Inframark.

I have worked in water and wastewater field operations for over 25 years now. Nine of those years were for cities and the remainder for private companies in the water utility industry. I have managed large and small transitions, from single facilities to large master-planned communities. The transition is a critical time for the incoming client and the vendor. With any new project having a formal transition plan will set you and your company up for success.

Too often projects are sold without involving the Operations team in the process. During the selling phase needs are communicated from the potential client, a description of services offered by the prospective company, and promises are made, all too often. Operations aren’t brought in until the project is won and ready to commence.

Many companies don’t have formal transition plans. This can lead to a fragmented and disorganized transition which will inevitably result in important items being missed and ultimately disappointment from your new client. It is imperative to have a written transition plan and a solid transition team to ensure the needs of the client are met and promises made do not become promises broken.

Putting together a team

Some companies will bring consultants in for large transitions, while others unplug staff from their current roles to focus on the transition of a large client, and some assign transitional duties on top of employees’ current responsibilities. Identifying which method is right for your company’s situation and the client's needs will depend on the size and scope of the transition as well as the bandwidth level of your current team. I typically prefer bringing the experts of the business together. These are the people that are working for you now. They already know your culture and processes and will drive that into your new project. This team should primarily be made up and led by the Operations group because, after all, it’s going to be Operations’ project to run and be successful with.

It is also imperative that all support departments are included as early as possible. It’s the simple things that will make your life hard if not handled correctly at the beginning of a project. Notifying HR of a large potential contract win, many employees and any other data can ensure that paychecks go out on time, benefits information is provided timely to new employees, as well as any potential meetings between new employees and HR can be set up.

“Change control and communication of changes must be communicated frequently and the transition team must hold each other accountable to ensure that communications are sent.”

The same goes for IT, client billing, financial business partners, environmental health and safety, and the various other support departments that Operations is going to need to function day to day.

“But I have a full plate and I don’t have time to write a plan for something that isn’t hot right now!”I understand this point. It is tough dealing with all the fires that come our way as leaders to even think about undertaking this task that isn’t a current issue but trust me this is worth it, and it will make your life easier and more importantly will ensure success with your new client. Your new transition plan doesn’t have to be drafted, edited, and adopted in one meeting.

OK, Mark, we’ve set up our meeting where do we start?

For me, I will always go back to my list of most important things: Our employees and the client. If we take care of those two things, we will always be okay. Operations do not have to write the entire playbook. This will be a culmination of all parties in your company! As the leader of your Operations group, you get to ask all the support departments the same question: When we have a new client, what are the steps that you need to take to ensure that our employees get paid, receive important communication, get benefits, transfer of service time, etc? Use your resources! The steps are the same for the other departments.

The Client

If Operations wasn’t involved during the courting process of this new client, then now is the time to have some meetings with those folks to find out what conversations were had, what promises have been made, what issues the client currently has, and what got the last vendor fired. You need to understand what’s hot for the client right now. Do they have customer billing that you’re now responsible for that goes out 10 days after the effective date of your new contract? Is there environmental compliance reporting that’s due within a week of your new contract? These are questions you need to know before the commencement date. Again, dropping the ball at the beginning of the contract is hard to overcome.

Change Management

There will be a lot of changes occurring and, unfortunately, all at one time during a transition process. The hardest part of most projects is change management. If you’re having transition meetings, there should be an agenda item for change management. It’s very frustrating when there is a lack of communication from the transition team to the folks on the ground and the affected support departments. Change control and communication of changes must be communicated frequently and the transition team must hold each other accountable to ensure that communications are sent. It is better to over-communicate change versus under-communicate to ensure no one is left out and that the entire organization is up to speed.

The transition tasks should be in a tracker so the team members can identify action items in the transition plan. This provides a place for them to update their projects and tasks as they are completed or in progress. It is important to identify transition tasks, who’s responsible, and when they are due. Without due dates, tasks are less likely to be completed timely.

Steering Committee

Business unit leaders should be heavily invested in the new transition, even the small ones. Leaders will not only provide oversight, but we should also monitor transitions as they progress. Leadership should attend routine meetings for the transition. This keeps us up to speed if timelines begin to slip or before minor issues become major issues. If nothing else, the transition team will know that the project is important and will feel supported.

Landing a new client is an exciting time, not only for the company but for the client. Promises are made at the stage of the interview as well as setting up the contract. The transition is a key time to ensure that a new project is set up correctly and that no balls are dropped during the beginning of the relationship. It shows that you can manage a project no matter how small or large and have the ability to stay organized. Bungling a transition will not only leave a bad taste in the client's mouth in the initial stages of your relationship but also put the client on guard with your performance which may lead to questioning everything you do for them. This is not how you want to start that relationship.

I hope this has been a helpful overview of my experience with transitions. If you have any questions or need a bit of advice, Im always happy to help a fellow operations professional. I can be reached at msteelmanjr@icloud.com.