Building a future for customer communications
As an experienced Business Consultant with Zipform Digital for more than 10 years, Richard Jose was a logical choice when it came to creating the business-critical role of Product Owner for digital solutions.
He now works alongside colleagues around Australia as the conduit to facilitate the delivery of innovative solutions for clients. Creating such new operating models is a huge step towards shaping the way that customer communications management delivers business outcomes for a digital future.
Richard Jose is one of those people who just gets the job done, and as a busy father of three young children, multi-tasking is very familiar to him. After reaching his 10-year milestone with Zipform Digital in 2022, he knew it was time for a new challenge which incorporated his extensive knowledge of Zipform Digital, technological advancements in the business, and understanding of client needs.
Zipform Digital’s approach to continuous improvement and agile ways of working, plus significant investment in new technology and production equipment became the ideal backdrop for his next move.
“The role of Product Owner could not have come at a better time. It’s pivotal in bridging the gap between multiple internal teams, whilst also being the conduit as the voice of the customer. People within Zipform Digital now have just one single point of contact for all work – which is critical to ensuring alignment within the business to deliver for our clients.”
Investment for success
Taking on a role of this nature comes with steep expectations, though Richard Jose applauds the support he received from Zipform Digital’s executive team to set him up for success.
“Zipform Digital has embraced the bigger picture by investing in both people and new ways of working, instead of just focusing on small areas of concern. It would have been simpler but far less effective. By providing executive support to create a role with the remit I’ve been given, I feel we have fast tracked our evolution, putting us in much better stead moving forward.”
Richard Vaughan, CEO Zipform Digital, said investing in roles such as Product Owner was one element of the larger strategic picture.
“I’m pleased that the investment in both our people and new ways of working has been so well received. Not only has the entire business embraced the agile methodology that is at the foundation of the way we work, but it also positioned us where we can provide clients with digital solutions that can be brought to market quickly.”
Building a cohesive team
Richard Jose is quick to point out that delivering rapid new client solutions doesn’t come from one person alone – and his role of Product Owner wouldn’t be possible without the support of a wider team.
“Our Scrum team - including three Agile Practitioners - facilitate more than 20 “ceremonies” or meetings every week. The huge team of programmers migrated away from a Kanban approach to sprint based, which has made it much simpler to create cohesive projects and align the work we are doing. The development team have also given me their full support and welcomed me into their day-to-day operations, which has been incredible.”
Richard is also frank in sharing the challenges faced in bringing his new role to life.
“By far the biggest challenge I’ve faced has been understanding how to deal with the complexities of a diverse team with varied experience and abilities. Passion for delivering cutting-edge projects was something we all had in common but bringing together a team of developers and business analysts in addition to Scrum and Development leads was a true testament to our people’s professionalism and commitment to making this work for our clients. We made it through launch and are now actively delivering the innovative solutions we promised.”
Lastly, Richard sums up just how successful Zipform Digital has been embracing technology and change for this new era across the board.
“Whilst I’ve been very happy to see a huge level of executive support backing all the decisions and investments that has resulted in taking leaps forward to being a technological leader in the industry; it’s seeing our teams collaborate across the business that has by far been the best achievement. The working culture at Zipform Digital has improved so much over the last 6-9 months, which we have all put down to better communication, transparency and trust. I know that this will continue as we all grow the business together.”
As an experienced Business Consultant with Zipform Digital since 2012, Richard now works alongside colleagues and clients around Australia as Product Owner, ensuring that they benefit from the significant value the cutting-edge digital technologies offered by Zipform Digital can deliver for them.
Connect with Richard on LinkedIn