Improving Urban Waters: A Cross-Collaborative Success Story

Scottish Water’s Improving Urban Waters (IUW) programme, a pioneering effort to enhance Scotland’s water infrastructure, made significant strides over 18 months towards its commitments under the Improving Urban Waters roadmap. However, recognising the potential for greater impact, Scottish Water engaged VISION to accelerate the programme’s progress.

Results Achieved

The collaboration delivered substantial outcomes. Scottish Water’s IUW programme is now on track to move ~40 projects to site, achieving a realistic goal of four project starts per quarter. The environmental impact of these projects is significant, as they aim to reduce spills at pace.

This success demonstrates the resilience, determination, and courage of the IUW team in embracing a new way of working. Their pioneering efforts have opened up a world of possibilities for Scottish Water as an organisation. Working with such an ambitious and inspiring team has been both a challenge and a privilege, showcasing the power of collaboration and innovation.

Together with its partner organisations—CWA, Clancy, M2, and ARC—Scottish Water formed a Collaborative ‘One Team’ approach that exemplified cross-functional teamwork. This collective effort was recognised at the Utility Week Awards, where the team was proudly shortlisted for Team of the Year.

Key Challenges Identified

As the first and only team operating within an enterprise model in Scottish Water, the IUW team faced unique challenges. Being a pilot team in a largely traditional organisation, they were charting new territory, which inevitably brought complexity and uncertainty. VISION understood the scale of the challenge and the inherent pressures of breaking new ground.

Through interviews and observations, we identified opportunities to support the team in overcoming these hurdles. While they had embraced Agile and Lean methodologies, their pioneering role meant they were navigating ambiguity in roles and responsibilities, which occasionally slowed progress. Balancing the need for pace with the robustness of solutions was another area where we knew we could provide targeted support to help the team succeed.

Implementing Targeted Solutions

VISION’s collaboration with IUW led to impactful changes across several areas:

Unified Programme Goals: VISION facilitated alignment among senior sponsors, setting a clear target of initiating four projects per quarter. Weekly “office hours” with sponsors were introduced, providing teams with consistent leadership support.
Streamlined Leadership Structure: A smaller, more focused leadership team was created, enhancing clarity in roles. Through workshops, leaders clarified and agreed individual responsibilities, bolstering operational coherence across IUW’s core teams.
Enhanced Integrator Group Function: VISION clarified the Integrator Group’s strategic role, transforming it into a cohesive body with clear oversight responsibilities. Improved data handling and simplified visuals gave the group an accurate programme snapshot, enabling informed, strategic decision-making.
Improved Governance and Approvals: By standardising documentation processes and enhancing communication with internal stakeholders, VISION accelerated IUW’s approvals process, reducing sign-off times for some governance steps to under two weeks.

This case study, captured by VISION’s Charlene Feeney Seale and Holly Robinson in partnership with Scottish Water’s Lynsey Lennon, demonstrates the power of cross-functional collaboration in tackling complex, multi-organisation projects within the water industry.