How to Enter the Project Awards

Celebrating Outstanding Organizational Achievements

About the Awards & How to Enter

The Awards will be held in conjunction with the Business Transformation & Operational Excellence World Summit.

The Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Awards were established to showcase globally the most outstanding Business Transformation, Digital Transformation, Innovation Execution & Operational Excellence achievements.

The focus of this elite awards program is to demonstrate to the global business community the real results organizations achieve through the successful implementation of Business Transformation & Operational Excellence.

The Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Awards are open to all organizations, private and public sector, across the globe, that have implemented Business Transformation & Operational Excellence programs to deliver outstanding business results.

There is no minimum requirement or restriction on the scale of the Digital Transformation or Operational Excellence project. Each entry will be judged on the merits of the program implementation and the results achieved against the organization’s strategic objectives.

You can also submit multiple entries per category. You can also submit the same entry into multiple categories if it is highly relevant.

This is your opportunity to win recognition on a global platform for the great work that you and your Digital Transformation & Operational Excellence colleagues are delivering for your organisation.

Please do take some time to read through the information, and on how you can enter your projects for this elite Awards program.

How To Enter The Awards

Please read the Entry Guidelines & Rules section for each award category, the Criteria for the Judging Panel, and the Tips for Improving Your Entries to ensure your smooth entry for this prestigious Awards program.

In the first instance, Click Here To Register Your Interest, and we will be in contact.

The Awards Program Highlights Video

The Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Awards were established to showcase globally the most outstanding Business Transformation & Operational Excellence achievements.

The focus of this elite awards program is to demonstrate to the global business community the real results organizations achieve through the successful implementation of Digital Transformation & Operational Excellence.

The Awards will be held in conjunction with the Business Transformation & Operational Excellence World Summit.

The Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Awards are open to all organizations, both private and public sector, across the globe, which have implemented Digital Transformation or Operational Excellence programs to deliver outstanding business results.

There are 17 Project Awards Categories

Best Achievement in Cultural Transformation & Sustainability to deliver a high performing Enterprise Excellence culture.

Best Achievement in Operational Excellence to deliver Business Transformation

Best Achievement in Operational Excellence to deliver Digital Transformation

Best Operational Excellence Program for Discovering, Nurturing and Fortifying Talent Management

Best Operational Excellence in Achieving Supply Chain Sustainability of Operations

Best Operational Excellence in Achieving Supply Chain Risk & Resiliency / Risk Management

Best Achievement in Operational Excellence to deliver an outstanding Value Creation or Innovation Execution project

Best Achievement in Operational Excellence to deliver an outstanding Customer Experience Excellence

Best Achievement in Process Automation (RPA, Low Code, Intelligent Automation, Hyper Automation, Machine Learning, Cognitive Learning, Blockchain etc)

Best Achievement in an Enterprise Architecture program

Best Achievement in a Process Mining program

Best Achievement in a Business Process Management Program

Best Achievement in an IT Infrastructure & Cloud Program

Most Outstanding Digital Workplace Transformation Program

Most Outstanding IOT Program

Best Achievement in Web 3.0 project

Best Achievement in a Metaverse project

The Platinum Award

The Platinum Award for Best Project at the Business Transformation & Operational Excellence cannot be entered for. The winner will be selected by the judges from best entry across all the project categories.

The Platinum Award is given by the judges to the most outstanding business achievement from all the entries received.

The winner of the award, in the view of the judging panel, has realized the most outstanding achievement across all project categories.

After the judges have completed the second stage of judging (the selection of winners for each category) they are asked to nominate one or two entries that are, in their opinion, are the best in the program.

If the nominated entries have won their category, then they are included in the debate to consider which project should win the Platinum Award.

The judges then discuss the merits of each of the nominated entries. At the close of the discussion, each judge nominates their choice for the Platinum Award and the votes are counted to select the winner.

The Platinum Award is the last award to be given out at the ceremony. All the category winners realize that they have a chance to get it and there is a hush of silence as all wait to hear which organization is going to collect the ultimate award of the whole program.

Lifetime Achievement Award

The following Award cannot be entered for. The winner will be selected by our panel of judges.

Main Entry Document

Each entry to the Project Categories for The Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Awards should be for one project.

The main entry document must contain a 250-word synopsis at the beginning of the document and be no longer than four pages of A4. It should outline the following information on the Operational Excellence activity:

The Main Entry Document is your pitch – so your entry should all be in this one document.

The 250-word synopsis – is a judges’ aid – it allows them to get a summary understanding of your entry and is a useful tool for you to guide them to the key components (i.e. significant results) within your entry.

These guidelines are your aid to stay focused and to the point. The reason we keep it to four pages is to keep it relevant. Judges do not want to read excessive descriptions; they want a succinct entry and the key facts.

Entries will be required to complete the online entry form outlining the information about the project.

You can also submit multiple entries per category. You can also submit the same entry into multiple categories if it is highly relevant.

Entries must be for work that was carried out in the main during the period 2021-2024. It is not necessary that the project has been started or fully completed during this period.

Below is the information required, this is how you will be scored – i.e. this is what the judges are looking for. It is important to ensure that your four-page main entry document covers all the information required.

The strategic objectives and scope of the project - Ensure you link this to the organizational strategy, to show strategic relevance.
The project implementation process and timeline

The size of the project challenge, use of creative tools, and any organizational development.

The impact of the project - Detail the customer benefit and/or value generation.
The business results of the project - All results must be shown in percentage terms, not absolute values. Where this is not appropriate, raw data will be accepted. There should be evidence of financial business results – earnings/ sales revenues/margins but the judges will also take into account the strategic relevance of the results achieved and the value generation.

Supporting Materials

Entrants may supply supporting materials to provide further insight. These materials must be no longer than two pages of A4. Typically they may include examples of internal documentation, organograms, internal and expert reports.

Entries do not need to have supporting materials, but if you do include them do cross reference them within your main entry document so that the judges are actively encouraged to read them.

We used to allow more pagination for supporting materials but the judges found that generally there was too much material supplied that was not directly pertinent to the entry and thus were less than enthusiastic about reading through it.

Support documents can be supplied in confidence, please mark this on the supporting document, and they will be destroyed after view.

50 Word Summary For Published Materials

If you are shortlisted, we will feature a 50-word summary of each of your entries, along will all other finalists in the Awards Book Of The Night. This is presented to all attendees at the awards ceremony, the BTOES summit, and all BTOES Insights 1.8M subscribers post ceremony.

Please provide us with a 50-word summary for each of your awards entries for the Awards Book Of The Night as part of your application.

Criteria for the Judging Panel

The judges will consider the following criteria when grading all entries:

Strategic Relevance: how does the project fit in with the organization’s strategic objectives
Value Generation: how significant to the organization was the value generated from the project
Customer Benefit: the beneficial impact of the project results on customers
Implementation: the quality of the implementation process
Leadership Engagement: the level of senior management involvement and
Organizational Learning: how did the organization develop as a result of the project.
Creative Use of Tools: how innovative was the project deployment

The Scoring Matrix is as follows:

Strategic Relevance
	Score 1-3 - Digital Transformation or Operational Excellence does not factor strongly within the organizational strategy
	Score 4-6 - Digital Transformation or Operational Excellence plays a reasonable role within organizational strategy
	Score 7-10 - Digital Transformation or Operational Excellence has a key role within the organizational strategy
Value Generation
	Score 1-3 - Results not that impressive
	Score 4-6 - Results fairly impressive
	Score 7-10 Results very to exceedingly Impressive
Customer Benefit
	Score 1-3 - No strong evidence of customer benefit
	Score 4-6 - Entry shows reasonable level of customer benefit
	Score 7-10- Evident that there has been significant customer benefit
Implementation
	Score 1-3 - Implementation process is not impressive
	Score 4-6 - Implementation process is to a reasonable standard
	Score 7-10 - Implemenation process is of an impressive standard
Organizational Learning
	Score 1-3 - No clear signs of organizational development through Digital Transformation or Operational Excellence
	Score 4-6 - Entry shows reasonable levels of organziational development through Digital Transformation or Operational Excellence
	Score 7-10 - Evident that there has been significant organizational development though Digital Transformation or Operational Excellence
Creative Use of Tools
	Score 1-3 - Project deployment shows little or no evidence of being innovative
	Score 4-6 - Project deployment shows reasonable evidence of being innovative
	Score 7-10 - Project deployment shows significant evidence of being innovative

Best Practises for your Main Entry Document

The main entry document must contain a 250-word synopsis at the beginning of the document and be no longer than four pages of A4. It should outline the following information on the activity:

The Main Entry Document is your pitch – so your entry should all be in this one document.

Read the guidelines thoroughly

Ensure you are following the guidelines specifically based on the category you are applying for – don’t have any information gaps where you could lose points – remember your entry will work it way through the ranks on its score. It’s absolutely crucial that you pay strict attention to detail here, as there are subtle differences that can easily be overlooked.

Enlist the help of your Comms Department

It is so obvious when a good, trained writer has helped to put the entry together - judges love to read well-written entries, and in many cases, a well-written entry is more likely to win as it drives interest, and reads easily.

View your Entry as a 10 minute pitch opportunity or case study

You have to impress the judges, and you will probably at the outset get 10 or so minutes of their attention - If you impress them, then they will give you more time as they consider how to score your entry, and be more considerate on their scoring – that’s human nature! Impress them, and they will fight your corner when it comes to debating the winners.

Keep it concise and relevant

Even if you are left with a free quarter page after all the key information has been supplied, don’t be tempted to fill the space with irrevelant information. Many award wins come from entries with word counts well below the requirement. Blank space on a page can be very attractive to a judge working through dozens of applications!

Let the results do the talking

This awards program is about results – cost reductions, sales growth, productivity improvement, etc, etc – give us the facts. Litter your entries with facts, clear charts, and a clean presentation, and you are bound to do so much better for it.

Get a colleague to proof-read

Make sure that your entry makes good sense to an external reader, which is what the judges will be. An employee may not tell you exactly like it is, and you need someone slightly removed to ensure this is the case. This will de-internalise your document, and make sure that it makes sense!

A clear structure

Ensure your document is clearly laid out for the judges to make short work of your case study - make images clear and informative, try to avoid rambling, keep the facts at the forefront. Ensure the document is neat, and the writing flows easily - no text boxes all over the place!

Tips for Improving your Entries

We apologise if some of these sound like common sense.

Read the guidelines thoroughly – don’t have any information gaps where you could lose points – remember your entry will work it way through the ranks on its score.
Follow the guidelines – this makes it easier for the judges to find the information they need and to compare entries.

Understanding the categories and their distinct entry requirements.

Select the best – so ensure that you have selected your best achievements.
Don't exceed the maximum limit for materials, (e.g. Main Entry Document 4 pages), for each part of your entry – this will only result in potential disqualification.
Keep to the point, concise and relevant; don't elaborate unless it will truly enhance your entry. Even if you are left with a free quarter page after all the key information has been supplied, don’t be tempted to fill the space with irrelevant information. Our award team have work many programs, and they regularly see award-winning entries, which are shorter that the pagination allowed.
Enlist the help of your Comms Department – it is so obvious when a good trained writer has helped to put the entry together - judges love to read well-written entries.
Seek an objective opinion – ask colleagues from another division to give you their honest opinion on your draft entry.
View your Entry as a 10 minute pitch opportunity or case study
Let the results do the talking.
View your Entry as a 10-minute pitch opportunity – you have to impress those judges. You will at the outset get 10 minutes of their attention and if you have impressed them, then they will give you more time as they consider how to score your entry – that’s human nature!
Let the results do the talking – this awards program is about results – cost reductions, sales growth, productivity improvement, etc, etc – give them the facts.
Get a colleague to proof-read – not one of your team members but someone from another department or your partner to make that your entry makes good sense to an external reader, which is what the judges will be.
Think about the right category for your entry – ensure that your entry is submitted for the category where it stands the best chance of winning.
Ensure that you cross reference charts, graphs, reports, etc. from your supporting materials to the relevant point in your entry form.
Avoid classic mistakes such as spelling and bad grammar.
Don't try to bend the rules – this only irritates the judges and you run the risk that your entry being disqualified.

Common Pitfalls We See In Entries to Avoid.

Very poor presentation of the facts.
Too much irrelevant material.
Links that do not lead to the right information.
Blinded by too much data and not enough narrative.
Not concise, relevant and to the point.
No mention of the customer benefit?
Too long – they broke the rules.
Did not select the best materials to submit.

The Judging Panel

The Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Awards are being judged by an independent panel of esteemed experts in Operational Excellence.

The panel will be led by a Chairman of the Judges, who is a leading and highly regarded expert in Operational Excellence.

To be a member of the judging panel, Judges need to satisfy the following criteria:

Hold a leadership level position or equivalent within their organization.
Their organization is considered as one of the leading Operational Excellence deployers in their sector. Accessed by our Advisory Board and our research findings.
They were willing to sign and comply with strict codes of confidentiality.

If you are interested in being considered as a member of the judging panel, please click here to apply.

Judging Rules of Conduct

Judging will be undertaken by an independent panel of judges appointed by The Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Awards who will be bound by a confidentiality agreement that bans them from externally discussing information from entries.

We operate a strict non-conflict judging code to avoid industry sector conflict. A judge working in the financial services sector may not judge categories, which have entries from organizations in the financial services sector.

Hence, any judge who has a potential conflict of interest with an entry will not be allowed to judge that entry.

Sponsoring organizations will not be allowed to get involved with or have access to the judging process at shortlisting or in winner’s selections. They will only be aware of information in the public domain.

Is Your Team / Organization a Potential Winner? Apply Now

Did your organisation achieve outstanding business results through the use of Operational Excellence?
Did your teams execute an Operational Excellence project that delivered outstanding business results?
Does your organization want to received recognition globally amongst your peers for your outstanding results achieve through the application of Operational Excellence projects.

If you and your team achieved something amazing, you should apply and get the industry recognition your deserve.

CLICK HERE - HOW TO ENTER THE AWARDS - CLICK HERE

Benefits of WINNING

Industry Recognition

Demonstrate to the global business community - and your CEOs - the real results you and your team achieved through the successful implementation of Operational Excellence projects & programs.

Positioning your organization as best in class AND committed to outstanding Operational Excellence achievement.

Being shortlisted or an award winner will gain your global recognition with extended exposure thought out the entire year.

Our special award winners logo can be placed on your website and marketing materials to inform your stakeholders of your commitment to Operational Excellence.

Attract the best industry talent.

The best industry talent is attracted to the best-in-class organizations. Award winners experience an influx of applications from other progressive executives.

Being in line for that coveted promotion you were seeking

Being shortlisted or an award winner will help you gain that extra recognition and visibility with your leadership team.

Funding

By demonstrating the outstanding business results achieved through your deployment of Operational Excellence, you can expect to achieve greater funding from your leaders, shareholders and board.

New Business

Proof of outstanding business processes and driving continuous improvement to every corner of your business, and achieving Operational Excellence, will open doors to new business and new contracts.

Our 350,000 global subscriber base of executives around the world will hear about your achievements.

Terms & Conditions

The Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Awards reserve the right to publish details from award winners and shortlisted entries. Supporting materials may be supplied in confidence and the responsibility for advising The Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Awards of any confidentiality restraints imposed shall lie with the company making an entry. The Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Awards shall not be held liable for any failure by the company submitting an entry to supply such confidentiality details.

Shortlisted finalist organizations are expected to attend the Awards Ceremony in-person on Thursday, May 9th, 2024 and if relevant the Award Winners Panel with Q&A on Friday, May 10th, 2024. In-person attendance is important for a high-quality awards ceremony experience, so please submit your application if you are confident you will be able to attend the awards ceremony. We do understand circumstances can change, beyond your control. You will not be expected to divulge any confidential data, facts or figures during the Winners panel.

In the event your organization becomes a finalist or a winner of a Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Award, you consent to your organization's name being used in marketing for the awards program, either by our organization directly, or by a third party member of the media covering the awards program and/or awards ceremony.

All finalists are requested to produce a Poster Board presentation in an infographic format, 40" * 40" telling the story of their project/program. These will be displayed to all attendees at BTOES.com

By submitting and paying for your application you confirm you have reviewed the Terms & Conditions for entries, and agree to be bound by them. Furthermore, you confirm that all information contained within each entry is 100% accurate.