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The ideal way to lay out a change management process is to come to a description of the end state and work back toward the present. This gives a view of what will have changed to get there. Knowing what will change can help determine the resources, the new behaviors and any new structure to the organization. That will then guide the division of phases leading to the project streams within those phases and finally the task associated with those streams.
But that is typically not what happens.
I am not thrilled, as you know if you have read previous posts, with using the word resistance. In this case let’s say that is what those forcing change see. What they need to see is a harmless frog probably waiting to don the crown. For change management no one is lucky enough to be kissed by the princess (or prince as the case may be). They may be lucky enough with an empathetic and smart change agent to be acknowledged. That is when the frog wears the crown. Tampering with tradition, common practice and “we have always done things this way” is fraught with complications. Unwillingness to delve into that difficult area is a recipe for change “failure”. How then as the executive owner do you place yourself into the fire?
Trying to standardize the practice of Change Management. There are plenty of things that are consistent enough from practitioner to practitioner to agree on a set of approaches. But…
Feeling the need to standardize- for the consultants to sell their services and for the client to have clarity on value- is a symptom of a greater problem. Change Management needs to connect directly to strategic direction and to individual work effort. You could say the needed change is away from a project management focus and toward an ongoing corporate structure that can leverage people and then roll out projects. Historical approaches and a vertical perspectives are not working. The resulting trend is horizontal change management. Horizontal is the positions of equal "rank" within verticals- like VP sales to VP IT. So there are up eight horizontals depending on the size of the organization. The next trend is to place work in context with the whole. The whole being org. strategy, big picture, end state, direction of growth etc. Once a stakeholder knows how their work fits (which motivates them to participate) then they need to know when and with what effort that participation is needed. “Bring me your plans on Monday morning for a 10% reduction of cost in your function”. For many 2009 was the year of cutting costs. For most it was the year of skimming costs. From a practical external perspective this skimming makes little sense. From an empathetic perspective it does, but empathy must always be balanced against profit in business. Unless you, as the executive making the decision, thinks your whole organization is 10% (pick your number) heavy it seems taking away resources everywhere will not only reduce productivity but drag down moral at the same time. There is a hidden account for every organization in the bank of change management. In that account is the accumulation, or lack thereof, of goodwill and morale. It holds the energy you will need as an executive for any change you envision. It is entirely possible to fill that account full to use later. It is also easy to withdraw it faster than a shopper at an ATM. Past failure (even if only perceived), broken promises, forced change and more, all withdraw from the account. Transparency, smart decisions well communicated, empathetic leadership, well guided change processes add deposits. One drop on still water…
An expert change agent can tell you what will happen when you drop that drip in your organization. The drop can be an idea, a potential innovation or an external event. The drip can be old systems, overstaffing, economic downturn or falling revenue. The waves can be re-structuring, re-building, organizational redesign or potential growth opportunity, a hot product, a merger or an acquisition.
Change is so loaded with energy you can almost smell the flame. What will you, along with your change practitioner need to do to start, contain, fuel and manage that fire? Start- Change can begin spontaneously from hidden sparks of energy, It can be the result of an external environmental influence, like a lightning bolt in nature. Or it can be a perfectly built campfire ready for a match to begin the controlled burn. Be aware of how change can, will and could start in your organization and take the steps to have resources and process to deal with the different catalysts for energy. |
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