A Case Study Built for Peak Load
When business-critical programs ramp up, complexity multiplies.
To navigate an intense activity surge tied to major digital continuity initiatives, a core design organization needed structure—and speed.
Over six months, we restructured planning and performance oversight for one of the company’s most strategic capabilities. The mission: bring clarity to the EPICs, 175 business requirements, and a complex multi-actor delivery model—while enabling teams to stay on track, aligned, and focused.
The Challenge
High Ambition, Heavy Workload
As part of a broader Digital transformation, this client was tasked with delivering a high-stakes integrated process at scale.
The issue? The roadmap was ambitious and already showing signs of strain.
- Activity was set to surge in early 2024, with tight interdependencies
- Teams lacked visibility into progress, risks, and roles.
- Reporting systems were fragmented, reactive, and hard to interpret.
- Leadership needed a better way to steer and support execution across the group.
The ask was clear: accelerate delivery while restoring clarity and control.
Our Approach
A Three-Step Framework for Smart Acceleration
To bring both momentum and method, I led the effort using a 3-phase acceleration framework:
1. Assessment
Understanding the system before changing it.
- Conducted in-depth interviews with stakeholders including team leaders, Epic owners, and BR leaders.
- Mapped challenges, expectations, and operational gaps across streams.
- Analyzed patterns and contrasts to distill key insights.
- Shared findings in a collaborative session to align the team on next steps.
2. Improvement
Designing smart solutions with the people who need to use them.
- Facilitated co-design of a streamlined roadmap that reflected true capacity and priority.
- Implemented an improved central follow-up tool—automated and adapted to daily work needs.
- Embedded collaborative routines to help teams monitor progress and stay engaged.
- Used Agile principles (Scrum elements, cadence routines) aligned with the overarching SAFe® structure of the global transformation.
3. Sustainment
Making performance habits stick.
- Defined key metrics across operational, team, and executive levels.
- Built a Looker Studio dashboard for unified visibility—supporting everything from PI planning to risk and dependency management.
- Formalized routines with clear templates, owners, and links to dashboards and reporting.
- Celebrated milestones and baked feedback into continuous refinement.
What We Delivered
A Living System for Steering Complexity
The new operating model wasn’t just a plan—it was a rhythm.
Deliverables Included:
- A central performance tool that auto-synced project data without manual duplication. Modules included:
- Capacity vs. BR tracker
- Implementation workflows
- PI follow-up logs
- Risk-action logs
- KPI overview by sprint
- A Looker Studio dashboard with executive, team-leader, and team-level views.
- Standardized team routines with ready-to-use templates and embedded performance logic.
- Alignment with Agile/SAFe® delivery practices, customized to fit the internal maturity and culture.
The result: a system people trusted—and used.
The Impact
Coordination Without the Chaos
While the initial roadmap risked overwhelming the teams, the new structure gave them tools to lead with confidence.
- Workload peaks became manageable through proactive planning and shared visibility.
- Team leaders reported improved control and less firefighting, with faster access to the right data.
- Executive stakeholders gained confidence through a real-time view of progress, challenges, and impact.
Most importantly, the people closest to the work felt empowered—not buried.
Reflections
High Standards, High Satisfaction
This mission stretched my capabilities—especially in system design and implementation. Creating a scalable, automated tool that had to meet the standards of engineering teams was no small feat.
What I’ll remember most is how tangible the impact felt. I wasn’t just managing a project—I was equipping people to handle pressure, stay aligned, and succeed together.
The satisfaction came not from complexity, but from making complexity simpler.
Meta Description
A high-impact change management case study: How an Aerospace & Defense team accelerated delivery and navigated peak workload through structured project oversight and performance routines.