Underwriting collaboration in the insurance industry

The situation

A leading multinational insurance company, the foremost provider of general insurance in Australia and New Zealand, embarked on an agile transformation journey within its data department. This department, comprising 190 employees, aimed to enhance data governance and implement a robust data strategy that would foster collaboration, accelerate execution, and enhance transparency, in line with the company’s overarching goals.

The challenge

Within the data department, the Data Governance (DG) team—a 30-member subset spread across four teams in Australia and New Zealand—faced significant challenges. The team, operating within an organisation of approximately 14,000 employees, was perceived as a bottleneck. The rigorous data protection measures required engineers and stakeholders to navigate a complex process to access datasets and secure necessary risk assessment approvals from the DG team before proceeding with project delivery. This cumbersome process was hindering the speed and efficiency of operations company-wide.

The Process

Cprime Elabor8’s engagement with the Data Governance (DG) team commenced with an in-depth assessment to identify inefficiencies and areas for improvement. By integrating ourselves within the team’s environment and participating in cross-functional forums, we gained a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities for enhancing the DG team’s effectiveness and customer focus.

A pivotal part of our strategy was the introduction of ‘team of teams’ events, which fostered collaboration and ensured strategic alignment. These sessions, steered by the DG director and leads, bridged the gap between planning and execution, creating a cohesive direction for all initiatives.

We crafted an agile operating model for the DG team that was both responsive and adaptive, incorporating feedback from internal clients to continuously refine processes and improve value delivery. Our coaching emphasised a customer-centric mindset, guiding the team to prioritise work based on client impact and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

Throughout this transformation, Cprime Elabor8 led by example, managing communications and collaboration with a commitment to transparency and efficiency. By embedding Agile best practices into the team’s culture, we ensured that the DG team was not only adopting new methodologies but fully embracing the Agile philosophy.

The solution

Over the course of a year, the transformation led to a paradigm shift in the DG team’s operations:

• Established a clear and efficient process for contacting the DG team, minimising delays for other teams and projects.
• Implemented optimised Scrum practices to streamline workflows and improve collaboration.
• Enhanced stakeholder communication, ensuring clear conveyance of project statuses, risks, and changes.
• Improved work alignment with strategic objectives, with a prioritisation system based on value to customers and the organisation.

The results

Cprime Elabor8 solutions led to a significant transformation within the DG team, resulting in measurable improvements in efficiency, collaboration, and value delivery:

• Customer-centric approach: The DG team successfully transitioned to a customer-centric approach, focusing on delivering value to its internal customers. This shift in mindset improved the team’s effectiveness and positively impacted their perception within the organisation.
• Capability uplift and faster decision-making: Enabled significant capability uplift within the DG team, allowing data teams and stakeholders to make better-informed decisions in compliance with privacy and data standards, and reducing waiting times from months to a week.
• Improved alignment with strategic goals: The DG team’s strategic goals achievement score improved from 2 to 4 out of 5, reflecting the positive impact of the transformation. The new operating model helped the team maintain a clearer pipeline of work, forecast more accurately, and reduce project delivery delays. 
• Enhanced operating model: Created an operating model that engaged the team early in the project lifecycle, helping to forecast and maintain a clearer pipeline of work and reducing project delivery delays.

Final Thoughts

With Cprime Elabor8’s guidance and support, the data governance team adopted a customer-centric approach, becoming more attuned to the value they deliver and shifting the team’s perception within the organisation.

Ready to elevate your organisation’s alignment to value and achieve impactful results? Our Transformation solutions can support your organisation’s journey.

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By Elabor8 consulting >>

“Elabor8 was born out of our experience in digital-first companies which gives us a respect for the power of digital, but also an appreciation of the other element required for success. People.

It’s only through having a human-centric approach to digital transformation—a focus on both your customers and your people—that you can deliver and sustain true transformational change. We’re driven to empower your people to innovate and to solve problems by learning to think differently. And to help your organisation to overcome barriers, giving you a strong platform for growth.”

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