, provide a 360-degree view across portfolio companies, and streamline future bolt-on acquisitions.

Value-Added Services

In addition to the core focuses, the following should be considered and tailored to the unique needs of each portfolio company:

At Kenway, we understand the importance of a comprehensive approach to managing during both the pre-and post-acquisition phases. As a PE-owned consulting company, we understand these unique challenges, and we offer customized solutions to drive value, identify gaps, and integrate optimized capabilities across your portfolio companies' people, process, and technology domains. Our management and technology consulting expertise allows us to drive value, reduce risks, and ultimately increase ROI for your portfolio. Contact us today to learn more about how Kenway can support your Private Equity investments.

 

Data Privacy Laws: What You Need to Know

To avoid investigations, fines, and the legal implications of data security incidents, it’s critical for organizations to make data protection a top priority. Data protection laws have been around in some form for decades now and they have entered a new era. With an abundance of personally identifiable information (PII) being constantly shared, regulators are addressing the ethical implications of PII storage and use. The rights of individuals to dictate how their data is being used is of particular concern.

The first major data privacy law in more than 20 years, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), changed the landscape by providing broad-scale protections for consumer data. Since then, new data protection laws have been established or proposed at the state, federal, and international levels. The number of laws will only continue to grow, and existing regulations will evolve quickly.

One of the biggest challenges in remaining compliant with any data privacy law is ensuring your organization has a full understanding of your data. Knowing the business purpose for collecting each data element and having a complete understanding of where your data is stored, where it comes from, and where it goes are all critical components of an implementation plan. Data mapping and advanced planning should be a focus for all organizations that are impacted by data privacy regulations.  

At Kenway, we’ve worked with many companies to help them implement changes to their business processes and to their data management framework to ensure they have the infrastructure needed to support regulatory compliance. We thought it would be helpful to provide a running list of the most prominent and recent data privacy laws to help you stay informed. We’ll be updating this page regularly, so be sure to check back for updates as new regulations are passed and current laws are amended!


General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

As the first major data privacy regulation in the European Union (EU)​​ since the 1990s, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) serves as a model for other data privacy laws around the world and in the U.S. GDPR covers the data of all residents of the EU’s member states, regardless of where the entity collecting the data is located.

Some of GDPR’s most notable requirements include:

The Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act)

While there are currently no data protection laws specific to the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) does hold broad authority to enforce consumer protections. As it relates to data privacy, the FTC Act gives the agency the right to prevent deceptive practices, seek monetary redress and relief for conduct that harms consumers, and conduct investigations on entities engaged in commerce. 

Here are some of the instances in which the FTC may use this authority to investigate and take action against organizations:

California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

When it passed in 2018, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) was the first significant statewide data privacy law in the U.S. It provides consumers who are California residents with greater protections and rights in respect to their personal data. The CCPA applies to businesses that collect consumers’ personal data, do business in the state of California, and either meet certain revenue thresholds or sell personal information. 

Some notable provisions are outlined below:

California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA)

The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) expands the scope of the CCPA. One of its most notable provisions is the creation of an enforcement agency, the California Privacy Protection Agency, to take action against organizations that violate the CCPA. It also expands the definition of protected data to include employee and vendor information.

As of January 1, 2023, the CPRA also requires that:

For more guidance on the tools available to  implement CPRA, read this guide

Québec Privacy Law - Bill 64

The first set of requirements under Bill 64, An Act to modernize legislative provisions as regards the protection of personal information, went into effect on September 22, 2022. The bill makes significant amendments to existing privacy rules covered by various existing laws, most notably the Private Sector Act and the Public Sector Act. It’s expected to have a drastic impact on privacy practices within Québec and may provide a clue to how federal legislation will take shape in Canada. Here are some of the most notable provisions by effective date.

Effective September 22, 2022

Effective September 22, 2023

Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA)

Effective as of January 1, 2023, the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA) is the second statewide data privacy law in the U.S. Though it’s built on the same framework as the CCPA, it’s less expansive in scope. 

Colorado Privacy Act (CPA)

The Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) provides many of the similar rights and requirements as the CCPA and the VCDPA, however its approach is different. Covered entities are defined as controllers and processors instead of businesses and service providers. Controllers make the primary decisions to manage, collect, and utilize data. Processors maintain and process consumer personal data on behalf of a controller.

Here are some other ways the CPA differs from other state laws:

American Data Privacy Protection Act (ADPPA)

The American Data Privacy Protection Act isn’t the law of the land yet, but it’s the first comprehensive federal data protection law in the U.S. to gain significant bipartisan support. The sweeping legislation covers for-profit and nonprofit entities, with different obligations and exemptions for some organizations. Even if it doesn’t pass as currently written, it does give you a good idea of what federal legislators are focused on. The bill not only addresses data privacy protections, but it also addresses the potentially discriminatory impacts of algorithms.

Notable provisions of the proposed data privacy regulation are:


Compliance Isn’t Easy. We Can Help.

Because we’re in a new era for data privacy and protection, there’s a lot to learn about the nuances of each regulation and what it means for your business. Even when you understand the requirements of data protection laws, operationalizing compliance is a completely different challenge. 

At Kenway, we help organizations get a clear view of their data ecosystem so they can properly identify and protect sensitive data, maintain practices needed for compliance, and report to regulators with confidence. We help you develop a strategic plan for compliance that incorporates data governance, data management, and business processes designed to empower your teams to handle information properly and avoid risks. 

Contact our experts to make compliance less complicated. 


Data Privacy Laws: FAQs

How long after a data privacy law is enacted does my company have to become compliant?

The amount of time you have to become compliant depends on the effective date defined by the data privacy law. For example, the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) was signed into law on July 7, 2021 with a July 1, 2023 effective date. Therefore, organizations covered under the law were given roughly two years to put compliance measures in place. 

What teams in my organization need to be involved with ensuring compliance with new data privacy law(s)?

The team involved in ensuring compliance should come from several departments throughout the company:

How do I know if a data privacy law impacts my company’s practices? How can I ensure my company remains compliant, despite all the changes to these laws and new privacy regulations being implemented?

Assign someone in your legal organization with the task of keeping up with the data privacy regulations. Alternatively, you can engage an external legal advisor who understands your business and the data privacy landscape.

How much should my company budget for to meet new compliance regulations? 

The budget needed to meet data compliance regulations is dependent on the number of technical assets a company has in its ecosystem and the maturity of an organization's data management structure. If you have a complete understanding of data lineage, implementation can be as little as six months. A large organization that is lower on the maturity curve should plan for an 18-month implementation. 

What are the 7 principles of GDPR?

GDPR was developed with the following principles:

  1. Lawfulness, fairness and transparency 
  2. Purpose limitation
  3. Data minimization
  4. Accuracy
  5. Storage limitation
  6. Integrity and confidentiality
  7. Accountability

What acts are covered by the Data Privacy Act?

Because there is no single overarching federal legislation in the U.S. dedicated to data privacy, the proposed American Data Privacy Protection Act (ADPPA) may overlap with or override some current regulations. Depending on the language in the final passage of the bill, it may override existing privacy laws like the CCPA. It also may overlap with portions of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).

What are the key CPRA requirements for January 2023?

Some of the most notable aspects of the CPRA that go into effect in January 2023 include:

 

Principles of Enterprise Program Leadership: A Healthcare Tech Transformation Story

“The more that you read, the more things you’ll know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

That’s a quote from our old friend Dr. Seuss. It’s from his book I Can Read with My Eyes Shut! and is meant to encourage kids to stay curious and never stop learning.

But the great thing about Dr. Seuss is that although his books are intended for the younger generation, his philosophies are still relevant messages for adults as well. We shouldn’t stop gathering knowledge at any age.

At Kenway Consulting, we put a strong emphasis on continuous learning and we pick up pearls of wisdom from our colleagues, leaders, and clients. In this ever-changing world there is always something new to learn about different industries, capabilities, and ourselves. This gained knowledge drives our experience and hones our skills so we can best solve our clients’ business challenges.

Kenway recently worked with a healthcare technology company, and this multifaceted project provided key insights on enterprise program leadership, Technology Solution Delivery and Information Insight. Over a series of blog posts, we’ll be sharing the key takeaways from this project that we garnered along the way. We hope that by sharing, the more you’ll learn too, and well, as Dr. Seuss says, “If you keep your eyes open enough, oh, the stuff you will learn!”

Removing barriers to healthcare

The healthcare patient engagement company partners with the nation’s leading health insurance companies and supports them by growing health plan members’ engagement with the products and services available to them, thereby reducing average healthcare costs, improving quality measures, and increasing overall health outcomes.

The company aims to remove barriers to care, especially for vulnerable communities, by guiding health plans’ members on their wellness journeys as they navigate a complex U.S. healthcare system. 

In early 2021, the young, venture-backed company was embarking on a journey of re-platforming its engagement product and scaling its user base on the new platform as quickly as possible. Given the complexity of the platform and the speed at which the initiative needed to take place, the company turned to Kenway for its expert skillsets and capacity. 

Delivering personalized member experiences

The healthcare company curates insight-driven, personalized member experiences through culturally and linguistically aligned member attributes and preferences. The company’s flagship product is a unique two-way communications platform that is powered by cultural insights. Through a mix of automation and human intervention, the platform is used to communicate with millions of health plan members nationwide through more than 25 languages via SMS, email, phone call, and direct mail, giving it the distinct ability to engage a vast array of culturally diverse populations trying to navigate the complex healthcare system. 

Kenway’s client had been using a home-grown, legacy platform that was no longer capable of meeting the company’s needs as it scaled. It was inefficient, costly to maintain, and required manual efforts to perform basic, repeatable activities such as preparing reports. The client needed an improved, automated platform that would scale with it as it grew. 

Salesforce was the recommended solution to replace much of the current state functionality and provide an extensible platform for essential business processes. Salesforce allows the client to conduct outreach with members in their preferred languages which is an important part of building trust and improving overall engagement.

The outreach to members takes place through a series of multimodal touchpoints that comprise “pathways.” Each pathway has a unique objective such as helping a member schedule an annual wellness visit or gathering feedback from a member about a visit. Based on members’ responses to the communications, they are guided through a curated journey, like in the example below. 

Healthcare Digital Transformation

Developing enterprise program leadership solutions

One of Kenway’s client capabilities is Enterprise Program Leadership, a collection of services that enable companies to remain competitive and positioned as transformational leaders in their industries. Through this capability, Kenway helps companies orchestrate large, multi-project initiatives that align with current and future business objectives. 

Having an infrastructure that aligns IT investments with business strategies, coupled with the ability to execute on investments efficiently, is a must for organizations seeking to implement critical initiatives effectively and improve their competitive positioning. Kenway addresses the challenges that come with transformational initiatives through a customized approach that combines skills, processes, and data governance. 

For the healthcare company, Kenway aimed to develop and implement a Salesforce solution that would enable the firm to guide health plan members seamlessly and effectively through curated wellness journeys, all while ensuring the platform was extensible, scalable, and capable of generating insights through its vast amounts of data. 

There were many lessons related to Enterprise Program Leadership that were learned throughout the process by both Kenway and the client. Here are three of them:

1. ENTERPRISE PROGRAM MANAGEMENT: Addressing scope creep and shifting timelines

The healthcare company dramatically accelerated the project timeline by committing to contracts with its health plan partners before the Salesforce platform was built. The client made multiple changes and additions to the established scope of work to meet the shifting timeline, which resulted in the need to balance the priorities against the levers to pull.

Kenway reassessed the project drivers and timelines to determine how to best accomplish the significant amount of work in a short amount of time. Rather than reducing the scope of work, Kenway’s recommendation was to add more capacity leveraging resources from both the client and Kenway.

Accelerating a project completion date without changing the scope or resources results in a high-speed and high-stress environment. If scope or resource changes are needed, then weigh the changes against the benefits of the change and the alignment to the program objectives. When adding scope, evaluate the levers of extending timelines, increasing team size, or both, and deprioritize other scope items.

healthcare project drivers

2. IT GOVERNANCE: Doing due diligence upfront on the current state

Prior to engaging Kenway, the healthcare company identified three third-party application vendors to incorporate into the Salesforce platform. The client hired the vendors directly without a thorough review of their abilities to satisfy long-term requirements. For example, the SMS vendor could not provide the multiple languages and carrier codes needed to administer member outreach. 

When issues were unearthed with the preselected vendors, Kenway recommended conducting diligent, but light, vendor assessments to quickly pivot. Kenway assessed vendors by validating requirements, identifying vendors, conducting demos, reviewing technical documentation, and conducting fit-gap analyses. Kenway determined that the third-party applications were problematic – especially in a highly regulated industry with strict legal compliance requirements.

The order of operations is essential when bringing on third-party vendors to a project. First, document your business and technical requirements and then seek out vendors that best match your needs. Thoroughly vet vendors by sharing your requirements, attending product demonstrations, obtaining references, and closely evaluating documentation and capabilities. Never assume that an assessment has already been made in order to avoid the impact of risks and costs in the long term.

3. CHANGE MANAGEMENT SOLUTION DELIVERY: Ensuring the right involvement and communication to lessen the impact of change

The healthcare company struggled with the roll-out of the new Salesforce platform for a significant period of time due to the lack of product and technical leadership to define, clarify, and communicate the product’s vision to internal teams. As such, there were many differing opinions about how the product should be used in the long-term, leading to uncertainty, confusion, and churn among team members. 

Companies tend to think of change management as an afterthought and rush to educate and train teams prior to a product launch. This strategy is a recipe for failure and the principles of change management must be consistently communicated throughout the development process. The Kenway team was flexible and adaptable and conveyed updates and progress with internal demos to show the product’s capabilities, solicit feedback, and build upon progress toward an increasingly defined direction. 

Rarely does a final product look the same at the end as it did at the beginning. Projects change, and those ebbs and flows need to be managed during the entire time. By applying the fundamentals of change management, you can educate teams throughout the process and articulate when a project driver may be shifting. By showcasing progress and pivoting along the way, Kenway ensured accountability and communication were adhered to, resulting in a successful rollout for its client.

A customized approach for program management delivery 

At Kenway Consulting, we address your key challenges that come with undertaking transformational initiatives related to Enterprise Program Leadership. We deliver business results through our unique, customized approach that combines effective skills, processes, and governance. Connect with us to learn how we can enable you to drive organization-wide transformational change.

3 Reasons to Hire a Business Technology Consultant

Did you know that 70% of all major business transformations fail?

It’s a bold statistic, but an Oxford University study says the reasoning is simple. Most projects are ‘over budget, over time and under benefit, over and over again.’

Investing in new business technology, while a necessary part of doing business, is no easy (or cheap) transformation. It requires strategy, data-driven decision-making, and most importantly, cultural adoption. 

And not having a clear vision of your ‘big picture’ before embarking on a digital transformation journey can lead to some serious issues.

This is where having a business technology consultant becomes invaluable in terms of ensuring digital transformation success.

Table of Contents

  1. What is Business Consulting?
  2. 3 Benefits of Having a Business Consultant
  3. Tips for Hiring the Right Business Consulting 
  4. Getting Started With a Business Consultant 

What is Business Consulting?

Business technology consultants offer a variety of services that contribute to the overall success of a company, from developing and implementing data governance strategies to creating a future-proof enterprise program to ensure company-wide success.

You may be wondering, what types of services do business technology consultants offer? ‘Business consulting’ can be quite a broad term when defining the types of services a firm may offer. It’s time to take the ambiguity out of the term and streamline the meaning. Here are the three key services Kenway Consulting provides its clients’ for success: 

1. Technology Solution Delivery

Selecting the right technology for your organization is just the first step— once a solution has made it through the key stakeholder’s approval process, many companies lack a clear roadmap for what’s next. 

To navigate this transition period, Kenway Consulting offers Technology Solution Delivery services to provide organizations with an end-to-end solution for the entire digital transformation. From IT strategy and architecture to implementation, our team designs and delivers a customized approach to ensure transformation success. 

Technology Solution Delivery includes services such as:

2. Enterprise Program Leadership

Digital transformation can only be successful if it's fully implemented into all aspects of the infrastructure and culture of your organization. But the top two barriers to digital transformation are employee pushback and lack of expertise to lead digitization initiatives. The reasons these two issues occur typically stem from the following oversights:

After being in the business strategy consulting world for nearly two decades, we’ve found that providing our clients with effective skills, processes, and governance services is key to driving organization-wide transformational change. When creating a successful strategy for digital transformation, services that should be sought after include:

3. Information Insight 

Optimally leveraging your data is a key component of any digital transformation. This is where our Information Insight services come into play. Kenway’s Information Insight capabilities help business leaders to leverage data to reduce costs, identify new opportunities and make data-driven decisions moving forward. We offer three business consulting services to make this possible:

3 Benefits of Having a Technology Business Consultant 

Spending on the necessary technologies and services for successful digital transformation is expected to reach $22.3 trillion by 2023. No doubt, it's a large, profound investment—one that's best not to step into blindly. Hiring a business technology consultant can ensure your technology implementation efforts are streamlined, customized, and deployed in a timely manner. Here are the four key benefits of working with a business consultant:

1. Customized Solutions

The right business consulting firm won’t walk into your business with a one-size-fits-all approach. Rather, they will spend time getting to the heart of your enterprise. They will get to know your IT objectives, your workflows, and your people before suggesting any kind of architecture plans. Because of this in-depth, hands-on approach, they may find gaps in your current digital transformation journey that, if not detected sooner, may have led to failure, saving your organization a whole lot of time, money, and headache.

2. Help Drive Organizational Adoption

One McKinsey study found that nearly 70 percent of organizations say their top teams changed during their transformation journey. This is because implementing the right technology for your organization is just the first step—ensuring your teams adopt and embrace that technology is a whole other challenge in itself. The right business strategy consultant will understand this and help your organization’s leaders successfully navigate change by:

3. Making Your Data Work For You

Lastly, a business consultant won’t just help you deploy and embrace the technology and then walk away. They will also train your organization’s leaders to leverage your data in ways that drive them to make revenue-impacting decisions. They do this by:

Putting these solutions in place allows you to future-proof your organization as your leaders will be able to use data to reduce costs, identify new opportunities, forecast the best and worst-case scenarios, and make high-level data-driven decisions for the enterprise.

The benefits that come with hiring a business consultant to pay for themselves. From crafting customized tech and governed solutions aligned with your business strategies and IT objectives to help you future proof your enterprise with Business Intelligence (BI) & analysis tools, hiring a professional will equip you with the strategies necessary for digital transformation success.

 

Tips for Hiring a Business Consultant 

When it comes to business technology consultants, there are tons of fish in the sea. How do you select the best possible partner to ensure success for your organization? Here are some of our top tips. 

1. Be Prepared For Anything 

Hiring a consultant means allowing a fresh pair of eyes to see each aspect of your organization from its leadership and its processes to its technology and data organization. It’s important to be prepared to take in some constructive feedback in all areas of your enterprise. 

It’s also important to understand that your original plan may have to change in order to successfully achieve your desired outcomes. Sometimes this entails organizational restructuring, change management, new technology deployment, and delayed projects. Go into your business consulting relationship understanding that ‘change’ may not look exactly how your leadership team envisioned. Our best advice? Prepare for the unexpected.

2. Ensure the Consultant is a Cultural Fit 

When hiring a business consulting firm, you should consider the practice to be an extension of your team. This means they need to align with your organization culturally both from a solution level and from a values level. 

Here at Kenway, we allow our guiding principles to guide our interactions with our consultants, clients, recruits, and those with whom we engage. Bucketed into six categories, our principles focus on the following themes:

          1. Treat each individual with respect

          2. Integrity

          3. Means over outcomes

          4. Communication

          5. Entrepreneurial spirit & tenacity

          6. Value & quality

Getting Started With a Business Consultant 

At Kenway, our objective as business consultants is to guide and help your organization on its journey to digital transformation. Kenway has the experts needed to deploy end-to-end implementation from strategy to execution and ensure your business thrives. But above all, integrity, honesty, and communication among other guiding principles guide our team members to deliver the best solutions possible for your organization. 

Contact us today to see how we can help you on your digital transformation journey.

Tips and Tricks for Successful Change Management

2020 has brought with it an onslaught of change. Between January and now, the standard day-to-day has been turned upside down. But as uncomfortable and challenging as change can be, it is an inevitable and important piece of any organization.  

This year has also been a key reminder of how critical it is for organizations to understand how to quickly adapt to changeThe switch to remote work, for example, happened almost overnight. If companies failed to swiftly respond and provide employees with the resources they needed to succeed at home, they risked stalling operations or placing individuals in an unsafe work environment. Similarly, the economic downturn has caused many organizations to make drastic changes, including layoffs, reduced executive pay, or benefit reductions to keep their doors open.  

But despite all the upheaval, this year has also been a good reminder of how wonderful change can be for innovation and growth. On the positive side of the new remote work environment, the change has caused some organizations to rethink office life for good. The ability to continue business completely online may allow for more flexible work arrangements in the future, a decreased need for office space, and the ability to hire talent from different areas of the world.  

Change, though critical, is never easy. The most important part of any change initiative is to focus on the people; employee adoption is critical for long-term success. A good change management strategy is tailored to the unique needs and culture of a specific organization – it is not a one size fits all approach.  

Following are a few tips and tricks that can help you and your organization prepare for any change the world throws your way.  

1. Start with the “Why”  

Effective change management is all about gaining employee buy in and motivating an organization to move from Point A to Point B. When kicking off a change initiative, lead with a compelling Why. Ask yourself, “Why are we changing and why are we changing now?  

Often times, organizations are great at explaining what the change will entail and how to go about making the change, but fail to explain why a change is taking place. In the context of remote work, for example, the What is simple – employees will be working from home offices. However, the Why – working from home will keep employees safe and healthy – elicits an emotional response that is much easier to buy into. The concept of safety creates a strong purpose that helps motivate employees to quickly and effectively make the change to remote work. 

In Simon Sinek’s popular TED Talk, "How Great Leaders Inspire Action,” he explains that the Why helps create a response that connects people to the purpose of an organization or initiative. If everyone in an organization has a clear understanding of the purpose of the change, it is easier to inspire action. 

 2. Communicate Early and Often 

In order to create meaningful and lasting change, it is critical that employees are never left in the dark. In any organizational change, clear and consistent communication ensures that employees understand what the change will entail, how to prepare for the change, and when the change will take place. Infrequent or incomplete communication can lead to a lack of clarity, feelings of distrust, and an opportunity for information to be misinterpreted or speculation to occur. 

In an ideal world, communication would begin with enough advance notice before the kickoff to provide employees adequate time to prepare for the initiative. However, in some cases, advance communication is not an available luxury. In scenarios that require a quick response time, communicate as early as you possibly can, even if it entails letting employees know more information will be coming shortly. 

Additionally, a good communication plan disperses messaging through multiple channels (i.e., email, meetings, through managers, etc.). This ensures that the message has been heard by all employees and is reinforced through frequent reminders. If the change is top of mind for employees, you increase the likelihood that people will avoid old habits. 

Lastly, while it is important to communicate with high frequency, understand when enough is enough. Change can be confusing and overwhelming, and not every minute detail needs to be shared. Take time to understand what information will dilute the key message and then leave it out – overcommunicating can be a downfall in change management. 

 3. Set Expectations – Change is Hard!  

When introducing a new change initiative, it is important to be honest about what the process will entail. Set the stage for what employees should now expect on a day-to-day basis. If the change will be difficult, its okay to communicate that the process will be long. Highlight the resources, procedures and training collateral that can be leveraged to make the change attainable. Spend time focusing on the benefits of the change once it is successfully completed.  

In order for an initiative to work, it is important to set expectations and provide the path for success. Change is more likely to succeed if you can create a mentality that, no matter what, We’re all in it together.  

 4. Acknowledge Employee Efforts 

Even a small-scale change requires effort from employees to alter a behavior or process. This is often an added burden on their day-to-day work and can be extremely taxing. It is critical to acknowledge the effort that employees are making – employees who feel valued for their efforts are more likely to be motivated to keep trying.   

If an employee is succeeding, let them know. Thank them for their efforts and encourage them to keep going. This will help reinforce positive behavior and let the employee know they are on the right track. If an individual is failing to adopt the change, spend time to understand why before disciplining them. It is very likely there is an element of the change they do not understand or one with which they need more support. Paying close attention to all employee efforts – good or bad – can help drive forward the right behaviors and improve adoption.  

Need help implementing large-scale change? Kenway has the tools and expertise to help you and your organization achieve your goals and drive employee adoption. Let’s chat! Reach out to us at [email protected].   

 

Change Management in a Business as NEW Usual World

During these times of uncertainty, companies are finding themselves going through an abundance of change. Businesses are facing disruptions to their supply chains, consumer demand is shifting or being reduced, and workforces are adapting to remote work. These challenges can easily pause Business as Usual (BAU). But do they have to?

At Kenway, we believe a comprehensive Change Management plan and approach to any of these disruptions can help businesses continue their operations through Business as NEW Usual. Let’s analyze how organizations can confront these disruptions to the workforce, and successfully continue in a Business as NEW Usual mode.

Workforce Change

In a normal environment, companies take months to plan large-scale change initiatives – they analyze the impacts to their teams, they survey, they define the best approach, etc. With COVID-19, all of this has flipped on its head. Companies don’t have the time they are used to; they have had to move whether they were ready for it or not. The rapidly changing pandemic has forced them to fully integrate a digitized workforce, and so they needed to define their Business as New Usual world fast.

This change is a complicated one for many businesses because remote working requires certain technologies, including virtual communication, collaboration and instant messaging tools. Processes must be considered and amended to capture this change in environment. Most importantly, people must be considered as well. This switch to remote working will not be the same for everyone. Some may find it productive while others may struggle with web conferencing or managing distractions from their kids throughout the day.

At Kenway, we approach Change Management by integrating people, process and technology to ensure that large-scale transformations deliver value by placing end-user adoption at the forefront.

People

Remote working has the largest impact on people. Employees are now required to navigate their jobs from the comfort (or distractions) of their own home. It’s important to understand that this experience will not be the same for everyone. The following factors are essential considerations to effectively implement this change:

Process

An important consideration regarding the shift to remote working is the impact to business processes. It’s likely that BAU processes need to be amended or revamped to reduce employee confusion and ensure the organization is ready for Business as NEW Usual. A key consideration when amending business processes is the likelihood that remote working will exist in some fashion in the future. Taking this into account as these processes are being redefined will avoid continuous updates moving forward.

Onboarding new employees is a process that is best served in person. COVID-19 has forced many companies to conduct this process remotely. When shifting to remote onboarding, we recommend a few critical updates to process:

  1. Provide a checklist of essential remote work equipment (e.g. computer, office supplies, computer monitor, etc.) and clearly communicate which items are covered by the employer.
  2. Schedule tutorials and trainings on the firm’s communication and collaboration tools (e.g. Teams, Zoom, etc.) early in the onboarding cycle.
  3. Plan virtual Zoom lunches, happy hours, or casual meetings with other colleagues to ensure the new employee feels welcome and part of the team.

Technology

Video conferencing is the new norm for meetings, and will likely continue to be for the near and distant future. This large-scale change can be challenging, especially given the lack of time to properly plan ahead. To ensure adoption, it’s important to prepare for resistance and ensure impacted parties clearly understand the vision and benefits of the change.

Resistance can take on many forms: fear of the unknown, unclear benefits, impact to current job and responsibilities, etc. In order to manage resistance, it’s important to proactively prepare and assess likely areas and resources that might oppose change, apply the drivers for change to weaken or eliminate the resistance, and routinely request feedback to ensure issues and concerns are addressed. As it relates to a new technology, creating open lines of communication are critical to receiving honest feedback about the tool, and ultimately ensuring the tool is effectively solving the business problem. Employees should feel comfortable expressing their opinions or ideas about the tool through these open channels, especially if the tool isn’t working, because new technology is only as effective as the people using it.

Effectively managing resistance allows companies to focus on adoption. One critical component to ensuring adoption of a new technology is to clearly articulate the benefits of the change to the end user (i.e., answer the question, “What’s in it for me?”). A benefit of a video conferencing tool allows for virtual collaboration and discussions with fellow employees without the need for an office or conference room. In the world of remote working, this type of tool is extremely valuable and necessary for employees to continue effectively communicating with each other. Reinforcing these benefits through various mediums of communication will help feed user adoption.

How Kenway Can Help

Is your organization going through disruptions to BAU or struggling to implement a large-scale change across the business? If so, Kenway can help you with a transformational Change Management approach that drives employee adoption. Reach out to us at [email protected] and let us know how we can help.