Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | OCTOBER 2021 | 41 in association with I n our previous columns we've described what 21st- century mobilisation is and the ten basic steps you need to start on the journey, but it is importand to realise that it sits in a suite of management techniques. 21st-century mobilisation focuses on accomplishing a relatively narrow, highly ambi- tious goal quickly. It's appro- priate when managers need to change an organisation's way of working rapidly and when the management team knows exactly the outcome it wants. For other situations, we see three alternative manage- ment orientations with which VISION Consulting can also help you. Stakeholder orientation When a company has a strong competitive advantage and wants to reinforce it by build- ing its brand with various stakeholder communities, we recommend the stakeholder management orientation, pio- neered by R. Edward Freeman. High-trust orientation Although originally developed for large capital projects, this high-trust, close-collaboration approach is ideal for any large venture that requires many dif- ferent suppliers and technolo- gies, and years to complete. It draws on a combination of Integrated Project Delivery and VISION's own Commit- ment-based Management. Transient-advantage orientation When you manage in a fast- moving marketplace where new entrants, substitutes and technologies arise daily, we recommend the transient- advantage orientation, pio- neered by Rita McGrath. This approach requires acting like a venture capitalist or investment manager. Managers develop a diverse array of potential competitive advantages, purchase more of what is working and quickly sell what is not. Such management cannot allow any emotional, passionate attachment to causes. 21st-century mobilisation Mobilisation stands distinct from the stakeholder, high- trust and transient-advantage orientations through its emphasis on speed and streamlining. This is a form of management characterised by urgency, zeal, and fast-paced, frequent meetings, including progress checks, coaching, assessment sharing, and the management of individual and group moods. If stakeholder managers are servant leaders and large project managers are community builders, mobilisation managers are like small business owners. They know what they are mobilising as if it were the business they had built themselves. If your organisation needs to move fast to meet a clear objective, and you know the resources necessary to achieve it, 21st-century mobilisation is what you need. Whichever emerging approach is right for you, VISION Consulting can help bring it to life. For an in-depth exploration of these facets of 21st-century mobilisation, download the full report, 21st-Century Mobilisation at: https:// utilityweek.co.uk/are-you- ready-for-21st-century- business-mobilization VISION is an international consulting organisation that helps businesses transform their operational practices, leadership, and culture for the long term. Our thinking is deeply rooted in philosophy – timeless wisdom that helps our clients navigate complex challenges. For more, see: www.vision.com EXPERT VIEW VISION CONSULTING When is 21st-century mobilisation appropriate? having that platform enables our customers to use and gain value from it, and bringing in new customers can help us reduce the cost of running the network and reduce costs all across the board," he says. Barlow also argued that the DCC network could support interoperability in the EV charger sector, while the ability to control the loading on a device could also suit appli- cations that involve storing and re-exporting energy to the grid, allowing energy aggrega- tors to "package" up groups or categories of properties in order to o" er a service to the DNO/DSOs (distribution system operators). Joined-up networks But could the DCC-built network also con- nect up the water sector's smart meters? This possibility became a key theme of the work- shop session following the panel debate. At the moment, water companies are adopting a range of communications proto- cols for their smart meter installations, with no guarantee that they will be able to talk to each other, never mind their co-utilities. And signal strength has been a problem – if the water meter is located in the street, the sig- nal needs to reach inside the home. Another key issue holding back the pro- gramme is cost. Stantec's Damian Crawford points out that the water sector is struggling to scale up implementation and keep data ˜ owing, given the cost of installing meters and boundary boxes while maintaining spending on other regulatory priorities. "The cost of having a smart water meter, with 10 years of data coming in is anything between £75 and £100 pounds. It's such a large cost. Obviously the regulator has to approve it, which a lot of companies are struggling to justify if you're not in a water conservation area. And what you pay for a smart meter eventually gets passed on to the customer, which a" ects their engagement asžwell." Ovo's Mills says, the Home Area Network created by the DCC is building a resource that should be available for third party providers – including water companies – to exploit. "There's de¡ nitely a capability that already exists within the DCC network to add addi- tional meters and sensors and smart appli- ances on it. That's how it was designed." "There's no 'common utilities forum' that can push this together, or is it Ofgem and Ofwat going o" in di" erent directions? It's worth a debate. But [the DCC network] has de¡ nitely got the capability within energy to bring water in, so it should probably be some- thing that's explored across the industry." Elaine Knutt, freelance journalist "There's defi nitely a capability that already exists within the DCC network to add additional meters and sensors and smart appliances on it." JOE MILLS, HEAD OF SMART METERING, OVO ENERGY Utility Week Live 2022 Utility Week Live, the UK's only pan-utility exhibition, will reunite UK utilities in person next May. To nd out more visit utilityweeklive.co.uk

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