Embrace Change as the Norm

Change is accelerating on many fronts. Economic, organisational, political, social, cultural.

Change is now inevitable for organisations, and needs to become 'core business'.

For too long, organisational change has been viewed too distinctly from other activities. However, business leaders increasingly needing to lead change in parallel with 'business-as-usual'.

"In 2018, out of 2,000+ managers, 47% reported that in order to survive, they needed to reinvent their business every three years or less" (Harvard Business Review, 2018).

And then 2020-21 arrived. I suspect a higher percentage of managers would now say that businesses need to reinvent themselves every few years.

Change needs to be normalised, not viewed as a specialist domain. For less complex changes, stakeholders need to adapt, evolve, and move forward as a collective. To achieve this, change maturity may need to increase within some organisations.

A Forbes article uses the analogy of increasing daily exercise to increase muscle and your metabolic rate (Forbes, 2021). It's a helpful analogy.

Where more complex changes necessitate external experts, the modus operandi of the project team can be planning for and delivering the change rather than treating it as a silo.

Imagine a future in which…

Regular organisational change is delivered successfully because employees consider change every day as their core responsibility (including responding to and highlighting emergent change [I will write a post specifically on emergent change in future - a very interesting topic]).

Leaders are conscious of changes being managed regularly and identify when more significant change and approach is required. Where more complex change is required, leaders reach out to experts as required, who integrate the change strategy in the project while building capabilities of the organisational staff.

Complex changes are delivered successfully because:

• Vision is well-defined and grounded in stakeholder needs.
• Objectives and timeframes are realistic.
• A multi-disciplinary team collaborates effectively, and each member engages directly in change.
• The change is broken down and implemented in smaller pieces (a lot of improvement is possible here).
• Stakeholders move through changes together (with regular endings and transitions).
• Staff activities, technology, business processes and data are viewed collectively as a system or organisms.
• Embed change in business-as-usual and benefits are achieved without delay. Staff and other stakeholders engage positively and reap rewards.

Support stakeholders on their change journey

Supporting staff and other stakeholders through the normal change curve can make a great deal of different. It's normal for stakeholders to experience feelings of shock and denial, and we can make the journey easier and more effective by supporting strategically and consistently. The Kubler-Ross model is displayed below.

Make impactful changes today

Are there changes you can make which will improve your organisation? Can you improve the vision, align expectations, open up communication, set achievable timeframes or scope, or increase stakeholder morale? Each organisation is different, and there may be ideas that come to mind now?

Let's take steps this week to position our team for success. There may be a handful of actions you can take.

Impactful change can be achieved relatively quickly, and I wish you success with making a difference!

Develop a Clear Vision of the Change

What benefit would your organisation gain from a more defined vision or strategy for change? Can stakeholder be more engaged in your change journey?