Helping ING Bank Introduce a New, More Collaborative Way of Working

The Challenge

In 2019, two COO departments were merged within ING Bank, one of the Netherlands’ leading financial institutions. While the black belt teams within these departments generally performed the same work, their internal work processes were very different from one another, specifically the manner of consultation, the management of the backlog, task management, and (online) collaboration. 
 
The challenge for Eraneos was therefore to introduce a common way of working within the new team and to ensure that it was embraced by all employees.

The approach

We approached this project through a series of meetings that were organized so team members could discuss the benefits of working together as one. Topics discussed included what a new, standard way of working would look like in practice, what the conditions were, and what the team’s position would be within the organization. 
 
In the meantime, of course, normal work continued. In order to implement the improvements systematically, we chose an incremental implementation of various topics. A working group with employees then determined which subjects had priority and should be given priority. 
 
Once a topic from the list was ready, it was shown to the rest of the team during a demo session to gather feedback. It was then implemented within the organization.

The result

The working group redefined four services in the service catalog: process consultancy, process design, process improvement, and process mapping. Thanks to these new definitions, internal ING customers now have a better understanding of what they can ask from the team and what kind of work can be delivered. And for the team itself, it’s clearer what the frameworks of their work are. This makes it a lot clearer what the added value of the team is within the organization. 
 
These new changes have meant that the team now works more collaboratively, making clear agreements about taking on new projects. It has also embraced the meeting structure defined in ING’s agile way of working. This working method offers a lot of room for flexibility, quick switching, and the possibility to give feedback more easily.