Implementing Change Within Your Organisation
Here are a few areas to focus on when implementing change in your organisation. A little improvement in any of these areas can have a dramatic effect on the outcomes of your change initiative. We have provided further information in each of the sections to help you get the outcomes you require. If there is some aspect of change that you would like us to address either on these pages or personally for you then please contact us.
Business Case:
How many change initiatives have you worked on that have been cancelled? As obvious as this may sound the success of the change programme depends on its full and successful completion. Usually the benefits of the change initiative are not banked until the completion of the programme. To abort or to shelve the programme part of the way through its implementation will result in loss of momentum and will invariably cost more to reignite the programme in the future.
Spending significant time on the business case at the outset of the programme will pay huge dividends. Without a strong enough business case the project should die and that would be appropriate because if it is going to deliver significant value then why bother starting in the first place?
Creating a well thought out business case can make the difference between your project getting canned or receiving the much needed support it deserves. Even something as basic and as fundamental as training should have a qualified business case to support its implementation. Without a strong enough business case the change project will not make it past the first round of inevitable budget cuts. We always advocate that if there is a strong business case to fund a change initiative then it is a simple conversation to ensure that funding for the programme is ring-fenced for its duration.
Questions For Your Business Case
- What is the business case that supports or drives the change?
- How urgent is the change? How important is the change?
- How can the urgency and importance be quantified?
- What value will the project deliver once it is successfully completed?
- What are the tangible/measurable benefits of the change project?
- Does the value outweigh the costs?
Organisational Culture:
The most common error that we have encountered as change managers is the fact that the change initiative is embarked on without taking into account the current or resulting organisational cultures. This is one of the main reasons why people will resist the change being proposed. The organisational culture is the invisible system that holds the beliefs, values and assumptions that members of the organisational culture hold dear. If we run roughshod over these delicate areas we do so at our peril, because the resistance that live at the unconscious level of the organisation are the most powerful to overcome.
Organisational Culture Questions
- Have you taken the time to diagnose the organisational culture?
- Does the current organisational culture support the intended change?
- What changes in organisational culture do you anticipate as a result of the change?
- What are the values of the current organisational culture?
- What are the intended values of the proposed organisational culture?
- Are there any values conflicts? Where are the values the same?
Leadership:
Strong and appropriate leadership is one of the most vital ingredients to successful change. We place great emphasis on the word appropriate because different types of change require different leadership types
Typical Leadership Questions
- How flexible and adaptable is your current leadership team?
- What qualities do your current leadership exhibit?
- Are these qualities aligned to the strategic direction of the change?
- Are the leadership aware of the differences in the “as-is” and “to-be” cultures?
- Which change strategies are your leadership most comfortable implementing?
Sponsorship And Stakeholder Management:
Without the appropriate level of sponsorship from senior management to back the change leader you can expect a rocky ride while trying to implement the change. Sponsorship comes in a variety of guises such as emotional support for the users of the change, backing for the leadership, ensuring that funding is set aside for the whole programme. In order to gain traction with the sponsorship of the programme we recommend a thorough stakeholder management activity that spans the life of the change initiative.
Key Ideas For This Activity
- Have you carried out a thorough stakeholder analysis?
- Have you identified the important and influential stakeholders?
- Have you agreed a appropriate timeframe to provide feedback to the stakeholders?
- What information is most important to each stakeholder?
- What are the expectations of each stakeholder?
Buy-in:
In order to build momentum for your change initiative it is important to ensure that your change initiative has a critical mass of support right from the start. All too often we have been asked to come in and fix the mess or get an important change initiative back on track all because buy-in from the people whom the change is affecting were not consulted. This does not mean you have to gain permission before starting the change, but a certain amount of collaboration sharing so that they feel that they are a part of the change rather than victims of the change.
Asses The Level Of Buy-In Achieved
- Have the current users collaborated in the creation vision?
- How proactive have you been in seeking the opinion of the users of the change? What’s important to them i.e. what are their values? Have you carried out a values work exercise?
- How attached are the current users to the existing system? What do they like about the current system? Why might they not want to change?
- What are the fears of the current users of the new change? How are you reframing or dealing with those fears?
Communication:
We have save the best until last here. Communication has become an almost trite expression that easily runs of the tongues of senior management. Open and clear communication is the buzz-phrase that senior management believe will unpick the locks of the treasure chest of change management secrets. We would contend that in some instances it is appropriate to have closed or ambiguous communication. Openness and clarity may be the very keys that could open up a potential Pandora’s box of issues that could railroad a change initiative.
Communication Stratergy Questions
- Who are the interested parties?
- Have the stakeholders been prioritised according to their needs and potential impact on the change?
- What information is required to be communicated?
- Have you updated plans to ensure appropriate amount of time for communication?
- How much of the vision has been shared? Who with?
- Do the communication process, channels and content reflect the organisational values?