What happens when 40,000 people go through change with barely a ripple in support calls? That’s just one of the stories we explored in our first online reflection session of 2025 for the Digital & Operational Excellence network.
This was the first reflection session for 2025 and with anything new there was some nervousness. But it turns out we had a fantastic session. Great engagement and discussions across a diverse number of topics. Some highlights:
Based on previous sessions one organisation has started to look at AI and Co-Pilot and intelligent chatbots for over 4,000 end users. Another looking at Power Apps / Power Automate to empower stakeholders to make small but powerful changes. Great to see real impact coming out of these sessions.
AI & Skills Debate on creativity and capability – will using these tools de-skill us, now or in the future? There’s also the risk of unintended consequences. One member shared their recent cyber-attack experience, where they were fortunate to replicate digital workers with people. Could we all do that? This underlined the point that digital isn’t just about 24/7 mission-critical operations, but also investment in cyber defence and recovery.
Human Centricity was another hot topic, and one I’ll be speaking about next week in another forum. Its that joint engagement and human focus that resulted in success when implementing a change impacting 40,000 with minimal impact.
We heard a powerful story of cross-functional collaboration. Establishing shared values and common principles helped overcome the gap between IT and operational staff. The key shift was from tools and problem-solving to finding common ground with shared understanding to create those shared principles.
Managing Change. Issues will always pop up, but it’s vital not to let them dominate the narrative – bring successes back onto the agenda. Change doesn’t stop; it evolves, moves forward, and sometimes jumps back at you. Having a committed team behind you makes all the difference – Remember – Your team is your Superpower.
Product Ownership came up. The question of who owns end-to-end services and how do we drive continuous improvement? We ran out of time on this one, but it’s certainly a theme we will be revisiting.
It wasn’t all great news. Some organisations still feel change is something “done to them,” which undermines opportunities for shared vision, connection and ultimately progress.
We had a timely reminder from one participant. These sessions not only provide practical value, but also show that “we are not alone.” We can learn from each other’s experiences, good and bad.
Overall, it was a session packed with insight, honesty, and real-world learning. Thanks to everyone for sharing – I look forward to the conference in November.
Jose Moya, Innovation & Optimisation Director, Shared Services Connected Limited & SSF UK Digital & Operational Excellence Network Leader
