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(e.g., designers and product managers) platforms turning paper forms into workers were making submissions.
in house to deliver our big ambition, digital forms, which just replicated the Quickly identified senior
collaboration was our optimal strategy. same safety/risk assessment issues. This stakeholders’ needs, which informed
Together with collaboration partners, concentrated our minds on building our our management dashboard build.
we incubated FYLD as a concept that own total process transformation. Based our training programme and
we then built. The overall project cost A complete rethink using our change management playbook on
was £4.4 million, of which SGN invested components from across these three our findings.
£1.2 million. In return, we have a 10 per early concepts resulted in FYLD:
cent shareholding in the new company. Unexpected findings and outcomes:
I headed up the project team and We wanted to be risk-led with Fieldworkers felt awkward recording
embedded myself in BCGDV’s agile and videos and listening to their own
lean working practices, sharing my our implementation strategy, voice, which had to be addressed in
experience and knowledge of the gas using the lessons learned training to ensure adoption.
industry. through our testing and trials. Managers changed how they
Throughout the project lifecycle, 16 One of the biggest areas to approached their day, often visiting
project streams worked simultaneously sites virtually and planning their day
under three areas: de-risk was around HSE according to what they saw.
1. Product: Building the platform, regulation compliance Adverse conditions impacted the
integration, features and security quality of video recordings (e.g.,
2. Business: Change management, low light, wind) and processes to
stakeholder management, Compiling the business case overcome these were defined.
communications, rollout, training, Knowing the issues that our field VRAs drove a change in culture, going
testing and interview teams face, we then “sized the prize” to from shaming teams for failure to
3. Venture: Legal, investment, estimate the financial impact of solving encouragement based on submissions
financials, go-to-market them. To do so, we used an array of data and best in class videos.
from sources including: Video offered unprecedented
Agile project methodology based Company-wide surveys transparency and visibility about site
on sprints and regular feedback Surveys bespoke to the project team conditions, driving conversations
loops ensured alignment with all on current impact of FYLD inside our organisation and with our
key stakeholders. Any planned Interviews regulatory bodies (e.g., HSE).
development targets were kept on Time and motion studies We used this approach to scale up
track, achieved by ensuring that in- We received 766 responses to our first cohort of testing across a
depth planning and preparation was surveys, undertook 42 interviews, and controlled pilot, an expanded pilot and
conducted ahead of schedule. gathered data across 26 weeks of time a regional launch (50 managers, 100
During a 12-month testing and and motion studies to develop a robust field workers, one region/four depots).
validation process, FYLD was built from view of where FYLD would have an
the ground up through a field-force lens impact from qualitative and quantitative Implementation
to understand and address the real-life perspectives. This was integral in getting Following comprehensive research,
pain points that teams experience daily. buy-in from the Exec and shareholders. testing, trials, and business case
development, I presented to the SGN
Timeline Incubation Exec and shareholders to secure
July 2019: Validation – a robust concept Incubation is BCGDV’s 24-week implementation funding. I was
and investment case process of building and implementing nervous, but I had full confidence
September 2019: SGN Exec approve to a new product (and company) over in the product and team leaders/
proceed with build three phases. The process employs a managers I was representing. Their
October 2019: Incubation kick off – test and learn approach centred on feedback was “the passion and energy
venture, business and product build iterative product development, starting was fantastic and hearing the views
April 2020: Implementation to SGN with one core feature – in our case, site from field operations made it an easy
workforce video risk assessments. decision for us to push forward”.
We planned the FYLD rollout to
Methodology Trials and testing 850 engineers over a four-month
Research Our robust testing process meant we: summer period with 125 trials across
Using ethnographic research, I ensured Validated the video risk assessment other field functions.
we immersed ourselves in the daily (VRA) process and created necessary We wanted to be risk-led with our
lives of the front-line operations to get a policy adjustments. implementation strategy, using the
real feel for their problems. Gathered enough risk assessment lessons learned through our testing
We carried out 37 interviews with front videos from field volunteers to train and trials. One of the biggest areas to
line supervisors up to operations directors our machine learning model to de-risk was around HSE regulation
from other utilities companies in parallel. accurately codify site hazards and compliance. I invited the senior
controls from the video voice-overs. HSE team to discuss our research,
Synthesis of the first three weeks’ Excluded Geo feature [ref train lines, findings and future vision. They were
field research speeds of roads etc., quickly] (good impressed and made a couple of helpful
Shockingly, we found that paper-based in theory, but not suitable for our recommendations, which we adopted.
reporting accounts for 22 per cent operatives) saving effort and time. Our change management approach
of a field worker’s day. We looked at Prioritised a feature to submit photo/ otherwise anticipated key risks across
existing market products but only found video site evidence based on how field people, process and product and

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