Collaboration is a scorching matter for organisations throughout the Life, Pensions and Funding (LP&I) trade. Outlined because the “scenario of two or extra individuals working collectively to create or obtain the identical thing1”, new collaborative approaches are redefining how staff talk with one another and work collectively, how LP&I corporations work together and co-innovate with suppliers and ecosystem companions and work together with advisers and finish purchasers to enhance the experiences they supply.
Collaborative initiatives
Exterior of our sector particularly, initiatives vary from collaborative healthcare and collaborative policing to new enterprise collaboration instruments that assist digital communication, mission administration software program for cross-geography groups and design thinking-based collaborative working practices. Briefly, we’re all dwelling and dealing in an more and more collaborative world.
However what about collaboration in additional conventional LP&I enterprise processes, may it work? And wouldn't it be useful? The reply to each questions seems to be sure.
Sourcing is a main instance. Though it’s nonetheless comparatively early days, the usage of ‘innovation partnerships’ within the public sector is a superb instance of what might be achieved2. These allow authorities to create versatile frameworks inside which a number of new options might be researched, prototyped and deployed as a part of a single procurement course of.
On the earth of consulting, I’m very aware of the procurement course of. The trusty RfP (Request for Proposal) – the bidding course of the place an organization, all in favour of procuring a service, requests potential suppliers to submit enterprise proposals – is a key a part of this job. The RfP can also be a ‘bread and butter’ course of throughout the LP&I trade, with corporations continuously leveraging RfPs to acquire new services, starting from full blown new platforms by to discrete providers to plug into their evolving ecosystems.
Responding to RfPs might be a particularly difficult course of. Rigidly structured questionnaires usually make it obscure what the LP&I firm actually needs. Meaning the provider is left asking “what basic enterprise subject is the LP&I enterprise trying to remedy?”, “what did the corporate imply by that query?”, and “may my agency suggest an alternate service which will ship larger worth?”
As a result of the RfP is often a standardized, one-size-fits-all course of, bidders usually lack the perception into the consumer that they should tailor an efficient response to all or any of those questions. Meaning making a tricky judgement name: play it secure and reply with what the possible consumer seems to need or suggest the answer you suppose finest meets their wants (and run the chance of being means astray).
Both means, this makes issues troublesome for the bidder. And it additionally means the LP&I firm doesn’t at all times find yourself with the provider best-suited to supply the options they want. Issues don’t should be this manner, nevertheless.
A collaborative strategy to the RfP
In refreshing distinction to old-school RfPs, we’ve not too long ago been supporting an LP&I consumer by a collaborative RfP course of. The corporate launched an early-stage RfP and the eventual shortlist of distributors labored with them to collaboratively outline the ultimate RfP questions – all of that earlier than the RfP was formally issued.
In fact, there was a degree of give and take. The varied events concerned all wanted to commit a good period of time: the collaborative course of concerned a collection of workshops between the corporate and potential suppliers to deep-dive into the enterprise problem from totally different enterprise useful views.
The general consensus? It was time properly spent. The LP&I firm that issued the RfP was in a position to adapt its requests primarily based on main finest apply from throughout the provider trade. It additionally obtained invaluable insights into every vendor’s working fashion, tradition and innovation mindset.
From a provider perspective, the ‘data vacuum’ was eliminated. Suppliers had an opportunity to road-test urge for food for various options to the proposal. Crucially too, it additionally gave every of them the chance to guage whether or not the corporate provided the partnership qualities they regarded for in a brand new consumer.
That’s an enormous plus. With the development in the direction of strategic, long-term relationships, moderately than transactional engagements, each side need to be as positive as they are often (as early as attainable) that there’s robust compatibility between the contracting organisations.
The method demonstrated that the LP&I trade, which continuously will get a nasty repute for missing innovation, has been in a position to lead the broader Monetary Providers pack in proving progressive collaboration works, even in probably the most conventional enterprise course of areas.
Count on to see extra collaborative sourcing to any extent further. ‘Request for Accomplice’ processes are being developed on a regular basis. Latest stories level to the refinement of methodologies for advanced and/or strategic engagements, with the College of Tennessee amongst these publishing approaches to drive momentum on this space3.
It’s time we stopped proscribing how we do enterprise by sticking to “the normal methods of doing issues” inside LP&I. We all know collaboration works, let’s come collectively to make it occur.
[1] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/collaboration
[2] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/enterprise/advance-series-event/procuring-innovation/
[3] https://www.forbes.com/websites/katevitasek/2018/06/26/collaborative-bidding-its-not-an-oxymoron/#586d48652e7d
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