Service Thinking Guidance Summary

Clear Star Thinking
1

Service Thinking > Guidance

The following are the top level guidance notes for Teams and Organisations that we think reflect a set of good practices.

Each top level note links through to more detailed notes, background material, and further reading.

Context

  1. Values & Principles
    Teams and Organisations should have a set of agreed values and principles that guide the behaviour of everyone working within them.

  2. Leadership
    Teams and Organisations should have a clear model for how they are led – how decisions are made, activities assured, and the people within them supported and enabled.

Definition

  1. Purpose
    Teams and Organisations should have a clear and well understood purpose that defines their scope and responsibilities.

  2. Measures of Success
    Teams and Organisations should have a clear set of enduring measures (KPIs) that are used to measure their performance and success.

Vision & Strategy

  1. Vision
    Teams and Organisations should have a clear vision for how they will deliver against their Purpose and maximise their Measures of Success

  2. Strategy
    Teams and Organisations should have a clear strategy for how they expect to deliver their Vision that evolves over time.

Design

  1. Team Structure
    Teams should have clear view on how they allocate roles & responsibilities across the team.

  2. Organisation Structure
    Organisations should have a clear view on how they delegate their Purpose down to the Teams and sub-Organisations within them

Strategic Planning

  1. Objectives
    Teams and Organisations should have a clear set of short, medium and long-term objectives.

  2. Budget & Headcount
    Teams and Organisations should have a single budget and headcount spanning Change and Run, forecast out into the future, with the ability to flex these within agreed delegated limits as required.

  3. Roadmap
    Teams and Organisations should have a Roadmap that describes how their Objectives are expected to be delivered within their agreed Budget & Headcount.

  4. Review & Setting Cycle
    Teams and Organisations should have a regular rolling process for agreeing their Objectives and the Budget, Headcount and Roadmap to deliver them.

Delivery

  1. Innovation
    Teams and Organisations should have a robust process for identifying the most effective and efficient way of maximising their Measures of Success and delivering their Vision and future Objectives.

  2. Change Delivery
    Teams and Organisations should have a robust process for ensuring that their Objectives are delivered within the required time, cost, and quality envelope.

  3. Run Operations
    Teams and Organisations should have a robust process for ensuring that the performance of their Products and Run activities are maintained.

Other

  1. Transparency
    Teams and Organisations should make all information, metrics and decisions relating to them transparent.

  2. Environment & Culture
    Teams and Organisations should cultivate an environment and culture conducive to high performance.

  3. Continuous Improvement
    Teams and Organisations should measure their performance and continually invest in maintaining and improving it.