Overview
A national emergency management agency was preparing for a major reorganisation while also transitioning to a newly developed IT platform. The work touched HR, equipment, finance, accounts and IT infrastructure, and required closer collaboration with other agencies in a wider defence organisation.
emagine helped bring structure to a highly complex programme with a fixed deadline. By clarifying roles, improving governance and creating new ways for teams to work together, the organisation completed the transition on time and with stronger cross-agency alignment.
The Challenge
The organisation faced a dual challenge: complete a major organisational transition and move to a newly developed IT platform at the same time.
The reorganisation was designed to strengthen collaboration across a wider defence organisation. To make that happen, roles, authorisations and tasks had to be redistributed across HR, equipment, economy, accounts and IT infrastructure. Each area brought its own processes, stakeholders and dependencies. That made the transition both operationally complex and organisationally sensitive.
The organisation also had to prepare for a hard go-live deadline for the new platform. There was little room for delay, even though the work required coordination across several agencies and disciplines at once. This increased the pressure on governance, decision-making and stakeholder management.
Another challenge was the way work had historically been organised. Existing meeting forums were not designed for this level of cross-agency collaboration, and many established ways of working were deeply embedded. That made it harder to create transparency, resolve issues quickly and keep all parties aligned around the same priorities.
To succeed, the organisation needed a delivery structure that could handle complexity without creating more of it. It needed clearer ownership, better coordination and a practical way to bring different functions together around shared goals.
Key jobs to be done:
- Cross-agency transition covering HR, equipment, finance, accounts and IT infrastructure
- Fixed go-live deadline for a newly developed IT platform
- Multiple agencies and stakeholder groups with shared dependencies
- Limited tradition for structured cross-agency collaboration in the existing setup
The Solution
emagine helped the organisation create a stronger delivery structure around the transition. The focus was practical from the start: improve governance, make decision-making clearer and introduce ways of working that supported collaboration across agencies.
Phase 1: Strengthening governance and project structure
The first step was to enhance and structure the project organisation so it matched the scale and complexity of the task. emagine helped clarify roles, authorisations and decision rights across the participating agencies. This created a stronger governance model and made it easier for stakeholders to understand who was responsible for what, where decisions should be made and how issues should be escalated.
This work reduced ambiguity at a critical stage of the programme and gave the organisation a more stable foundation for delivery.
Phase 2: Replacing legacy forums with cross-disciplinary coordination
Some of the existing meeting structures were slowing progress rather than supporting it. emagine helped remove ineffective legacy forums and introduced new cross-disciplinary forums designed for structured collaboration.
These forums made it easier to coordinate across agencies, surface dependencies earlier and align around shared deliverables. Instead of working in parallel with limited visibility, teams had clearer routes for communication and decision-making.
Phase 3: Improving planning transparency inside the organisation
To support day-to-day coordination, emagine introduced internal whiteboard meetings based on Scrum and Lean Six Sigma principles. These sessions created better visibility of progress, dependencies and upcoming actions.
The approach improved planning transparency without adding unnecessary process. It gave teams a more practical way to track work, manage handovers and keep momentum in a high-pressure environment.
Phase 4: Supporting stakeholders and leadership throughout the transition
emagine also acted as a sparring partner for central stakeholders and the executive leadership team. This helped maintain managerial alignment throughout the programme and ensured key decisions could be discussed with the right level of challenge and support.
The overall approach was based on proven project management practices, but calibrated to fit the organisation’s reality. Rather than imposing a rigid external model, emagine built on what already worked and strengthened it where needed.
Transformation timeline
Phase 1
Strengthening governance and project structure
Phase 2
Replacing legacy forums with cross-disciplinary coordination
Phase 3
Improving planning transparency inside the organisation
Phase 4
Supporting stakeholders and leadership throughout the transition
The Results
Platform went live on time
The transition was completed by the hard deadline, despite the complexity of the cross-agency dependencies and the scale of organisational change happening in parallel.
Collaboration became more effective
New meeting structures and clearer role definitions improved coordination across agencies and functions, making it easier to manage interdependencies and keep work moving.
Shared clarity and transparency
Teams and leaders developed a more common understanding of critical deliverables, priorities and risks. This improved transparency in management and supported better decision-making.
More sustainable ways of working
Scrum- and Lean Six Sigma-inspired working methods helped create a more structured approach to planning and governance that could continue beyond the migration itself.