Get in the mindset
It can be challenging to gain support and assurance from parts of the industry that are ingrained in a culture of demonstrating hard commercial viability or operational resilience. Return on investment estimates are unknown, making it more difficult to argue for the value of investing budget.
This playbook does not cover, in detail, how to run trials. To get support on how to run trials, please look at our trial plan guidebook.
Non-standard contractual agreement between SIZ partners
Network Rail is a regulated public sector body, operating under licence granted by the government. This means that there are strict conditions and obligations around funding and managing public money. In contrast, innovation processes are ambiguous and uncertain. Many tasks are unknown at the start of the project and the challenges to address and solutions to be trialled are yet to be identified.
This means that the suite of templated agreements that Network Rail uses are sometimes not agile enough to reflect the aims of the innovation proposal, and so a collaborative programme between the different member organisations may not be as straightforward as any other commercial contract.
Much of the work with the SMEs (which were the innovation providers at the Bristol Temple Meads SIZ) was also impacted by the non-standard processes of trying to test innovations in stations. This meant that the testbed manager had to work closely with the station staff and asset management to ensure that the relevant approvals were sought. Working in-person, on-site with the station team as well as being proactive was key to working with the station owner to find solutions to any challenges that arise.
It is not a failure if a trial goes wrong
SIZ trials are exactly that: trials. This means that they may not produce the expected or desired outcomes. This is not a failure. Instead, such outcomes produce as much insight into why innovative solutions succeed or why they do not, if not more. These insights help understand how a station improvement may achieved in a different way.
It is not uncommon to discover that something is wrong or was overlooked – many trials will exist in a space where there is not a clear process, procedure or standard to follow. A good reaction and response to any challenge is key: remain collaborative, transparent and constructive with your internal and external partners and collaboratives to continue to ensure the trust and assurance of the wider business.
Nonetheless, if a trial does appear to be successful, it is important to know how the impact is measured and documented. A good trial review plan is therefore an important part of a well-functioning SIZ.
Value stakeholders in the wider station context
A SIZ requires not only the buy-in from those internal to the station. To show the impact of innovations that you are testing and how they respond to the challenges, it is important to recognise and involve the wider stakeholder network and their activities that are relevant and informative. Having the right stakeholders involved will allow you to get valuable support throughout your trials. Get direction from both internal and external partnerships, to develop a shared innovation challenge and keep those stakeholders engaged. They will help advocate for the value of your work outside of the station and may open opportunities in the future.
Note, specific businesses or organisations may prioritise for different audiences and stakeholders. For example, what is important to DfT might not help to motivate/recruit/enlist the support TOCs. Expect to spend time on identifying where agreement can be achieved, and if not, which priorities are more important for the purposes of your SIZ.
BTM Learning
- Think ahead to potentially valuable relationships and engage with these individuals/ organisations early
- One of the SMEs had early conversations with the TOCs at Bristol Temple Meads, but this did not immediately progress into a collaborative relationship as it was not considered relevant at that point. Later on in the process, they realised that the TOCs involvement were important to their trial, so they had restarted this relationship.
- One trial showed that whilst selected for an operational safety challenge, this technology can be used to improve passenger experience in other ways, e.g., when it rains give people discounts at cafes to move them away from wet platforms.
- “Being positive about the trials, what the programme is and what it can potentially bring to the station and its passengers and staff, definitely helps with bringing stakeholders along on the process. Without this, a more negative experience could be there. Can do rather than no!” (Testbed Manager)
- Several trial plans have been changed over the course of the trial. Whilst this may allow for a better focusing of the trial plan, unfortunately, this was more often to do with not meeting initial plans. It presented us with a challenge to ensure that our trialists still meet success criteria or newly identified criteria.