A warn reception or a cool change?
Change within organisations is not easy at the best of times. Planning and managing the change is critical to its success.
There are three items which you
may like to consider including in your plan before you start your change project. These are:
1. organisational systems
2. organisational culture
3. organisational structure
Organisational Systems
Typical organisations that manage projects as a part of their daily business tend to have systems in place to support change e.g. IT, consultants, and construction. Non project based organisations can present an additional challenge as systems tend not to be well defined. The key here is to make use of the systems already in place to support the change process. It's also worth developing new ones to make the change lasting.
Organisational Culture
Organisational cultures will have a direct impact on change. For example:
• A team proposing a high risk approach is more likely to get organisational support in an aggressive of entrepreneurial company.
• A highly participative leader is more likely to encounter problems in a rigid hierarchical organisation. The key here is to assess the style and plan your actions with "different strokes for different folks".
Organisational Structures
Functional groups are people grouped by function e.g. marketing, sales etc. Change for these groups needs to be delivered in a way that covers the boundaries of their specialty; too broad may see resistance.
Another group formation is a project structured organisation. Change here needs to be delivered with a broader brush as each team covers different functions.
Matrix organisations are a blend of the functional group and project group. Weak matrices could mean more characteristics of either the functional or project based organisation, either way clear responsibilities or roles and agreement from all parties is critical here as people often report to various individuals.
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Personally speaking
I hope you are all having a wonderful 2005, it's hard to believe that we are almost at the end of the first quarter.
Until next quarterly newsletter please feel free to contact me with any comments or questions about change or anything else you are facing when looking to improve performance.
Kind regards, Sam
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