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A discussion popped up today in a LinkedIn group about the “owner” of the change. I always find these discussions interesting for their range of perspective and for the consistency that many hold to assumptions and narrow methods. As a client that would make me a little nervous since I would hope my external change management consultant sees through common change foibles.
Some answers-
- The executive responsible for the change
- The change agent
- The passed to leader (usually a director)
- All the stakeholders
- The CEO
- The change management consultants
Have you every done the kid safety drill?
You know, the one where you get down on the ground and crawl around looking for potential danger? Of course, kid that I am at heart, I rolled, slid and somersaulted too…
The world is entirely different down there.
That, for awhile anyway, is the world of a toddler.
As with any buzz term (employee engagement being high on the list of buzzes), group think and assumptions cloud a clear understanding of a motivated individual…
Bringing your dog to work might be cool and something to brag about with your friends and running with an impassioned leader may feel good, but having your work matter and understanding why is the ultimate motivator.
This is a preview of Employee Engagement- You can almost hear the buzzing . Read the full post (181 words, 1 image, estimated 43 secs reading time)
Change success (the accomplishment of business objectives near and long term) requires connecting work and motivation to vision/idea/change and vice-versa. That means strategy must make sense and the "make sense" must be transferred to the employees in a way they will accept.
While this seems obvious I find most executives understanding it only on a surface level.
If this loop of idea and work does not exist and/or is not understood then that is the first step in the process of introducing change ideas. With a clear understanding of what it takes to get things done, assuming a change idea will facilitate that process, anyone in the organization should be able to communicate an idea.
This is a preview of Preparing for the next great idea- Extra ingredients for Change Management . Read the full post (174 words, estimated 42 secs reading time)
 – thinking that change can be "managed"
- reliance on tools, templates and method
- using inexperienced change agents
Middle of the organization change tends to draw clients and consultants into an exercise in creating "engagement".
If somebody likes to run they run. Good luck "engaging" someone who does not.
The core problem is that most organizations do not truly have OCM (Organizational Change Management) built into their corporate strategy. So "change engagement" tends to spend time addressing symptoms rather than root causes. "Un-engagement", lack of sponsorship and hit and miss buy-in are the cough, the sneeze and the runny nose.
This is a preview of 3 mistakes (client/consultant) of middle of the organization Change Management . Read the full post (218 words, 1 image, estimated 52 secs reading time)
A comment and a question I get at every cocktail party when my career is revealed-
That must be fascinating! (it is!)
Do you feel helpless most of the time? (yes but not for long)
My role is at times like the backup quarter back (when there is little chance for needed structural adjustment) and other times like a coach. A coach must stand on the sidelines and hope planning and description translates into strategy and action. They lead but they are not the true leader, the quarterback is. They must survey the big picture while others focus in on task. They work less as a team member than as a giant set of arms holding it all together.
Put together (to continue the last two posts) the change management process and communications lay out a path to turn idea into work then into result/change/solution. With an understanding of what happens to people, process and connection during that journey the leaders and practitioners can help to connect task to big picture and big picture to competency.
Permanent link to this post (59 words, 1 image, estimated 14 secs reading time)
Change Management communication has four phases.
Idea communication
Awareness
Project Communications
Gauging success
idea communication-
This is the time that the original idea goes through the process of matching to corporate strategy and connecting to the experience, perspective and knowledge of stakeholders. Obviously not everything can be communicated. A sensible level of transparency during this stage will be rewarded in later phases with increased participation and productivity.
awareness-
Plan ahead for levels of growth by structuring your organization with a change component.
Each layer of growth in a firm typically adds a layer of titles; each new title has the potential to create a new silo. Eventually it becomes difficult to move the organization fast enough to grow again.
If from the first stage of growth someone is responsible for horizontal connections (collaboration, communication, training across functions, diagonal mentoring etc) your culture will build around working together on the companies business objectives.
This is a preview of Planning for Change from the Beginning- Change Management for fast growth companies . Read the full post (225 words, 1 image, estimated 54 secs reading time)
Trends I am seeing that will influence change management’s future-
- Stakeholders get it- often more so than their leaders
- Executives are trying to establish control over the various organic change movements within their organizations
- External consultants are endlessly debating the definitions of project management (PM) and Organizational Change Management (OCM)
- The Big 3+ firms are subbing independents for strategy and high level change work
- PMO’s are being used less and less as the placement area for change agents and change management consultants
This is a preview of One future of Change Management- Up high, partly inside and boutique . Read the full post (253 words, estimated 1:01 mins reading time)
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