Sustain the Team & Product

During this phase, the team and product are healthy enough that the focused attention of the Lab Operations team is directed to the broader organization to support sustainment.

Pre-conditions

The beta product has been released to people using the service.
The roadmap indicates a diminishing backlog of features to refine as the product moves into a “Live” and continuously improving state.

What Success Looks Like in this phase

The organization now has a high functioning Agile Delivery Team that is appropriately resourced with internal talent.
The product is meeting user and stakeholder expectations and can be brought to the Minister’s awareness.
The Executive Sponsors and Alliance team and governance are communicating honestly about what the team has achieved.

Adopt Continuous Product Improvement

Continuous product improvement is a critical aspect of product management. We are shifting away from approaches where service products are built and procured as though they are final (i.e. a project with a fixed scope), or do not need to adapt to evolving user needs.

The BC Public Service is improving policies and processes related to funding and organization design to support the adoption of continuous improvement for products.

As best we can, we work with various parts of home Ministries to get them to a state where they can support and sustain a team and their product. This includes:

IM/IT agencies (known as information management or systems branches)
Project Management Offices
Corporate Service Shops
Strategic human resources
Program/business area leadership teams (managers and directors)

Over the last few years, the Lab team has learned how critical it is to bring these and other parts of the organizations along on the learning journey (we haven’t succeeded at this every time). While specialists in privacy, security, architecture, human resource management, finance and project management might not have the benefit of deep learning the product team has, they must have opportunities to see how these teams operate and what they need.

Build a Portfolio

Depending on the size and scope of program, there will likely be a variety of product to build and continuously improve.

A high performing team is a significant investment with excellent return on investment. Lab Operations will often prioritize onboarding teams that have a broader suite of products to build in the program, to maximize this investment.

Senior Executive should have a vision for the scope of service improvements the team could address in the long term. They should work with their counterparts to identify these opportunities as part of a longer term roadmap. They may also start a process of program redesign, which may include a Treasury Board submission.

Contribute Beyond Your Organization

While most programs have plenty of service improvement to work on, priorities across government may present a team an opportunity to work beyond the scope of their program.

This was the only way the Province was able to respond so quickly and effectively to COVID-19 digital service needs. In particular, the Natural Resource Sector, Citizens’ Services, Emergency Management BC and the Ministry of Health shared contracted and staff teams to turn new products around in days to weeks.

The Exchange Lab, through the OCIO, works with senior executive to support these opportunities. We can demonstrate precedent that has been set, and share insights on how to navigate agreements between organizations.

LabOps Resources

During this phase the Lab Operations team is actively handing off support to the home organization. Ideally, key functions in the home organization prepared for this work prior to this phase. The team is also celebrated with a final “graduation ceremony” and story telling through the Exchange Lab’s engagement channels.