Early in 2003 the UK Home Office was facing challenges unprecedented in its history
“I came looking for answers. Silly me! I actually found the way to find answers”
“Very enjoyable course – a pleasure to attend”
“Brought new insight and lots of new ideas”
“Dramatically illustrated the difference between a project with clear objectives and one with less clear objectives”
Home Office SROs
A highly ambitious legislative programme dealing with diverse issues such as terrorism, immigration, crime, and identity cards, was accompanied by damaging publicity from a number of high-profile IT failures. The department urgently needed to improve its delivery capability, a key component of which was at a senior level in programme leadership
Academy was asked to create a series of events aimed at improving senior civil servants’ understanding of the priorities in leading major change programmes. With the help of our associates at Pentacle the Virtual Business School and the Centre for Management and Policy Studies, a five-module development programme was devised, combining learning with practical application to current Home Office change programmes. During the first year, 66 SROs (senior responsible owners) completed the course, including five members of the Home Office Board.
The results of the course were dramatic: an independent assessment after six months found that:
- SROs have a clear understanding of their role, and the critical minimum effort required to deliver the required results
- SROs have greater clarity of the vision and context of their programmes, their impact, and the key risks
- SROs improve their engagement with key stakeholders, particularly at senior levels, and with external departments and agencies
- SROs understand the context of their programmes, and are able to adapt them to changes in the environment
- programmes which have lost their relevance are stopped
- SROs are better informed with more timely and relevant information
- decision-making is more effectively delegated through the programme team
An informal benefit mentioned by many participants has been the value of spending time with members of their peer group – to share experiences, exchange ideas, and in many cases discover new solutions.
Other government departments have since invested in the programme, and it will shortly be recommended by the Office of Government Commerce as one of the most recommended programmes of training in programme leadership across government.
