The CTT (Portuguese Postal Service) has a unique history dating back to 1520 when it was established by King Manuel I to create the first public postal service in Portugal. Over the centuries, the organization has undergone numerous transformations, from merging departments in the early 20th century to privatization in 2014. Today, CTT is synonymous with innovation in the logistics and digital management sector, having expanded its activities to markets such as banking with Banco CTT, and technology through the acquisition of specialized companies.
Recognized for their adaptability and commitment to sustainability, CTT are leaders in using modern solutions to overcome complex challenges. Recently, the integration of the Businessmap platform marked a new chapter in their journey, consolidating their position as a benchmark in agile transformation and operational efficiency.
The implementation of this solution was led by a highly qualified team, consisting of:
Régis Borges Amorim: Director of Digital Experience and Head of Agile;
César Ribeiro: Director of IT Governance and Portfolio;
Ana Sofia Correia: Agile Coach and BMAP Admin;
Carlos Lopes Paz: Agile Coach and BMAP Admin;
Artur Castro: Agile Coach;
Cristina Robalo: Agile Coach;
Paulo Costa: Head of Cloud and Tooling;
With a focus on collaboration and continuous improvement, CTT achieved significant results. As Régis Borges Amorim highlights:
"Choosing Businessmap represented more than a technological change; it was a strategic step to shift from an output (tasks) to outcomes (results) mindset."
A Journey of Innovation and Agility
By adopting Businessmap, CTT's main goal was to ensure alignment between strategy, coordination, and operational teams. Moreover, they used flow metrics to drive continuous improvement and eliminate costs with estimates, thus increasing efficiency and connecting teams more effectively. Régis emphasizes:
"We wanted more than a tool; we needed a partner in our transformation process."
In this context, the initial workshops conducted by CTT's agility team, coupled with training provided by Businessmap professionals, played a crucial role in this process. During these sessions, teams were introduced to the platform's functionalities in a practical and collaborative manner. These meetings not only taught how to use the available tools but also highlighted the importance of practices such as organizing the workflow of the teams, setting explicit policies, and prioritizing tasks.
One of the major advances was the ability to identify bottlenecks in the workflow and take proactive actions to mitigate them. For example, the use of customized dashboards helped teams better visualize work in progress, identifying bottlenecks and knowledge work queues that were previously invisible.
The Starting Point
Before implementation, CTT faced a series of challenges that hindered the achievement of their organizational goals:
Lack of integrated metrics for flow management and statistical predictability (replacing traditional estimate practices);
Difficulty in visualizing dependencies between teams;
Fragmented management across strategic, operational, and coordination levels;
Lack of predictability and aging indicators, complicating feedback cycles and improvements;
Deficiency in managing WIP (Work In Progress) by sections;
Inability to verify the quality of information in work items, especially during transitions between states;
Difficulty integrating OKRs directly with operational and tactical work;
Challenges in ensuring gateways (to ensure quality and compliance with processes) between the stages of initiatives and portfolio projects.
Régis describes this phase as critical:
"Our greatest need was to create predictability and clarity in work, seeking to shift from a push model to a pull model."
With the introduction of Businessmap, explicit policies were incorporated into the workflow, as well as arrival and departure criteria between the columns of the workflow, allowing teams to clearly visualize the steps of work from conception to delivery.
This approach brought significant improvements in management, communication between departments, and decision-making. An example was the reduction of the overall lead time for deliveries, reduction of delays in critical deliveries, results from better management of dependencies, and organization of priorities.
Automation and Productivity: A Remarkable Transformation
The implementation of the Businessmap platform brought significant advances in automation at the operational level, resulting in a notable optimization of time and resources. According to the team, the use of poka-yoke, a technique to avoid errors, was incorporated into repetitive tasks, such as type settings and the inclusion of subtasks. This automation not only ensured greater accuracy but also ensured compliance with standards and legal requirements, simplifying the calculation of work and reducing operational errors. Furthermore, it allowed for the recurrent creation of work items to help reinforce prioritization on the team boards with compliance and audit actions.
Tangible Results: Cycle Reduction and More Agile Deliveries
Before Businessmap, the delivery cycle of the teams varied between 99 and 120 days. With the implementation of the platform, its functionalities helped this metric to be drastically reduced to an average of 63 days, a direct reflection of operational efficiency and the use of customized dashboards that promote greater visibility, continuous improvement, and decision-making.
Impact on Customer and Team Experience
The transparency provided by Businessmap resulted in noticeable improvements in both the internal and external customer experience. The tool allowed for a more efficient inspection of ongoing work and facilitated adaptive actions. Among the team's feedback, highlights include greater clarity in priorities, reduced pressure and stress in the work environment, and a significant reduction in cognitive load caused by the constant influx of new requests and the difficulty of organizing them and integrating them with the strategy that the previous platform generated.
Why Businessmap?
The choice of Businessmap was the result of a detailed analysis of the organization's needs and the solutions available in the market. The platform's differentiator was its ability to offer predictability and detailed insights. Carlos explains:
"The use of Monte Carlo simulation transformed our planning meetings, reducing the time spent on estimates and freeing up the teams to generate greater added value."
Moreover, the tool's intuitive interface facilitated team adaptation, while dedicated support ensured an efficient transition. The ability to align daily operations with strategic objectives was another key point, allowing decisions to be made based on concrete and reliable data.
In the first months of use, CTT recorded improvements in several areas:
Reduction in delivery time: The average dropped from 120 to 63 days, representing a significant advance in operational efficiency.
Increase in throughput: Improvements of 15% to 17% were reported in more mature teams.
Reduction of queues: The implementation of the Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR) strategy reduced the volume of queues by 55%, ensuring more fluidity in work.
Team engagement: Collaboration between teams substantially increased, creating a more integrated and productive environment.
César highlights a significant moment: "With the improvements brought by the functionalities of the new tool, we were able to be more assertive in decisions and actions for improvement, as well as in prioritizing work in alignment with the OKRs, which was a game-changer for our way of working." The implementation of explicit policies also ensured that priorities were better aligned, reducing rework and, from a Lean perspective, consequently waste.
Tangible Benefits: Culture, Strategy, and Numbers
The adoption of Businessmap brought tangible transformations to the daily operations at CTT, impacting everything from operational efficiency to team and customer satisfaction.
Culture of Continuous Improvement
The adoption of Businessmap fostered a culture of continuous improvement among the teams using it. Customized dashboards allowed teams to quickly identify bottlenecks and make decisions based on real data. This approach resulted in more agile and effective processes, as well as increased team autonomy and dependency management.
For example, the operations team reported a 30% increase in productivity after incorporating explicit policies into the workflow, allowing for greater clarity and predictability.
Strategic Impact
The direct connection between strategies and operations was another major benefit provided by the platform. Teams could monitor, in real-time, the impact of their actions on organizational objectives, which generated greater engagement and alignment with the company's goals. This not only strengthened internal processes but also improved the internal clients' perception of the services provided, positively impacting the results of internal satisfaction surveys from other departments with IT.
Financial Results
Businessmap directly impacted CTT's performance:
Cost savings from estimates: Reduction of operational costs by eliminating manual processes and estimates;
Guaranteed compliance: Automation of critical processes with poka-yoke, avoiding errors and ensuring adherence to legal standards already embedded in the teams' workflow.
The Future with Businessmap
Ana Sofia concludes: "We are just getting started. Businessmap is essential for the next stage of our evolution."
With plans to expand the use of the platform to new departments and further integrate the company's strategies, CTT sees Businessmap as a pillar for its continuous growth. The perspective is that the lessons learned from the implementation will be the foundation for even more ambitious projects in the future. For example, expanding the tool's use to other departments, with the goal of mapping and meeting demands in real-time.
CTT's experience with Businessmap demonstrates how technology, combined with a culture of innovation, can transform an organization's challenges into opportunities for evolution. From reducing delivery cycles to increasing productivity and team satisfaction, the benefits are tangible and sustainable.
