Change Management Checklists: Organization Design

Back when I was part of the Human Performance team at Accenture, getting an Org. Design role was the holy grail of Change Management projects.  This was largely because they were rare.  And they were rare because many companies simply don't want to tackle this messy topic while going through an already difficult change.  I would argue, however, that Org. Design is part of ensuring that the change sticks.

Instead of detailing here a checklist of top 10 Org. Design activities, for the last Pillar of Change I'm going to list instead 10 questions you should ask yourself about Org. Design when your company is undergoing a change.

Top Ten Organization Design Questions

• Do I have the right number of people to perform the work after the change is implemented?
• Do my people have the right skills to work in the new world?
• If not, can I upskill them?
• If they can't be upskilled, can I move them into a different role in the organization, or do they need to be moved out of the organization?
• Do the current job descriptions need to be revised based on new job and role responsibilities?
• Do we need to do a remuneration review to ensure compensation is still appropriate for new responsibilities?
• Does the overall organization structure still make sense?
• Do the new and/or existing teams need to change the way they interact?
• Does the reporting structure support the change?
• Have you reviewed the positions you are currently hiring for to ensure they are still required/appropriate in the new world?

Let me know: Does your organization address Org. Design as part of Change Management?

Change Management Checklists: Training

Training is a huge topic.  It encompasses training analysis, training development, training delivery, training evaluation, and infinite variations on those topics.  Narrowing this down to 10 major activities is difficult, but I think I'm up to the challenge.

Training Activities

• Collaborate with the corporate Learning & Development department (if your organization has one)
• If you think something is self explanatory and doesn't require training, think again.  Never assume that people will be able to "figure it out."
• Conduct a training needs analysis
• Remember that training comes in many shapes and forms.  The best approach to training is often blended learning.  Learn it, love it, use it.
• Create a training curriculum
• Training development takes a lot of time.  A LOT.  In the words of scuba divers everywhere, "Plan the dive.  Dive the plan."
• Develop the training
• Deliver the training
• Create a sustainable training plan that will allow you to deliver training on an ongoing basis to people who may have missed the initial training (e.g., people on vacation or maternity leave, new hires) or who need an occasional reminder
• Evaluate the training...and improve it, as appropriate

Let me know: What are the main activities you consider when planning a training program?

Change Management Checklists: Communication

You could write an entire blog dedicated to communication (in fact, I believe there may be one or two out there).  I'm going to try to condense all of that information into my top 10 communication activities. Read on...

Communication Activities

• Collaborate with the Corporate Communications department (if your organization has one)
• Conduct a vehicle analysis
• Conduct an audience analysis
• Determine the review process for various types of communications and vehicles
• Create a detailed communication plan
• Write communications - keep them short, simple, and relevant
• Spell check, grammar check, and have someone else do a second review
• Develop and monitor feedback channels - remember...communication is a two-way activity!
• Update your communication plan based on feedback you receive
• When you think you've communicated enough, communicate more

Let me know: What is the most effective communication you have ever received at work?

Change Management Checklists: Stakeholder Management

I'll get right to it.

Stakeholder Management Activities

• Conduct a Stakeholder Analysis
• Develop a checklist of behaviors stakeholders should demonstrate by the end of each project phase
• Identify how far along the change curve you want each stakeholder group to be at specific points throughout the project
• Create a Stakeholder Management plan
• Conduct a Change Impact Assessment
• Create a plan to involve stakeholders in the project
• Remember that project team members are stakeholders, too
• Prepare to help stakeholders through the inevitable performance dip that accompanies a change
• Work with Human Resources and your organization's leadership to identify ways to motivate your stakeholders to adopt the change
• Celebrate every time a stakeholder group successfully adopts the change

Let me know: Do you agree with this list?  What else would you add?

Change Management Checklists: Sponsorship

My apologies, Readers.  I have slacked the last two months with updating this blog.  Keep your reading glasses handy, though, because I plan to become much more prolific.

In my last post, I listed what I consider the Five Pillars of Change.  Here, I'll provide a list of activities to keep in mind as you create the Sponsorship portion of your Change Management program.

Note that not every Change program needs to include every item on the list.  Based on the size of your organization, the complexity of the change, and your company's culture, you can pick and choose the activities that will provide the greatest value in helping people adopt the change.

Although it is important to have a comprehensive Change program, and skimping on necessary activities can adversely impact the adoption of the change, including too many activities just for the sake of checking them off a list can be harmful, too.  Carrying out activities that don't add value:

1. Causes people to question the value of all Change Management activities - even those that are essential for success
2. Overwhelms your stakeholders and can lead to burn out
3. Pulls resources - both time and money - from activities that deserve the most focus

With that said, I hereby present a list of Sponsorship activities for your consideration.  This list is not 100% comprehensive, but it will give you a good start in developing a Sponsorship plan.

Sponsorship Activities

• Identify project Sponsors
• Establish project Governance
• Build a Steering Committee
• Develop a Change Agent plan
• Create a Change Agent/Super User Network
• Involve all sponsorship groups in relevant areas of the project early and often...gather and incorporate their feedback, as appropriate
• Develop consistent communications to keep Sponsors and Change Agents informed
• Provide early training for members of all sponsorship groups
• Say, "Thank you" - often and with sincerity
• Be available to help and support all sponsorship groups as they carry out their sponsorship activities

Let Me Know:  Do you agree with this list?  Is there anything else you would add?

The Five Pillars of Change

While I thoroughly enjoyed writing the last few posts as part of the Virtual Book Club, I'm now feeling the need to get super practical.  So, my next set of posts will focus on the actual activities that make up a Change Management program.  I won't be able to include every activity (it's a very long list), but I will provide a fairly comprehensive set of check lists that will get you started in creating your Change Management plan.

I'll be breaking the check lists down based on what I call the "Pillars of Change."  They are:

• Sponsorship (about which I have very strong feelings)
• Stakeholder Management
• Communication
• Training
• Organization Design

As far as I'm concerned, all Change Management activities fall into one of these five pillars.  When you create your plan, you pick and choose a set of activities from each pillar based on the needs of your project and organization.  You then create a timeline based on when each activity is due (based on the larger  project plan) and how long it will take to complete, and voila!  You have the beginning of a Change Management plan.

Coming up first: Sponsorship activities

Let Me Know: Do you think these five pillars cover all Change Management activities?

And Then a Miracle Happened

Welcome to the last installment of Practical Change Management's Virtual Book Club (VBC).  The discussion question I posed in my last post was:

The Question
On page 36, Chip and Dan discuss solution-focused therapy and begin to talk about the Miracle Question: "Suppose that you go to bed tonight and sleep well.  Sometime, in the middle of the night, while you are sleeping, a miracle happens and all the troubles that brought you here are resolved.  When you wake up in the morning, what's the first small sign you'd see that would make you think, 'Well, something must have happened - the problem is gone!'?"  How can the Miracle Question be used to improve overall projects and Change Management programs?

My Answer
Have you ever seen a presentation where someone describes the problem in great detail, lays out all of the wonderful benefits you'll see when they solve the problem, then in the middle where the actual solution should be they just have a big cloud with the words, "And then a miracle happened?"

I certainly have, and I find that people typically aren't very impressed with this image.  I think, though, that this slide relates back to the Miracle Question posed in solution-focused therapy, and I believe there is a legitimate place for it in projects.

I have seen so many projects grind to a halt because of "Analysis Paralysis."  The team faces a complex, overwhelming problem.  They want to make sure they develop a comprehensive, well-designed solution that will completely resolve the problem in a way that makes everyone happy.  To do this, they start doing research.  They begin to design the solution, but they aren't sure it's the best solution.  So, they do more research.  They tweak their design.  They're still not sure it's perfect.  So, they do more research.  They make some more updates.  They still have some doubts about the solution.  So, they do more research...

The cycle can continue indefinitely.  Eventually, they just give up, and instead of at least having a good solution, they're just left with the original problem.

This is where miracles come into play.

By posing the Miracle Question, "What's the first small sign you'd see that would make you think...'The  problem is gone!'?", the team can move from trying to solve a complex problem in one fell blow to focusing on the most visible, important part of the solution that they want to achieve.  All they have to do is create a solution that will bring about that "first small sign."

Focusing on this one piece of the solution will:

• Narrow the scope of the problem they're addressing
• Reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed, increasing their confidence in their ability to successfully tackle the problem
• Focus their research and development efforts
• Break the Analysis Paralysis cycle

Once the team has achieved the "first small sign," they can go back and ask the Miracle Question again, deciding what the next "small sign" would be.  

They are once again in a cycle, but now, instead of being in a research cycle that leads to the ultimate demise of their project, they have entered a "doing" cycle that will lead them step-by-step to a full and successful solution.

Let Me Know: How would you use the Miracle Question to make your project successful?  Do you think it could help your team break out of the Analysis Paralysis trap?