The Importance of Quick Wins

by Daniel Nguyen

Managing the collective expectations of a large organization going through change can be a difficult task. Similar to individuals who face the unfamiliar, organizations experience varying degrees of resistance and acceptance as they progress through a consulting engagement. To get ahead of and better manage the negative effects of organizational resistance, Trindent employs the use of “Quick Wins” to build momentum by addressing small, easy-to-fix and, often times, obvious issues within an organization. By executing recommendations in an organization within the first few weeks of a project, Trindent does three things: 1) builds confidence among Senior Leadership, 2) Gains trust staff and 3) establishes a tempo for the remainder of the project.

The identification and implementation of Quick Wins is an effective technique to garner the support of Senior Leadership. If completed correctly, it establishes rapport early on with Leadership that helps improve the probability of support for larger, more complex recommendations. Further to that, confidence from Senior Leadership often trickles down to lower levels of the organization which is key to the success of the project.

Quick Wins also assist in gaining the trust of front-line staff who see first-hand the impact of business changes. An engagement can be quickly derailed when clients are resistant and closed-off to recommendations. By engaging staff at the onset, consulting teams can get ahead of this and build positive relationships early on. The elimination of redundant tasks or unnecessary checks for example are an easy fix that make a positive change in the day-to-day life of employees and can change perceptions around consulting teams.

Finally, Quick Wins implementation in the first few weeks of an engagement can establish and maintain a high sense of urgency in the organization that reflects the effectiveness of the consulting team as well as Trindent’s reputation to “make it happen”.