This is the story of the reorganization of new product development division in side Schneider, Electric Industrial Solution. The employees were unhappy with the organization, the team were struggling and the organization was not fit to purpose.
The context
Schneider Electric is a global company that specializes in energy management and automation solutions. The company operates in various sectors such as building automation, data centers, renewable energy, and more. Its mission is to support its customers to manage their energy and processes in a sustainable way, while providing innovative solutions to enhance their productivity and efficiency.
Inside Schneider Electric Industry, the IoT Division has the mission to bring new connected solutions and services to the company's current offering, specifically looking at industrial clients.
This team of about 70 people includes engineers, quality insurance, product managers, designers, and field experts.
The division has grown from a regroupment of multiple projects to a single entity. They are operating projects based on internal requests, but also exploring new technology and ideas for current and new customers.
To organise this IoT Division, the managed tried to use agile methods based on the SaFE framework but without success.
Now, the team members are frustrated as product development takes to long, the time to market is slow and work is not efficient.
At the end of the day, this impact the customers both internal and external.
The head of the division asked Froward do an audit of the root causes of the issues and propose a new organization, roles and processes for the team.
What happened
We started with an open workshop with all the key players of the division.
Using innovation games technique unearth the pain points, the frustration, the consequences of those frustration. We mapped the value chain of the organisation and started to narrow down the issues.
This initial map of issues allowed to explore deeper the root causes.
We interviewed about 20 peoples to better understand those problems. Once we heard everyone, we had a good idea of what could be improved and where.
Working with the VP of the Division and human resources, we proposed a new organisation.
This new organisation covered functional and managerial organisation. Who does what and who reports to who. It detailed the revised role and responsibilities and rewrote some of the key process. A new gouvernance and decision making process allowed faster decision making.
Those kinds of transformation, or not to be taken lightly. They require changing habits at the individual level, but also the system level. We established a transition plan to move from the current organisation to the new organisation.
The outcome
This new organisation allows us to reduce friction in the team and deliver better solutions for our customers. --Aurelien Lesant - VP Internet Of Things
This audit and consultation lead to the redefinition of the top management roles and function in the Division. As a result, the team is able to better serve the business and respond to internal requests.
This new organisation allowed the employees to better understand their function, Brought clarity on their role. The can now focus on doing great work.
As a result the customers are taking back the centre stage of the conversations. This is allowed to reduce the time to market.
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