Sarah Coote

I'm a bit industry-agnostic when it comes to delivery. I've run £4.62 billion projects through to £150K projects. It's a matter of 000's to me and I enjoy both equally. I've worked in libraries (which were fantastic) where I delayered the organisation from 6 to 4 and brought in £2m of new funding workstreams. I've built depots and train sets. And now I'm delivering a transformation agenda for a Council whilst also project managing the BI / AI programme, setting up a PMO and leading a team of CI specialists, project and programme managers and PMO.

What I love most of all is working with a team. Nurturing, praising and coaching for delivery, whilst also rolling up my sleeves and helping out with whatever the business wants. 

I’ve led multiple programmes with varying degrees of complexity: 

• Significant projects: shutting down an Airport in COVID and then reopening it again, whilst delivering £53m of savings in a highly emotional environment. Projects successfully rolled out including Depots, training & coaching development programmes, new train sets, balanced scorecard. You point me in the right direction – I’ll set up the teams to deliver them.
• Organisational Restructuring: Led the delayering of Essex County Council Libraries, streamlining processes, instilling a commercial focus and improving efficiency. As well as adding £2m per year of funding.
• System Implementations: Successfully implemented SAP SuccessFactors at Stansted Airport. Oracle at M & S and managed the rollout of Workday across multiple Technicolor Creative Studios. This one was across 11 time-zones.
• Digital Transformations: Set up a PMO, with associated project and programmes aligned to the delivery plan and spearheaded the implementation of a new Customer Experience Platform at South Norfolk & Broadland Council, moving customers from traditional to digital channels.
• Stakeholder Management & Engagement: Effectively engaged and managed stakeholders at all levels, including senior executives, Central Government, the Audit Office, MPs, employees, unions, and external partners. I do this with all roles. It’s one of the most important elements of a project or a programme. I often act as the strategic “bridge” between the projects and the Exec Team.
• Project & Programme Management: Proven ability to lead and deliver complex projects and programmes on time, within budget, and to high quality standards. Experience in Agile methodologies, project portfolio management, and risk management.
• Change Management Expertise: Deep expertise in all aspects of change management, including: 
  • Change Impact Assessment: Conducting thorough impact assessments to identify and mitigate potential risks and challenges.
  • Communication & Engagement: Developing and implementing effective communication and engagement strategies to build awareness, understanding, and support for change initiatives.
  • Training & Development: Designing and delivering comprehensive training programs to equip employees with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in the new environment.
  • Culture Change: Driving cultural transformation within organisations to support new ways of working and improve organisational performance.
• Strategic Planning & Execution: Developed and implemented strategic plans and roadmaps to support organisational goals and objectives.

I continually learn on the job and often write the training programmes from an organisational perspective.