With increasing headwinds and a desire for more efficiency without sacrificing effectiveness, many organizations are exploring shared services as a design solution. However, when you in- troduce shared services into your organization, you also have to answer a number of questions to achieve the full benefits: How do you chose the right work to centralize? How do you drive efficiency and grow? How will you coordinate decision rights? How will you manage conflict and power balances between the different parts of the organization? Perhaps most importantly, how will you optimize shared services work and capabilities to drive improved results?
What You’ll Learn
- How to decide if shared services is right for your organization.
- How to design and structure your shared services organization.
- The linkages and leadership behaviors that make shared services actually work.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Shared services is not just centralization, and it is not the same as outsourcing. It is a carefully designed operating model built for efficiency, standardization, and scale, with its own governance and performance system.
Work that is transactional, predictable, high volume, and serves multiple internal customers is the best fit. Work that requires deep relationships, customization, or specialized judgment is usually a poor fit and should stay closer to the business.
Watch for shadow teams forming back in the business units, a disconnect between metrics that look good and stakeholders who feel underserved, and a team that has grown beyond its core purpose. These are signs the design or governance needs to be revisited.
