Why GPOs Fail

The role of a Global Process Owner is increasing becoming critical to the success of the centre of excellence that form part of key strategic initiatives in most global organizations. However, GPO’s fail to achieve the objectives and I feel there are three primary reasons:

1. Frequently shifting priorities results in diverting scarce resource resulting in fragmented or incomplete outcomes. While the GPO may not be fully responsible for the shifting priorities, but he definitely has a strong say in the defining the initial focus areas. Do not mix these changes with mid-course corrections driven by changes in business or operational reasons. Such changes are necessities and cannot be avoided with the leaders/board firmly behind these decisions. I am talking of scenarios where the GPO makes changes due to incomplete business analysis which is often aggravated by poor stakeholder response. I would recommend dividing the priorities into ‘must do’, ‘long term’ and ‘quick fix’ initiatives.

2. Low on agility will not ensure that GPO’s anticipate probable directional or strategic changes that will help in minimizing loss of resources (both money or otherwise).

3. Inadequate change management is more often than not the prime reason for GPO’s poor performance. I don’t blame the GPO entirely for the issues created by incompetent change management. But if the GPO is unable to gather his crew and ensure the champions are in sync with his strategy and vision, the GPO is bound to suffer from change issues.