All organizations must be making changes in order to survive. Being very successful today does not mean that they will be successful in the future as the world is rapidly changing. So, even a profitable business today will be will eventually be loosing money if it is not effectively managing change. The only choice a business has is to be either proactive or reactive. The proactive approach is a much more desirable approach. The key is how to be proactive and effectively manage change.
The first step is for the leadership team to decide that pro actively managing change is a very high priority. Leaders devoting the appropriate amount of time to the process demonstrate its priority. Most organizations can accomplish this in one day per month if done on a consistent basis. You cannot afford to wait until you “have time”. Setting a standing time each month for the work and adhere to the schedule is critical. Many leaders so busy fighting fires that they feel they do not have time to pro actively manage their business. They take the reactive approach.
Teamwork on the part of the leadership team is critical. Without it the process will not work. All leadership teams feel they function like a team. However, most are in denial. If a leadership team has not gone through formal training and does not use a facilitator the team would likely fail any formal assessment of teamwork effectiveness. As just one example, if the leadership team cannot reach a true consensus of the vision they want to achieve, the chance of achieving it is zero.
A structured process is required. The Managing Change Process model on this page is a visual representation of a process that could be used. It has been in use for more that ten years. The process has withstood the test of time in that initial clients are still using it. A very brief description of the process is as follows:
Vision: Documents that describe at a high level what the organization is trying to achieve
Strategies: High-level guides that will assist the organizations with achieving the Vision
Measurement: How will progress be measured; a report card
Initiatives: The small number of most important changes to make
Implementation: How to successfully implement each Initiative
Monitoring: The ongoing meeting process for the leadership team for guiding the change process
This Blog will be used to share the details of the Managing Change Process referenced above. It will be updated every two weeks. Questions can be sent to me and all will be answered unless I am overwhelmed.
Jim Rose
