What do Departments and Agencies get out of using it?

The BTEP Toolkit provides a way to manage the complexity of change tailored to the realities of the public sector.

Nothing about what governments do is simple. Whenever governments pursue changing the way they do business, there are a multitude of competing interests and pressures to manage, and needs that must continue to be met. Added pressure comes from the fact that few departments or agencies have the luxury of shutting down operations and laying-off workers while they “re-tool the plant.” Most of the services governments provide are essential. So, they have to plan and implement transformation even as they continue to provide day-to-day service.

This gets even more complicated when the way services are provided in the “as is” state is program or department centric, while the new delivery paradigm reflects a “to be” state that is client or citizen-centric. This means that program managers have to change the way they think, from basically running their business their way, to a “board of directors” model, which requires more collaboration and networking. If new ways of doing business require collaboration, it stands to reason that the way those new business processes are designed should be collaborative too.

The full extent of the benefits for departments and agencies that use the BTEP Toolkit depends on how many of the tools they use, for what purpose and for what types of projects. There are tools that can assist every change initiative. However, all collaborative projects would need to use the Governments of Canada Strategic Reference Models (GSRM) to realize benefits because this is the basis of the “common language” which is the Toolkit’s most valuable feature.

Some of the major advantages of using the tools include:

• Successful and productive collaboration across distinct organizations and cultures that have clients in common for whom they are seeking ways to improve service;
• Models, visions, strategies, designs, plans and business cases for change based on rigorous analysis in which decision-makers can be confident all issues have been thoroughly explored and addressed;
• A basis for rational, “iterative” progress in transformation and disciplined project management, so decisions can be made and consequences understood at key milestones, before funds are expended or resources deployed on projects;
• Sufficient detail to engage stakeholders and ensure accurate, complete and timely communications about change, who will be affected and the impacts;
• Clearly delineated roles and responsibilities for service providers leading to specific and clear accountabilities for service delivery and improvement;
• Enhanced capacity to measure service costs leading to more accurate business cases to realize a return on investment from service transformation projects;
• Enhanced performance measurement and reporting from establishing direct, measurable links between transformation, service improvements for client groups, strategic outcomes from government programs, and the societal goals of governments;
• Going forward, the ability to “re-use” and adapt solutions developed previously for similar types of transformations, saving time and money; and,
• Stronger skills and capabilities within governments to plan, design, and execute transformation.