Changing Strategy

Change is not a new experience for most organizations. What is new however, is the pace at which change is occurs. The ability to introduce and manage change has become an area where business can gain a significant competitive advantage.

Any organization can be divided into four components: business processes, technology, human (personnel) and organizational structure. Process improvement generally focuses on the first two elements. The key to successful integration of your solution, however, lies in the remaining segments.

With that in mind, we tend to view change management as “organizational alignment.” It is the management of the heart of an organization—its people and the infrastructure that supports them. It involves understanding values, beliefs, attitudes, coaching and team building while managing reward systems, human resource policies, training, planning, communication and execution. Introducing change to an organization is no different than any other project or initiative. It requires understanding and planning.

Over the past several years, I have implemented a number of change management strategies, each unique, depending on the maturity of the organization. Organizational change is a process. It’s not a single event or milestone within a project plan. While each plan has been unique, they have all encompassed six critical components…