Improved events process at Blood Cancer UK
Charities
Resulte & ROI
- A standardised process that has reduced the number of process steps from 56 (average) to 31
- 67% reduction in failure demand calls into the Supporter Relations Team
The client
Blood Cancer UK is a charity dedicated to funding research into all blood cancers, and offers information and support to those affected. The charity had conducted an organisational diagnostic, from which the Event Management process was identified as a priority for improvement. Blood Cancer UK had no dedicated Event Management team – events were separately managed by the Corporate, Regional, Research, Special and Sports teams. In addition, the charity provided some support for third party events, although these were not directly organised by Blood Cancer UK.
The challenge
Blood Cancer UK events appeared to achieve relatively successful outcomes, with funds being raised and increased support for the cause. However, the approach to managing events internally was very ad hoc, with considerable variation across different event processes. This was mainly due to each team having their own way of working and documentation. This often created confusion over what needed to be done and when, leaving little organisational resilience during periods of staff turnover. The challenge was therefore, to introduce a standardised process and suite of materials for managing events that could be followed by anyone, regardless of the team they were from.
The approach
The scope was defined with the project sponsor and key stakeholders, and a project team were brought together representing all the different teams organising events. Through value-stream mapping workshops, the project team created one standardised process for all teams to follow, with a bespoke version of the same process available for specific events (where more unique activities were required). Both versions of the process could be implemented in the short-medium term. To implement the new process, a 58-item action plan was agreed and produced. Implementation activities included designing standard materials for the initial briefing, event evaluation and feedback. A set of effective success measures was established to understand performance, and monitor the impact of the changes as they were made.
The benefits
In addition to reducing variation, confusion and staff time spent on managing events, the benefits identified from implementing the new process included:
- New standardised set of process documentation created for all teams to use (including Concept Form, Briefing Templates and Event Plan)
- A Service Level Agreement (SLA) for lead times to other teams leading to better resource allocation
- An evaluation template and set of feedback forms providing improved learning
- A master events calendar produced for all events creating increased visibility for planning
- A central location to save all event-related documents
“Working with Ad Esse on the events Lean management review has been one of our biggest reviews within the business and has enabled us to take a much greater holistic approach on how to design and develop a process which worked across a number of teams and Directorates.
Ad Esse challenged us as an organisation to think differently about our ways of working but always staying true to having the best outcomes for those affected by blood cancer at the heart of all business decisions we make.”
Siobhan Handley, Deputy Director of Public Fundraising & Individual Giving