smart/tom health assessment
Assess whether the operating model can deliver the strategy.
Use the VectorIQ scoring pattern to find where value is leaking, what evidence is missing and which route should be authorised first. The score is out of 100 under the hood, translated back to the familiar 1-5 maturity scale.
Assessment controls
Score and save the TOM benchmark
Pulse answers use the same VectorIQ convention: 1 is strongest and 5 is weakest. Smart/TOM converts the result into the maturity view below.
Maturity output guide
Result scale after Pulse answers are inverted: As-Is to To-Be.
Answer scale remains: 1 strongest, 5 weakest.
From As-Is to To-Be best practice
Direction
Is the model built to deliver the strategy and customer promise?
Strategy alignment, sales and growth, customer value proposition, design principles and outcome clarity.
1. Strategy alignment
The operating model is explicitly anchored to the current strategy, growth priorities and customer promise.
Look for signed-off strategic principles, clear value drivers and decisions linked to them.
What does this mean?
This checks whether the TOM is anchored in current strategy, not last year's org chart. Look for evidence that trade-offs are made against growth priorities and the customer promise.
2. Design principles
Leaders have agreed the design principles before debating structure, roles or reporting lines.
Look for principles that guide trade-offs and reduce politics when hard choices appear.
What does this mean?
Design principles are the commitment point. They should be agreed before debating functions, roles or reporting lines, then used to challenge later objections.
3. Customer value proposition
The model makes it clear how value is created for customers, not only how internal functions are arranged.
Look for customer journeys, service promises, outcome measures and ownership of customer value.
What does this mean?
A TOM should explain how customer value is created end to end, not just how internal teams are arranged.
4. Outcome clarity
Success is defined in measurable business outcomes such as margin, speed, service, capacity or cash.
Look for target conditions, quantified benefits and an agreed scoreboard.
What does this mean?
The assessment is stronger when success is measurable: margin, speed, service, capacity, cash, conversion or customer outcomes.
5. Change trigger
There is a compelling event strong enough to create urgency and keep the leadership team moving.
Look for a board mandate, cost pressure, growth constraint, M&A event, AI shift or service risk.
What does this mean?
A compelling event creates urgency. Without one, the model can become interesting analysis rather than an owned change.
6. Sales and growth
Sales and growth priorities are translated into owned operating routines, pipeline discipline and cross-functional action.
Look for pipeline measures, conversion discipline, account-growth ownership, forecast quality and sales-to-delivery feedback loops.
What does this mean?
Sales and growth tests whether commercial ambition is connected to operating routines, pipeline discipline, conversion, forecasting and delivery feedback.
Structure
Is work owned, resourced and accountable, or fragmented?
Organisation design, decision rights, spans and layers, capability and capacity.
1. Ownership
Critical work has named owners with authority, capacity and accountability for results.
Look for role charters, decision owners, accountable executives and escalation paths.
What does this mean?
Score low where ownership exists only by habit or personality. Score high where owners have authority, capacity and consequences.
2. Decision rights
Decision rights are clear enough for teams to act without unnecessary escalation or duplicated sign-off.
Look for a decision-rights matrix, fast forums and reduced approval bottlenecks.
What does this mean?
Decision rights should reduce escalation, duplicated approval and waiting time. Look for decisions that teams can make without re-litigating the model.
3. Spans and layers
Spans, layers and reporting lines support pace and accountability rather than inherited complexity.
Look for spans/layers analysis, manager load, duplicated roles and role clarity.
What does this mean?
Spans and layers matter because they shape speed, manager load and accountability. The question is whether the structure helps the work move.
4. Capability
The organisation has the skills and leadership bandwidth required for the next phase of growth or change.
Look for capability gaps, succession risk, skill/will analysis and training plans.
What does this mean?
Capability covers skills and leadership bandwidth for the next phase, not just whether the current team is busy.
5. Capacity
Capacity is planned against demand, service levels and transformation load rather than managed by heroics.
Look for demand forecasts, workload data, utilisation, bottlenecks and prioritisation rules.
What does this mean?
Capacity should be planned against demand and transformation load. If delivery depends on heroics, score it down.
Execution
Does the work flow, and can the organisation govern it?
Process flow, governance cadence, tools, customer experience, handoffs and ways of working.
1. Process flow
Core processes are documented, owned, measured and repeatable across teams or sites.
Look for process maps, process owners, standard work and evidence of consistent execution.
What does this mean?
Repeatable process is the difference between a designed model and local improvisation.
2. Governance cadence
Governance meetings focus on decisions, blockers and measurable movement rather than status theatre.
Look for decision logs, actions closed, unresolved blockers and operating rhythm discipline.
What does this mean?
Governance is healthy when meetings make decisions, remove blockers and prove movement.
3. Handoffs
Cross-functional handoffs are clear enough that work moves without rework, chasing or hidden queues.
Look for SLA/OLA agreements, failure demand, queue time and handoff ownership.
What does this mean?
Handoffs reveal whether functions operate as one system. Rework, chasing and hidden queues are warning signs.
4. Tools, AI and workflow
Tools, automation and AI opportunities support the way work should flow rather than forcing manual workarounds.
Look for tool fit, AI/automation candidates, manual rekeying, workflow friction and shadow trackers.
What does this mean?
This now includes AI and automation. Score high only when tools, workflow and AI opportunities remove friction rather than creating more manual handling.
5. Customer experience
The operating model protects the customer experience across the journey, not only the internal value proposition.
Look for journey measures, complaint themes, onboarding/service friction, NPS or CSAT evidence and ownership of experience moments.
What does this mean?
Customer experience is distinct from customer value: this checks whether the journey is easy, consistent and owned across onboarding, service and support moments.
6. Transition delivery
Operating model change is treated as an implementation programme with sprints, owners and acceptance criteria.
Look for transition roadmaps, 2-week cycles, testing, dry runs, launch criteria and lessons learned.
What does this mean?
A TOM needs transition discipline: sprint cadence, owners, acceptance criteria, testing and launch readiness.
Intelligence
Can leaders see, trust and act on the truth operationally and financially?
Data, MI/BI, financial visibility, decision quality and performance management.
1. MI/BI trust
Leadership trusts the management information and business intelligence enough to act without arguing over the numbers.
Look for source ownership, reconciled definitions, data quality and reporting disputes.
What does this mean?
Trusted MI/BI means leaders stop arguing about the numbers and start deciding from them.
2. Financial visibility
Revenue, margin, cost and service performance are visible by customer, service, team or business unit.
Look for customer/service P&L, margin leakage, cost drivers and value leakage evidence.
What does this mean?
Financial visibility should show where value leaks by customer, service, team or unit.
3. Leading indicators
The scoreboard includes leading indicators that show whether the model is improving before lagging results appear.
Look for adoption, cycle time, quality, capacity, conversion, service and risk indicators.
What does this mean?
Leading indicators show whether the model is improving before lagging financial results appear.
4. Decision quality
Important decisions are made using evidence, trade-offs and scenario options rather than politics or anecdotes.
Look for option papers, assumptions, benefit cases, risk logs and decision records.
What does this mean?
Evidence-led decisions should show options, assumptions and trade-offs, not politics or anecdotes.
5. Continuous re-baseline
The organisation regularly re-scores maturity and refreshes priorities as strategy, demand or constraints change.
Look for quarterly re-baselines, refreshed heatmaps and changed priorities tied to evidence.
What does this mean?
The TOM should be re-baselined as strategy, demand and constraints move.
Adoption
Will the change stick once the model is live?
Culture, stakeholder temperature, coalition strength, communication and adoption discipline.
1. Stakeholder temperature
Leaders understand who will champion, resist, block or quietly wait out the operating model change.
Look for stakeholder maps, coalition plans, blockers, champions and temperature checks.
What does this mean?
Stakeholder temperature identifies champions, blockers and quiet resistance before it undermines the model.
2. Co-creation
People closest to the work help define what good looks like before the future model is finalised.
Look for workshops, manager input, frontline validation and co-authored design principles.
What does this mean?
Co-creation tests whether people closest to the work helped define what good looks like.
3. Communication
The change story explains why the model must change, what it means for people and what happens next.
Look for narrative, sponsor messages, manager talking points and honest role-impact communication.
What does this mean?
Communication should explain why the model is changing, what it means and what happens next.
4. Leadership consistency
The sponsor coalition is visibly aligned and holds the line when difficult trade-offs appear.
Look for consistent top-table messages, escalation handling and visible sponsorship.
What does this mean?
Leadership consistency is about visible sponsorship when difficult trade-offs appear.
5. Behavioural adoption
New roles, routines and governance behaviours are embedded after go-live rather than snapping back to old habits.
Look for adoption measures, coaching, reinforcement, compliance with new routines and post-go-live drift.
What does this mean?
Adoption is proven when routines stay changed after go-live and do not snap back.