Skip to content
Tiatra, LLCTiatra, LLC
Tiatra, LLC
Information Technology Solutions for Washington, DC Government Agencies
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Services
    • IT Engineering and Support
    • Software Development
    • Information Assurance and Testing
    • Project and Program Management
  • Clients & Partners
  • Careers
  • News
  • Contact
 
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Services
    • IT Engineering and Support
    • Software Development
    • Information Assurance and Testing
    • Project and Program Management
  • Clients & Partners
  • Careers
  • News
  • Contact

Building a Foundation for VSM Success: Pointers from a Successful Insurance Leader

A lot is being written about VSM, and for good reason: it offers the opportunity for organizations to benefit from increased alignment, accelerated innovation, reduced risk, and improved competitive advantage. In spite of the clear benefits, it remains a struggle for many leaders to feel confident in taking initial steps and knowing exactly where to start. In this regard, it is invaluable to hear from experts who have been doing this work and realizing success.

While each organization’s VSM initiative will be unique, there are nevertheless common principles and lessons that all can benefit from. In our work with global enterprises, we’ve had the opportunity to hear directly from the executives who are leading the VSM initiatives in their organizations, and who are leading the industry in terms of maximizing the benefits of VSM. We recently had the opportunity to chat with a leading VSM expert working in a large insurance firm. Several years ago, this executive helped launch the organization’s VSM initiative. Here are some of the key lessons they’ve learned in terms of breaking ground with VSM:

Start with clear definitions

In today’s business world there’s no shortage of acronyms and buzzwords. Ultimately, for the insurer, VSM has come to involve people from throughout the organization, especially when working with an international mix of stakeholders, executives, and participants. It is vital to start with a clear understanding of VSM so everyone’s grounded in a common understanding of what it is and why it’s important.

Clearly define value. The good news is that any organization that’s been in operation has value streams. It is essential to gain a clear, well understood, and agreed upon definition of the value being delivered. Ultimately, if teams aren’t clear on value, it is inherently a hit-or-miss proposition as to whether that value can be delivered and improved over time. The VSM leader took a purposeful approach in this case. Start with value, then look to back up from there in terms of decisions that enable that value, and how it is delivered.

Leverage data to gain transparency

Teams need to be empowered with data. Without a real-time view of what’s happening, it takes longer to pivot, and longer to deliver value. When you have fundamentals in place, decisions become faster, and you’re more likely to avoid having to make the same decisions repeatedly.

Quality data provides context, and helps teams navigate complexity. Teams have to navigate thousands of micro decisions. If we don’t have quality data, those decisions become bigger, more complex efforts; we then have to stop and gain input from others, etc. With quality data, we can validate decisions and move forward.

Are you constantly asking, “What can be done to inform an action?” See where there are disconnects and blockages in value streams. Focus on removing things that get in the way of making decisions, from tactical to roadmaps.

Data-based dashboards versus PowerPoint slides: Ensure your dashboards are based on real data, not interpretation. Automated dashboards are much less manual effort than aggregating data and building slides, and if you have thousands of people doing manual rollups – it really becomes a massive cost and drain on efficiency.

Be inclusive

For this insurance giant, VSM is very much a team sport; to succeed, many people need to be involved and engaged. Any time someone approaches, it is very useful to share knowledge around what the teams are trying to accomplish with VSM. Invariably, when hearing about the focus on delivering customer value, others get engaged and want to be a part of it.

Ultimately, people from legal, finance and executive leadership, and a range of other areas are part of the delivery of value. On a practical level, bringing in these other teams can be instrumental in avoiding potential roadblocks and speeding up initiatives. It is important to listen to different perspectives and be open to changing your mind.

Don’t be neutral

Value streams already exist – the question is how effectively they are being managed. Staying neutral, or not investing in VSM, means competitors will be getting in front of you. Often, if you put off dealing with VSM, problems don’t necessarily emerge right away. They may start emerging in six to eight months. Therefore, it is essential to take a proactive approach, and get started right away. You have to invest in an umbrella before it starts raining, just like you have to invest in systems, processes, and people. Build trust in those investments before you realize you are facing a catastrophe.

Focus

If focus is everywhere, you will be weak everywhere. We all only have a finite amount of time and resources. If your organization is not clearly focused on value, you will be diluting power that exists in an organization. Focusing on everything can be very detrimental. You’ll fall into a trap of focusing on efficiency, while losing sight of what really matters: whether you are gaining traction in value delivery.

Balance continuous improvement and innovation

Continuous improvement is inherently about improving existing processes, while important drivers are very different for innovation. You must be able to accommodate unstructured creativity, experimentation, etc. to foster innovation, without disrupting other workflows. For example, if you have scrum methodology in agile, you are effectively measuring velocity. Ultimately scrum is about stability, and the ability to predict and forecast productivity. You can’t expect to measure on this type of predictability, while at the same time requiring innovation. It creates conflict. If there’s misalignment and you try to scale, you will only scale misalignment. Before you try to scale value, you need to be certain you are delivering value.

Conclusion

VSM makes success far more likely for your organization. By leveraging clear definitions, real-time data, and using an inclusive approach, teams can ensure benefits of VSM are realized – as proven by this real-life example.

For more information, watch this webinar, Resilience Through Rainstorms – How Unum Weathers Any Storm with VSM.

Collaboration Software


Read More from This Article: Building a Foundation for VSM Success: Pointers from a Successful Insurance Leader
Source: News

Category: NewsAugust 17, 2022
Tags: art

Post navigation

PreviousPrevious post:Global software spending to grow despite headwinds: ForresterNextNext post:Managing the whole lifecycle for human and machine authentication

Related posts

휴먼컨설팅그룹, HR 솔루션 ‘휴넬’ 업그레이드 발표
May 9, 2025
Epicor expands AI offerings, launches new green initiative
May 9, 2025
MS도 합류··· 구글의 A2A 프로토콜, AI 에이전트 분야의 공용어 될까?
May 9, 2025
오픈AI, 아시아 4국에 데이터 레지던시 도입··· 한국 기업 데이터는 한국 서버에 저장
May 9, 2025
SAS supercharges Viya platform with AI agents, copilots, and synthetic data tools
May 8, 2025
IBM aims to set industry standard for enterprise AI with ITBench SaaS launch
May 8, 2025
Recent Posts
  • 휴먼컨설팅그룹, HR 솔루션 ‘휴넬’ 업그레이드 발표
  • Epicor expands AI offerings, launches new green initiative
  • MS도 합류··· 구글의 A2A 프로토콜, AI 에이전트 분야의 공용어 될까?
  • 오픈AI, 아시아 4국에 데이터 레지던시 도입··· 한국 기업 데이터는 한국 서버에 저장
  • SAS supercharges Viya platform with AI agents, copilots, and synthetic data tools
Recent Comments
    Archives
    • May 2025
    • April 2025
    • March 2025
    • February 2025
    • January 2025
    • December 2024
    • November 2024
    • October 2024
    • September 2024
    • August 2024
    • July 2024
    • June 2024
    • May 2024
    • April 2024
    • March 2024
    • February 2024
    • January 2024
    • December 2023
    • November 2023
    • October 2023
    • September 2023
    • August 2023
    • July 2023
    • June 2023
    • May 2023
    • April 2023
    • March 2023
    • February 2023
    • January 2023
    • December 2022
    • November 2022
    • October 2022
    • September 2022
    • August 2022
    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • June 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
    Categories
    • News
    Meta
    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org
    Tiatra LLC.

    Tiatra, LLC, based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, proudly serves federal government agencies, organizations that work with the government and other commercial businesses and organizations. Tiatra specializes in a broad range of information technology (IT) development and management services incorporating solid engineering, attention to client needs, and meeting or exceeding any security parameters required. Our small yet innovative company is structured with a full complement of the necessary technical experts, working with hands-on management, to provide a high level of service and competitive pricing for your systems and engineering requirements.

    Find us on:

    FacebookTwitterLinkedin

    Submitclear

    Tiatra, LLC
    Copyright 2016. All rights reserved.