How to be a turnaround champion (and get everyone high-fiving)

Meet Emily Outten, a project manager at DHL Supply Chain, whose spectacular efforts to bring a drinks distribution centre into the new decade is cause for celebration

No one likes being told how to do their job. So, when Emily Outten was asked to walk into DHL’s main distribution hub in Surrey to tell more than 200 workers that they needed to change, well, pretty much everything, she might have felt a touch nervous.

“I shook my head and thought, ‘What on earth have I got myself into here?’” recalls Outten. The plant was in Salfords, Surrey. It supplies the pubs of London and Kent with kegs of beer, wine and spirits for clients such as Carlsberg, Greene King and Molson Coors. Frankly, without Salfords, the bars would run dry. It is as vital as broadband to the capital.

But Salfords needed to improve. “The issue is that the way we drink has changed,” explains Outten. “These days, pubs stock dozens of types of gin, vodka and craft ales. The old method of sending a few kegs of beer is over. There are lots of individual bottles for the stock-pickers to find and pack. It means far more work for the production line. Salfords needed to adapt and change to this new world.”

Fortunately, Outten was born for a mission like this. “I absolutely love change management,” she says. “It’s my favourite part of being a project manager.” Spoiler: she transformed the plant and got the entire workforce behind the new regime. She was also shortlisted for the APM Young Project Professional of the Year Award for her work. So, how did she do it?

Talk to the people, stupid

“The first thing we did was talk to the people who work there,” she says. “We held a town hall meeting and asked, ‘Where are things going wrong?’ and ‘How can we improve things?’ We got an incredible list of ideas, from changing the sequence of aisles people walk down to complaints about the toilets.”

She went deeper. “We did focus groups. We asked them their opinion on the site, and what it’s like to work at Salfords. We engaged them for hours and listened to everything they said.” Then she went deeper still: “If you really want to know what people think, you can’t just ask them in a formal setting. You need to go onto the shop floor and hear what people say around the coffee machine. Go into the canteen and just listen.” Outten introduced a visible metric to measure the emotional state of the workers. “We put a board out front with happy, medium and sad faces. People could tick one as they went by. It’s a very simple but powerful way to track how people feel during a change management project.”

Roll up your sleeves

Next, she rolled up her sleeves and volunteered to work at the plant. “The only way to really understand a business is to work in it,” she says. “Every warehouse has its quirks. You gain respect from the guys and learn the nuances. There’s no other way.”

By the end of this process, Outten and her team of 10 experts had a list of 228 improvements. “Some were small, like sorting out overflowing bins by ordering more frequent collections. Others were major, like creating a handover sequence for when the shifts change. Previously, the new shift manager came in and just had to guess where the last one ended. It was a mess. Horrible!”

The site was remodelled, with the yard streamlined so vehicles took a more efficient circular route. But as the changes kicked in, the staff felt the pressure of constant change. “Our happy, medium and sad faces went from medium at first, as people didn’t know what was happening, to quite a few red unhappy faces, as people questioned the plan. But by the end nearly everyone was on a green happy face!”

Ramp up communication

The secret? “Communication. Always communicate. At a time like this, rumours can spread like crazy. People thought maybe we were there to shut them down. We went from weekly briefings to daily ones. And you can’t tell people something sensitive in an email. It may be misconstrued or leave questions hanging. I made sure that when I needed to explain something I did it face to face. They can see the whites of my eyes. It’s the only way to build trust.”

At the end of the project, victory was declared. “Of the 228 items on my list, all but 15 were completed. And they were minor things we can revisit in the future. Before, we were struggling to meet our KPIs. After, we hit them all.”

For Outten, this sort of challenge is why she loves project management. She fell into the profession after graduating with a first-class degree in business from Coventry University. “When I first joined the DHL graduate scheme, I wanted to do operations,” she recalls. “I thought project management was boring! I quickly found out I was wrong. Operations is repetitive, but project management takes you everywhere. I got the bug.”

The Salfords job is her highlight so far. “I remember we had to ask people to work later shifts. Not easy. But we talked to everyone, heard their views, explained the logic and got them on board. When we went live there were people high-fiving. That’s when you know you’ve succeeded.”

Emily’s top five tips for ambitious project managers

1 Communicate directly

The number-one thing in change management isn’t deciding whether change will happen. It’s helping people realise it’s inevitable and then getting them through it. Communication is king. You need a clear and consistent message – you can’t have two managers saying different things. We held daily briefings in person, and this stopped any news feeling like a big shock. You’ll know if you aren’t getting it right, as the rumour mill will go into action. Then you’ve got a problem.

2 Pay attention to morale

It’s important to understand how people are feeling and how your plans will affect them. I am a fan of the happy, medium and sad face method of gauging moods, as it’s quick, cheap and easy for everyone to understand. It can be used to track morale throughout a change project. For deeper understanding, the only way to know is to take time to ask people how they are feeling. Get to the root causes. Ask them in person on the shop floor or in the canteen. You won’t get that information by just listening to managers in meetings.

3 Keep learning

Ongoing education is vital. I benefit from having a wonderful mentor called Jane Cosgrove. She’s a great sounding board and someone I can go to whenever I have a problem. I also challenge myself to learn from other project managers. I’ll go and speak to them and often ask if I can sit in on their meetings. This approach means you are always learning from a wide variety of people. And I’m taking my APM Project Management Qualification. Formal education matters too!

4 Work on the shop floor

Whatever industry you’re in, the best way to get an understanding of day-to-day operations is to volunteer for a shift or two. I started my career as a shift manager, so I already had some understanding of how DHL’s operations work. But every facility is different. On each new assignment, it’s vital that you show willingness and do at least a day on the shop floor. You’ll earn respect by doing that.

5 Wind down!

A key aspect to being a great project manager, and something that is often overlooked by young project managers as we push ourselves, is that we need down time. Otherwise, you’ll overload on stress. I read and go on walks. I’m a classically trained opera singer and a member of the Royal Opera House’s Community Choir. We meet on Mondays in Thurrock, Essex, for rehearsals.

Emily Outten

EDUCATION:

Coventry University, BA Hons business administration and management, first class

EARLY WORK:

Shift manager, DHL; implementation manager for a project at Gatwick Airport

CURRENT ROLE:

Project manager, DHL Supply Chain UK

HOBBIES:

Singing with the Royal Opera House’s Community Choir

This article is brought to you from , which is free for APM members.