Background
Forsmark had a problem. The demand for electricity was surging while keeping the power plant safe and operational meant Forsmark needed to renew or renovate systems that have been running for 40+ years.
The challenge
To address this, a number of important projects had been initiated, but traction on them was low. At the same time Forsmark was experiencing senior skill bottlenecks. There was a need to build competence quickly as many senior engineers were closing in on their retirement.
The approach
The solution was to shift to a Team based organization. Starting in one area in Nuclear engineering Forsmark shifted from a project organization to a team based one. That meant forming self driving teams of 5-10p, each with it’s own mission. The change started with a pilot team, which after evaluation was expanded inside Nuclear construction in two waves..
In parallel with the above shift, Forsmark initiated a Portfolio review using Kanban. This helped align on the status of projects across the portfolio and keeping focus. It was also helpful in surfactant and resolve blockings (impeding flow) that existed across projects.
The transformation challenge is a challenge in itself. Here Forsmark took a unique approach, Leaders were trained in change leadership and how to lead the system/environment using Active Agile Leadership. The transformation challenge was then given to this group. Snowdrop’s role at this phase was to take a Train the Trainer (TTT) and coaching role.
That bet has now paid off. Forsmark now has built in skills in it’s organization to continuously improve it. It has a group of transformative leaders who are spearheading new improvements across functional borders.
The effect
Thee effects have been materialized:
- Engagement improved across the board.
- Speed has increased. Teams are faster and also able to complete more requests per time unit. And they take on one more complex task at the same time.
- Members help each other out across the area of expertise. We are step by step becoming more cross-functional. This improves our resilience, we can today better handle variation in workload, plus it also improves the teams’ sense of pride – they can take responsibility for and complete more complex tasks.
Customer testimonial
“The transformation wouldn’t been possible without the guidance and support from Snowdrop. It’s been a journey and we now clearly see positive result in higher efficiency and increased engagement in our teams.”
– Tobias, Head Of Electrical Engineering