Use the guidebook to establish the current and desired state of practice for each assessed Area, Section, and Element of the framework. This will provide a clear picture of where there are gaps in current practice, exposing opportunities for potential improvement.
The TAM Data Assistant simplifies the summary of assessment outcomes by automatically generating charts from the detailed assessment data. These results can generate new insights for the assessment team, and they foster broader engagement beyond those involved in the initial assessment process. Use the materials to iteratively refine the assessment details and generate more meaningful results and improvement priorities.
After candidate improvements are identified, the next step is to evaluate them, understand effort versus likely payoff, and anticipate implementation challenges. This evaluation step is important for setting priorities and developing a comprehensive improvement strategy. An iterative approach to improvement evaluation is recommended, redefining the improvements after they have been evaluated.
Each improvement should be evaluated within the context of other selected improvements, allowing the relative impact, effort, and priority of each improvement to be established (as High, Medium, or Low) with respect to the other identified options. Improvement-specific challenges can also be identified for consideration during strategy development.
- Impact is characterized by the extent to which new or existing practices will transform TAM related business practices.
- Effort is characterized by the level of resources and staff time required and the extent to which those can be incorporated into the responsibilities and budgets of existing business units.
- Priority is established on the basis of when that improvement would be targeted for implementation, ranging from immediate action to being recognized for future, unplanned action
- Challenges can be categorized as into distinct categories of Time, Resource, Expertise, Coordination, Change, or Other.
Clear, concise communication of current practices, the desired state, key performance gaps, and priority improvements are essential to securing support for implementation. The assessment facilitator, project sponsor, and other key team members should all be involved in development of executive communication materials.
Recommendations for effective executive communication include:
- Present the assessment focus and context emphasizing the motivation, desired value in selecting the focus, and the cross-functional nature of the assessment team.
- Communicate current and desired state quickly demonstrating where performance is low, where it is high, and where improvement is most necessary. Provide practical examples of impacts that low performance is having on current TAM business.
- Share a clear set of implementation priorities that address gaps in current practices. Emphasize these are the agreed upon priorities of the cross-functional team.
- Acknowledge challenges that will be faced and outline organizational practices and real-world case studies that will support successful implementation.
At this stage of the process, you will have a list of candidate improvements to close gaps between where you are now and where you want to be.
The next important step is to evaluate these candidate improvements. The purpose of the evaluation is to set priorities and build an understanding of the likely implementation challenges you will face.
The result of this step is a summary of the gaps to be closed, and the recommended improvements for closing them. These materials can be used to make a case for resourcing improvements.