As a consulting firm, we are accustomed to working remotely. We want to support you by sharing what we have learned along the way. Our Senior Consultant, Aaron Russell shares his tips on how to communicate effectively with clients, supervisors, and co-workers.
While you are working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an increased need for accurate and effective communication strategies throughout the workforce. We are all developing a level of reliance and trust in this new remote working arrangement. Three main interactions while working from home need to be mastered to build trust. They are the communication you have with clients, co-workers, and supervisors. Communication with clients Clients are what drives a business. When supporting your client while working from home, there are three main ways to deliver a positive message with clear communication.
Some items to think about as you prepare for communicating with a client: 1. Be very clear in the message you are sending. 2. Stick to the message you are trying to communicate. 3. Always communicate what you expect the outcome to be Communication with co-workers Interacting with co-workers inside a work environment feels normal, but it can be a bit more challenging when working from home. Here are two examples where technology can help in that communication.
As a side note, there are multiple project tracker software available such as Projectplace and Asana that can be used to collaborate on project tasks and goals. Anyone, including a client, can access these trackers should you decide to add them, and can be very useful in tracking progress. Communication with a supervisor Communicating with your supervisor, especially from home, is very important. This is where the employee can gain trust and open the possibility of working from home after this health issue is over if that is something you would like to continue. Communication while working from home will also let your supervisor know that you are still producing at a high level and can be depended on even when away from the office. Utilizing all of the above methods is a great way to communicate with your supervisor; copy him or her on emails, ask questions via instant message, and set-up a weekly virtual meeting or phone call to check-in. Do not be afraid to ask if there is anything you can help with and ask for more responsibility. These are things you should be doing anyway but are even more important to communicate when you are working from home. With the shift in workplace office to home office during the COVID-19 pandemic there is an increased need for accurate and effective communication. Whether you return to the workplace or work from home fulltime, the interactions and communication strategies must be mastered to provide effective progress and to build trust. Whether it be with clients, co-workers, or supervisors, you must communicate, communicate, communicate. For other considerations while working from home, please see this article from Kerry Wekelo, the COO at Actualize Consulting: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/your-team-ready-work-from-home-kerry-wekelo/
0 Comments
While treasury departments are typically aware of the advantages of using a treasury management system (TMS), they are often less clear on what is required to achieve the full benefits. In this ebook, you will learn the steps needed to design and plan for a TMS.
Please enjoy Chad Wekelo's new eBook, Best Practices for Designing Your Treasury Management System. Text TMS to 31996 to receive your download or visit http://bit.ly/actualizetms It is an honor to receive the Kyriba Client Success Partner of the Year award. A recent anonymous survey revealed that 100% of our people feel that our clients would rate the service we deliver to them as "excellent" – a testament that our people-first philosophy extends to our clients
THE 4 PILLARS OF SUCCESSFUL SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION PROJECTS
Irving Goldfinger, IT Director, Treasury & Capital Markets My career in the financial services industry has spanned four decades. Throughout this time, I have built a large portion of my knowledge base from managing countless software implementation projects for various parts of the industry - Trading, Treasury, Accounting, Risk, and HR, just to name a few. While the technology, regulations, and landscape of the industry have changed over the years, the four pillars that support all successful projects have not: client satisfaction, software quality, team expertise, and project planning and execution. Each of these pillars can be assessed by the questions I have outlined below. 1. Client Satisfaction: An integral part of satisfaction in professional relationships stems from the defined project expectations and how well your team meets or exceeds them. Begin each project by making sure there is a clear understanding from both your team and your client of requirements, timeline, and resources needed to complete the project. Communication is key to making sure you always satisfy the client’s expectations. An affirmative answer to these questions will usually yield high client satisfaction:
2. Software Quality: Software is constantly being fine-tuned and created for nearly every need imaginable. While technology can be a great tool for automation and ease of use, it is imperative that you educate the client on the capabilities and functionality of each to make sure it best aligns with their wants and needs. Choosing the right software platform is the cornerstone of every successful project. This goes hand in hand with client satisfaction – making sure the implemented software works as expected. The following questions are helpful to determine the right software has been selected:
3. Team Expertise: I’m sure you have heard the phrase, “teamwork makes the dream work.” This cliché rings true in software implementation: large projects and long hours require cooperation, synergy, and a vast skill set. A team is measured not only by the outcome of a project, but by how well they handled challenges along the way. As such, team expertise, dedication, makeup, and chemistry are crucial. To ensure your team has what it takes to effectively tackle any given future project, ask yourself the following questions:
4. Project Planning and Execution: Determining the scope and requirements of a project lays the foundation for the rest of the implementation. Proper planning and precise execution ultimately lead to success and are necessary ingredients for any project. To determine how your plan of action fared and pinpoint a better path for next time, use the following questions to assess:
If you have any questions or are seeking a team of experts to help you implement software at your organization, Actualize Consulting can help. Visit our website at https://www.actualizeconsulting.com/ to see a full list of service offerings. 3 TIPS FOR TREASURY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATIONS
Chad Wekelo, Principal and Owner at Actualize Consulting Treasury is the hub of your organization. With the entire company’s cash movements and financial activity flowing through it, it is the cog that keeps the machine running. It’s no surprise that this area of your firm can be very operationally manually intensive. It’s the reason companies are looking for solutions like treasury management and cash application systems and new technologies such as robotic process automation. These tools can be beneficial in automating certain operational processes, but this is actually where a lot of implementation teams fall short; they strive to automate, but they don’t take the time to plan properly and understand their key objectives at the outset. The reason most people seek out treasury solutions is for cash visibility and liquidity, and for the automation of labor-intensive processes. However, this isn’t the biggest challenge of treasury management – it’s understanding where the information lies and how you can best utilize it to make informed decisions. Given most Treasury professionals are focused on their operational responsibilities, they typically have limited experience implementing treasury systems for their own organizations. Given our primary focus on implementing treasury solutions, Actualize Consulting team members get to know the ins and outs of each software. We’ve done hundreds of implementations, so we’re well versed in the typical problems that accompany a technological project. Because of this, we have a better appreciation of what is required. Here are 3 things to keep in mind when you’re considering implementing treasury technology: 1. Don’t be afraid to over-plan: Having a solid foundation is essential to success, not only in your treasury technology implementation, but also in all aspects of your firm. Treasury technologies can affect areas of your day-to-day operations that you might not expect. Making sure everyone understands the top-to-bottom process and has a vested interest in the project’s success can help ease the transition and minimize potential internal roadblocks throughout the project. 2. Ask your peers: Ask around to see if anyone you know has implemented similar solutions in their organization. See what vendors they used, how their implementation went, and their experience utilizing the new technology to support their operations. Typically, implementations run into similar problems with little variance – learn from others to see what has worked for them and what they would have done differently. 3. Be realistic: Educate yourself on what can and cannot be accomplished by the technologies available in the market. Be mindful of how long treasury solutions take to implement and be prepared for the amount of resources, both money and personnel, that need to be dedicated to the project. The project will not be successful without proper planning and true dedication of resources. Adding implementation responsibilities without removing existing ones is the most common problematic scenario we see – it typically does not lead to a positive result. No matter what your concerns are for your treasury technology needs, it’s nice to have a team and organization with tenured experience. At Actualize Consulting, our highly trained consultants can help you with all your implementation needs whether that’s vendor selection, reporting, or the implementation itself – and more. Our Expertise and Commitment Drive Your Success. Please visit our website at www.actualizeconsulting.com to find out how we can help. These tips and more can be heard on The Treasury Talent Podcast, episode 47 with Simon Lynch at https://treasurytalent.com/treasury-talent-podcast/ HOW TREASURY CAN GET BUY-IN AND BUDGET FROM CFOs
Craig Chapman, Manager at Actualize Consulting explains how can treasury get buy-in from CFOs when it comes to tech investment Overall, one of the mandates from CFOs is to foster a centralized and control-proof source of data for liquidity management, forecasting, payments, cash and financial accounting, funding, investments and risk management. Besides the multiple ways that a Treasury Management System (TMS) can add immediate and recurring value to the CFO and Treasurer, the best “new development” in TMS is the affordability. The value of having a TMS has never been as compelling as it is today. Combined with the SaaS pay-as-you-go subscription model, the ROI for treasury technology is very strong today. But, how do you get the CFO to buy-in and allocate the funds for investing in technology or a TMS? Formulating your future state vision At some level, there is always a vision the client is striving to achieve. You have envisioned the final product, but to get the CFO on board, you must align your vision to their finance transformation goals. Why and how an investment in technology is needed must be backed up with data and detailed information gathering. You must build a strong business case that will gain approval for the necessary budget allocations. To formulate an accurate and documented vision, capturing information through questioning primary stakeholders is critical. One approach is to capture your current state and desired future state once technology has been implemented by business function or process. When defining the future state vision, include all levels of the team in the discussions to improve engagement as well as to understand the underlying reasoning for the decisions made and true deficiencies on the current state. This can also be expanded to capture more technical components such as system administration, integration with other systems, straight-through processing, and system controls. These are the key questions to ask before presenting your future state vision to the approval of CFOs of the proposed project:
The implementation of technology or a TMS provides an organization with many benefits. Aligning the benefits with the CFOs goals is important. They are responsible for proactively managing, implementing improved financial controls, and to ensure effective risk mitigation plans are in place. The introduction of treasury technology is one way to implement such controls, so benefits should follow this theme. While many are familiar with the obvious benefits, sharing the holistic perks that evolve will strengthen your case:
The CFO plays a vital role in influencing their company’s strategy and growth. CFOs need to transform their finance operations to become a better strategic business partner for their organizations. Entering the international market with a Treasury Management System and a growth agenda designed to support the complexity of a global business while leveraging automation is paramount. The TMS implementation plan should show that the technology can evolve to accommodate and expedite the company’s global expansion plans. By enhancing your global treasury functions, you also gain the ability to:
Reduction in Bank Fees: Bank Fee Analysis and reduction of transactions Achieve optimal long-term structure International remote capability A final business case should be submitted for approval and should include a cost-benefit analysis. The business case should include all the factors discussed previously: Current State and Future State Vision, TMS Benefits and the ability to support a global growth strategy, and the cost-benefit analysis. A comprehensive approach is needed on many levels to gain the support of CFOs. Gaining support will eliminate unnecessary stress and energize all phases of your implementation. Continued communication and collaboration help navigate and smooth any bumps along the road of reaching your end goal. The goal is for technology to be an integral part of your Finance departments current and future expansion goals. As your company evolves, so should your technology. HOW MUCH LONGER WILL BANKS HAVE THE MONOPOLY ON TREASURY SERVICES?
Lionel Taylor at Trade Advisory Network and Warrick Carey Manager at Actualize Consulting share their views. Lionel Taylor Co-Founder at Trade Advisory Network: There is much debate around the threats that banks are facing with the advent of fintech and the disruption this will cause to their businesses. There is no doubt that the aftermath of the global financial crisis damaged the reputation of the banking world and led to a period of introspection, coupled with increased regulatory resilience measures. As a result, banks must hold more capital to cover the perceived risks of their activities as a requirement. In the meantime, fintechs were able to exploit the weaknesses in the banking system with the promise that new technologies would transform the provision of banking services, whether or not the banks were ready to play. In the last few years, banks have repositioned themselves, with some deciding to focus activity on specific countries, product areas, or the servicing of particular customer segments. Much of this has affected their provision of services to the SME market rather than the major and global corporate companies. Banks have also begun to embrace the world of fintech by adopting the new technologies, and joining transformation programmes to change some of the paper driven and commoditised services into digitised and streamlined processes. However, there is much evidence to show that fintechs and other companies that provide complimentary services to banks, or hold and manage mass amounts of data, are nibbling around the edges of what was once the preserve of the banks. For example, foreign exchange services, payments, and cash management are becoming readily available through non-bank service providers. Open banking and the increased availability of real-time data have created further opportunities and competition, and with treasurers being more attuned to the efficiency gains that can be achieved through these new service providers, further growth is expected. While the non-bank sector can claim to be more flexible and innovative, they do not have the history and long-standing relationships that banks and corporate companies maintain. Banks have more experience and knowledge of the treasury support required by corporates and so remain their trusted partner, despite not being able to deliver services as efficiently as some of the new players. Banks cannot rest on their laurels. As fintechs gain more experience and traction, there are now more receptive treasurers who are open to learning about their advancements and offerings. In the meantime, banks are reacting through increased collaboration with the fintech world, and, for some banking services, maintain the risk appetite and balance sheet that cannot be matched by a fintech or non-bank player. Therefore, it is my view that while the banks will not have a future monopoly on treasury services, they will retain a dominant position in the servicing of the major corporate sector. Warrick Carey, Manager, Treasury & Capital Markets at Actualize Consulting: If one were to cast their mind back ten years ago, from a corporate treasurer’s perspective, all financial services required to effect cash and risk management were largely enabled through the offerings of their organisation’s banking partners. For a long time, banks enjoyed a dominating monopoly on treasury services offered to corporates. This was before the financial crisis. When it came time for the surviving banks to dust themselves off and pick up the pieces, their focus was on getting their core operations back up and running, and attention to technological progress and advancement was relegated to the back of the queue. It was at that point that the mantle of innovation in IT and financial services was taken up by financial technology firms (fintechs) who were able to develop new products with the pace and agility that banks were unable to replicate. It was the fintechs who first championed and encouraged the use of application programming interfaces (API) in banking and finance. An API is a set of functions, communication protocols, and procedures that enable the communication between two applications or systems and facilitate the exchange of data rapidly and at a reduced cost allowing for increased operational efficiencies. These relatively new advances in technology, coupled with recent changes in banking regulations, have altered the industry landscape quite significantly and in favour of the fintechs who, up until recently, weren’t able to compete effectively with the banks without the equivalent means of product and services distribution. In March 2015, HM Treasury announced in its Budget Report that the UK government was keen to drive increased competition in the banking market to enable banks, alternative providers of financial services, and fintechs to be able to compete on even terms in winning new and retaining existing customers. Fast forward to today and the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) throughout the EU as well as in the UK via the Competition and Markets Authority mandated roll out of the Open Banking Standards has lowered the drawbridge on customer data held by the banks and enabled the fintechs and other enterprising third parties to harness APIs that could potentially, in the very near future, benefit treasurers immensely. APIs work at much faster speeds than batch processing or host-to-host bank connections, and as a result a corporate can obtain real-time views of their cash. They could utilise an API to go out to all their banking partners, collecting the latest view of their transactions and balances, thereby enhancing their cash management and reporting abilities, all from one platform developed by a fintech. This is instead of needing to go through individual banking portals or waiting for prior day or intraday statements to be pulled in. Instant payment capabilities have also come about through the use of APIs offered by fintechs with benefits, including instant feedback on payment status and notifications of successful submission or errors. These are just a few examples of the possibilities that fintechs are developing, leveraging the open playing field. Banks have not ignored this fact and have started building out their data strategy to include collaborations with fintechs and increasingly leverage APIs to not lose market share or the customer experience. But one thing is for certain: the current situation is vastly different and large banks may not hold the upper hand in the treasury services arena for too much longer unless they can begin to evolve as quickly as their more agile fintech competition. TECHNOLOGY HEALTH CHECKS: WHY, WHAT, AND HOW THEY ARE ESSENTIAL TO YOUR ORGANIZATION Priscila Nagalli, our Director of Treasury and Capital Markets, discusses the benefits of Health Checks, and how Actualize helps organizations identify and implement industry best practice enhancements. Why Just as you go to a doctor for an annual physical, it is important to do the same for all areas of your organization - including your processes and technology landscape. This is especially true if the implementation occurred several years ago or there has been significant turnover in your client’s Treasury department. Client requirements, personnel, and system capabilities are constantly changing, making a periodic assessment necessary to ensure the ultimate value is being obtained from the system. This will also help identify any potential issues that may arise and further enhance processes. What Actualize Consulting will review and assess Treasury processes, usage of a product, user proficiency with the tool, and overall operational effectiveness. How 1. Actualize will conduct initial scoping calls and then provide questionnaire customized to each organization’s situation. The goal is to collect information to educate the team on the environment to maximize the value obtained during an onsite visit. 2. Using a pre-defined checklist, Actualize will conduct onsite interviews and perform a walk-through of treasury operational activities. 3. The data will be compiled and Actualize will confirm open questions with the client, and prepare peer benchmarking assessments, ranking them against industry peers. 4. A best practice recommendation document will be assembled which will include a clear action plan. 5. Actualize will communicate detailed observations, supporting documentation, and discuss the next steps required to implement the plan. Key Deliverables That Actualize Will Provide 1. A comprehensive overview and checklist of how the client is currently performing Treasury tasks and utilizing the technology on hand, as well as a listing of potential issues and/or concerns. This includes educating users on industry best practices, available system capabilities and functionalities, and enhancing operational effectiveness. Actualize will rank different areas of your operation according to its efficiency, highlighting underdeveloped, evolving, established, enhanced, and optimized areas. (See image for example.) 2. Peer benchmarking assessment and scorecard specific to utilization of the application and user system proficiency in supporting key Treasury functions. This will not only assess staff proficiency with applications, but also increase client competency and improve staff morale and skills so they can become better aware of their strengths, weaknesses, and potential areas of improvement.
3. Industry best practice recommendations with a clear and actionable roadmap. Evaluating discrepancies between client and peer assessments will enhance workflow and control opportunities by highlighting both system and operational improvements. This includes detailing high priority initiatives, timing, and impact on the client, as well as the effort needed to implement. Please contact me if you would like to learn more about how we can help your organization. With offices in the US, Canada, and the UK (London), Actualize keeps our finger on the ever-changing pulse of the Capital Markets, Treasury, Mortgage and Fixed Income areas. Priscila Nagalli, our Director of Treasury and Capital Markets , and Jennifer Tomaloff, Manager Trek International Treasury are your hosts as they discuss, How Trek Bicycle Enhanced Its Operations Globally While Mitigating Payment Fraud.
Click the image above to sign up for a recording of the webinar! THE ABCs OF A TREASURY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (TMS) IMPLEMENTATION: HOW TO BETTER EXECUTE YOUR PROJECT
Alysia Kennedy, CFA, Senior Manager, Treasury & Capital Markets Actualize Consulting has developed a proprietary third-party software implementation methodology which has been successfully utilized on over 150 TMS implementations. Our approach is based on building a collaborative environment where Actualize, the client, and the third-party software vendor are working as one team focused on a common goal to ensure a successful project execution and a streamlined Treasury function. Below are some guidelines to follow. A – Adoption Implementing a system takes a lot of resources. Ensuring it gets used and adopted will optimize everyone’s money and time. B - Business Priorities Creating a mission statement, scoping requirements before beginning work on the system, making a detailed project plan, and staying timely will guarantee everything runs smoothly. C – Collaboration Work together with all appropriate stakeholders to make sure all their needs are met. Communication is key, and their knowledge and expertise are invaluable. D – Documentation Keep a record of every process that explains the workflow. Be sure to store in an easily-accessed location so that if any questions arise, team members can troubleshoot before asking for help. E - Expectations Set the right expectations up front with stakeholders, project participants, and yourself. Invest time identifying potential gaps and emphasizing that processes change along with the system so you will be better prepared for any roadblocks along the way. F - Flexibility No system can accommodate 100% of your requirements – remain open-minded so you can reassess and standardize processes where possible. Please contact me if you would like to learn more about how we can help your organization. With offices in the US, Canada, and the UK (London) we keep our finger on the ever-changing pulse of the Capital Markets, Treasury, Mortgage and Fixed Income areas. |
News OverviewLatest release news and tips for your Kyriba implementation. Categories
All
Actualize ServicesArchives
December 2020
|