Your Team's License To Make Changes Change Teams can't use the normal chain of command to make change. If they did, nothing would get accomplished because the Change Team's work threatens the stability of the normal chain of command. So, there must be some mechanism to give them the authority to make the changes they intend, bypassing company bureaucracy. Change Teams must have great freedom to develop their own initiatives for transformation. But, the team's initiative must also be aligned with the vision the outlined in the Charge for Change. The Change Initiative must adhere to other rules and criteria the organization has adopted to set boundaries and direction for the transformation effort. To address these challenges, each Change Team works under a "License to Change" that provides the authority to work only on legitimate initiatives. A Change Team creates (in writing) its own License to Change. The Change Team's license defines its relationship to the company. In its license, the Change Team declares its Change Initiative legitimate -- within the boundaries, rules and criteria set by the organization's leaders. It also identifies where in the company it will focus and whom will likely be affected by the team's work. So, can the Change Team do anything it wants as long as it writes out a License to Change? Not for long. Both Champions and Team Coaches are trained to carefully check a team's license before agreeing to work with the Change Team. They must decline if they believe the initiative is out of bounds. No Champion? No Coach? Then there is no legitimate Change Team. Most faulty licenses will be caught by one or both of these people. Anyone in the organization has a right to see -- and challenge -- a License to Change (expect strong opponents to do this early on). When someone challenges the team's license, the Change Team should advise its Champion and Team Coach as soon as possible. Then the Change Team must carefully consider the merits of the challenge. If the team decides that it is, indeed, in bounds, it must notify the challenger, and then it can continue with its change work. If the team realizes the challenger is right, it must revise its license to get it in bounds. And, it must advise the challenger of the change. Then the team can get back to the work of change. Senior Sponsors can always step in and revoke a license they judge to be out of bounds. After all, the authority to transform the company -- the authority behind the license, itself -- came from them in the first place. What about Change Initiatives that are in bounds, but just stupid? Or impossible? Or too expensive? Or way too disruptive? In that case, you can bet a Change Team will find it almost impossible to get the resources needed to proceed. And if the Change Team does get the resources, we bet the resistors and the opponents to the initiative will bog it down and stop progress. The License to Change works to keep all ongoing initiatives headed in the same direction and also helps the Change Team focus its initiative. Typically, a License to Change answers questions like the ones on the sample worksheet below. LICENSE TO CHANGE Worksheet In order for your Change Team to license itself, it must appropriately address the criteria for initiatives on this worksheet. 1. What is your Change Initiative? 2. What work processes or systems will this initiative permanently change? 3. What results will this Initiative produce? 4. What customer needs will it address? 5. What value does it add for customers? 6. How might the initiative increase shareholder value? 7. What is the estimated revenue and/or cost impact of this initiative? 8. What is the estimated time from start to finish to implement the initiative? 9. What are the On-track Indicators during implementation of the initiative? 10. What are the Off-track Indicators during implementation of the initiative? 11. How will this initiative preserve our quality certifications? 12. Who are the team members? 13. How is the team cross-functional in its composition? 14. How is the team cross-level in its composition? 15. How is the team diverse in perspective or background? 16. Who is the team's Champion? 17. Who is the team's certified coach? 18. Did all team members volunteer? 19. Does the team agree to bring the initiative to closure? 20. How does the team intend to maintain team performance in implementing the Change Initiative? Change Teams functioning without a valid license rarely last long. There are just too many people out there who would like to see the team go away. Written by Veronica Boaz, Heidi Jeanne Hess and Doug Wesley (Earl Thompson contributed, James Lloyd edited) Check Point (Please complete and submit the Form below) When
you are finished Updated: July 5, 1998 |
