Violent or non-violent organisation change?

As you look around the world in 2011 societal change has tended to be more violent than not. The “Arab Spring” has since  18 December 2010 seen revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt; a civil war in Libya; civil uprisings in Bahrain, Syria, and Yemen; major protests in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco and Oman, as well as minor protests in Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Western Sahara.

The role of Government is to provide that thin veneer of “civilisation” that involves keeping the populace if not deliriously happy at least happy enough so that they operate with some sort of cohesion and pursuit of common objectives. The recent riots in Greece and England are outward signs of underlying discontent and as economic conditions around the world continue to deteriorate we can expect a broadening of this phenomenon.

And of course the same applies to the agencies of society. There may not be blood on the floor but the outcomes can be as least as traumatic for the participants. Just ask anyone who has been through a merger and acquisition in the corporate world  or a Departmental overhaul in the public sector. My advice has always been that if there is to be blood on the floor just make sure that none of it is your own and that takes a particular skill set.

Change Activist Skill Sets

From personal experience and a lot of observation I have compiled the following as the essential set of abilities necessary to be a competent change agent:

• be very clear about your objectives, laser focus, no distractions
• be committed and motivated almost to the point of obsession
• be a leader who galvanises; who engenders support and commitment and fosters action
• have emotional intelligence – (reality testing, problem solving, stress tolerance and impulse control)
• work in a manner that is inclusive (make sure everyone else has skin in the game)
• communicate, communicate, communicate
• be aware of your own worth in the world; have a sense of self-esteem and the armour to protect it
• be fit and well, physical and mental stamina are both essential

A change agent has to be able to work well outside their comfort zone; consistently and for long periods to the point where other people wonder if they have a comfort zone at all.

This is the first in a series of posts that will deal with different aspects of Change Management.

A. Short Definition of Change Management

a) General Management

Change management is really a structured strategy for moving people, groups, along with businesses from some present-day situation to a new
desired future state. It is deemed an organizational method aimed at empowering employees to accept and embrace modifications to their particular
current business situation.

b) Project Management

In project management, change management is the term for a governance course of action where modifications to a project are officially brought
in and authorized at the appropriate organisational level.

B. Types of Organizational Change

• Changes to the Mission
• Strategic changes
• Operational changes
• Structural changes
• Technical changes
• Organisational Culture Changes

Organizational Change Management is a multidisciplinary procedure which has developed as a result of comprehensive analysis over many decades. Organizational Change Management should begin with a methodical diagnosis of the current situation in an effort to ascertain both the necessity of change together with the ability of the organisation to transform. The particular goals, content material, and steps that are proposed to be involved in the change ought to be specified within a Change Management Plan.

Change Management techniques can include creative marketing to allow communication amongst the various audiences that will be involved in the change. They also require a profound social understanding in respect of the leadership styles of the organisation’s management as well as group dynamics. As a generalization of the overall process, Organizational Change Management lines up groups’ hopes, communicates, integrates teams plus handles people training. It makes use of overall performance metrics, like financial outcomes, operational efficiency, management commitment and communication usefulness. The Plan should clearly identify the need for change, design suitable strategies to implement the proposed changes with minimal disruption to the organisations operations and it should clearly outline the expected benefits that are expected to arise from the change as well as the method to be employed to realize those benefits.

C. Elements Often Required in Order to Ensure Success

A written plan that has whole of life costing and pricing of all aspects of the proposed implementation as well as a clear statement about the expected benefits from the change and the measurement system to be employed to ensure that those benefits accrue.

A written and authorized project plan, clearly identified sponsors for the different aspects of the project and very clear project governance procedures. Items usually included are registers for project assumptions, risk and issue registers and mechanisms to handle escalation and de-escalation, dependencies, a clear budget and registers to record cost variations as well as societal issues (or extra-organisational events) that impact upon the project plan.

Benefit management plans as well as project close-out procedures to specify quantifiable stakeholder goals that will produce the organizational scenario that was included in the original business plan.

Efficient conversation options in which shows stakeholders at whatever organisational level of a reasons behind the changes, the advantages of successful completion of the change process (what is in it for us, and the organisation) and also information of the progress of the project (when will this happen? in which area are things to happen? who’s involved in the process? the expected cost of the changes? and so on).

A plan in place to take care of expectations through the entire enterprise and counter any resistance from any of the organisation’s stakeholders, at whatever level.

Skill upgrading strategies that include useful training, teaching and/or knowledge that will be necessary to carry out the new processes, practices and procedures across the organisation. This can include specific counseling (if needed) to alleviate change connected fears.

The follow-up posts on this issue will appear shortly.