Corporate Change Management-Designing a High Level Change Entity

© 2010 Vision to Work, Inc. www. vision to work.com

Designing High Level Change

Creating an entity that provides for consistent and predictable change

to tie strategy to business objectives

Corporate Change Management

Garrett Gitchell President Vision to Work, Inc.

http://visiontowork.com


This paper will guide you to adjusting your perspective about corpo-

rate change, help rid you of status quo approaches and suggest steps

to ensure your organization and its people start and finish change

successfully, not just once, but consistently. Included are the initial

steps to the design of a corporate change management entity, lan-

guaging to communicate corporate change and discussion of how to

tie the context of work with the big picture/idea/end state.

Executive Summary

Executive Summary

CCM Changethat works

High Level Change

About5 W’sLanguagingFast ChangeTOC



Table of Contents

Executive Summary 2

Dealing with Fast Change 4

Establishing a High Level Change Entity 5

Corporate Change Management 5

Big Picture 6

Definitions and New Languaging 6

End State 7

Context 7

Corporate Change Management 7

Horizontals 8

Participation 8

Structure 9

The 5 W’s of Change 10

Why 11

Where 11

Who 11

What 12

When 12

How 12

A High Level Change Entity gives you… 13

Change that Works- Again and again 14

About Vision to Work 15



Dealing with Fast Change

C-level executives are faced with an increased pace for change coupled with a lagging ability to implement in a constantly changing environment. The environment necessitates collaboration, clear inter-action, understanding and a new kind of matrix organization.

Executives must be innovative and disruptive, better and faster than their competitors while leading, participating and modeling through-out change initiatives- a pull and tug that is difficult to sustain. It requires different and disparate skills, entrepreneurship/energy/moti-vation butting up against project skills and process strength.

Change Management has a similar push and pull.

One component is the participation in the change effort. The other is the structure and process that creates the path and the lists (action items and tactics).

This paper will illustrate how to balance, integrate and invest in these two broad areas of change management- Participation and Structure.

It will show how to view change with an end-state-back approach rather than a “fill in the gaps” now-to-then process. This is a signifi-cant perspective switch from the status quo.

Introduce and explain “horizontals”.

The five “W’s” of change- Why, Where, What, Who and When will be explained (and placed in the correct order for success).

CEO’s rate their ability to manage change 22 percent lower than their expected need for it — a “change gap” that has nearly tripled since 2006.

IBM. (2008). The Enterprise of the Future. White Paper

Executive Summary


High Level Change




Establishing a high level (VP and above) change entity in your orga-nization elevates the significance of change and ties that significance directly to the corporate strategy. Done correctly a balance between external and internal competencies can provide the skills to tie the change to the work and feed into a process that makes the right lists given to the most competent individuals.

We say “entity” because there must be the ability to morph and reshape to match the environment, the end state and resources. This is in contrast to a function that quickly becomes vertical, defined and structured.

You will be tempted to set this up just like other functions, with the same kind of performance system, the same hierarchy and the same politics. That would be an expensive recreation of what probably exits in your organization now. Your rewards will need to be different; your structure of reporting and collaboration will be different. Done correctly, you will include key external resources that view their per-formance as the accomplishment of business objectives and are not subject to the vagaries of internal politics.

To be successful this entity would need a high-level reporting struc-ture disconnected from any vertical function. It is important at this level of change management to have flexibility, equal connection throughout the organization and, most importantly, no organizational performance measurement ties.

The members of a Corporate Change Management Group must focus on people and strategic business objectives not their next perfor-mance review.

To structure the change entity this way is innovative, smart and dis-tanced from the status quo.

Establishing a High Level Change EntityCorporate Change Management

Executive Summary


High Level Change




Keep in mind that at the core of this new approach is the individual, context and strategic intent (or big picture, or greater good or busi-ness objectives).

In order to illustrate this perspective and differentiate, and distance this approach from current change methods we have coined new terms. The communication of the change process relies, when done well, heavily on languaging and culture. The following terms give you examples for this new language for change.

Big Picture

Can you lay out an overarching description of the change and the environment? That will be the Big Picture. The other terms we have heard (from stakeholders) are, “greater good”, “corporate strategy” and for governmental change “civic responsibility”.

Definitions and New Languaging

On a recent engagement we asked the question, “What would effective change management be for you?” to over 200 indi-viduals cross functionally in a Fortune 50 company. Various-ly worded, to a person the response was, “show me how my work fits in to the organization.”

Vision to Work, Inc. 2008 Fortune 50 Internal Survey

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High Level Change




End State

This is the description of the change completed.

That description may be different for different stakeholders.

The End State, will give stakeholders a vision and feeling of what their world will be like after the change. Once that description is in place, not before, then a path is illustrated.

With transformational change this could have very little to do with the current state. In fact including the current state and, especially starting with the current state is automatically a negative perspective (hence the resistance most initiatives get right at the start).

End State back is the crucial perspective for successful Corporate Change Management. That is very different from the status quo his-torical “gap” approach to change management.

Context

Stakeholders will always want and need to understand how their work fits in to the bigger picture, the path, the company, the external environment and the relation to other stakeholders. With a status quo, historical change management approach those stakeholders get either a list or a demand. Neither has much potential for motivation. An end state back approach forces a definition of context early on (you will see later in the paper that to determine stakeholders context must be defined).

Corporate Change Management

Change Management at the highest level in an organization. The CEO is the figurehead and leader and the first horizontal (C-level execu-tives and the Change Entity VP) guides implementation. This is our

Executive Summary


High Level Change




coined term because Organizational Change Management (OCM) typi-cally means any change that touches the organization, which is differ-ent from change in the whole organization. The other term thrown about is Enterprise Change Management. It too carries the “touches” definition and defines large scale IT projects (since they always touch the whole organization).

For the purpose of this paper and our work at Vision to Work, Corpo-rate Change Management is as much about the perspective, approach and methods as it is about the separate change initiatives (no matter who they touch or how big).

Creating a Corporate Change Management entity ensures a culture that understands change, approaches change from the people side equally with the business side and does so efficiently.

Horizontals

These are the invisible strings of connection, the matrix, which occurs when collaboration is necessary in organizations. Horizontals can be defined and included in the organizational structure. This is a consid-eration in creating a Corporate Change Management entity if formal-ization is important.

The most essential horizontal is the first row in the organization. This could be SVP’s, VP’s or the CEO/Board depending on the size of the organization. In terms of change initiatives, it is important that they can operate with shared purpose toward business objectives. Ad-dressing the competing objectives and resultant rewards that exist in all organizations (especially at this first horizontal) as roadblocks to change is essential in the design of a Corporate Change Management Group.

Executive Summary


High Level Change




Participation

Used to measure and communicate stakeholder contribution at dif-ferent times throughout a change initiative. Historical approaches to change management are immature in their ability to define degrees of participation. Stakeholders become confused when motivation and participation appear in the same sentence. There are times when we can participate with little motivation. It is crazy to expect all to be gung-ho from beginning to end, especially when some change pro-cesses last for years.

Structure

Corporate Change Management has a loose and malleable structure in terms of who will be involved in any particular change initiative. The process is structured when it gets to the PMO project level but that is more project management than change management (and they are not the same and work better in partnership because of skill dif-ferences).

A good and experienced Corporate Change Management consultant will have a structure to help guide the change, but it too has flexibility. It must.

Key elements to Corporate Change Management are translations and translation phases. Idea, Plan, Action and Use are the translation phases. There are roles in the transitions from phase to phase. These are the translators.

An example-

Idea to Plan might be a handoff from the CEO and an external consul-tant to the first horizontal and the implementation team (senior PMO and internal Change consultants).

Plan to Action a pass from the first horizontal/implementation team to the project team (PMO and junior change consultants internal and

Executive Summary


High Level Change




or external).

Action to Use the project team to Adoption team transfer.

The 5 W’s of Change

The five “W’s” of Why, Where, Who, What and When provide a basis for languaging, communication and understanding. They simply and clearly address people, process and framework. They help your orga-nization balance Participation with Structure.

The order these are presented is well thought out and in response to mistakes we have seen and feedback we have received from stake-holders of multiple projects. The distinct difference we present from current approaches is that four of the W’s are defined before ad-dressing When. This calms any sense of urgency (which goes against one historical approach we can think of) so that change can proceed smoothly.

Each one helps specific types of people (who could be one stakehold-er group). That help is the trigger for motivation.

Some people want to know why before they jump in.

Some people want to know where the change will land.

Some want to know who will be participating, when and at what level of accountability.

Some just want to know what they are supposed to do.

Some need a date to shoot for, when.

Executive Summary


High Level Change




Why

Change as an understandable, easy to communicate process starts with defining why. This is the first step to create the end state. It must include the CEO and leader connection to change (as stakeholders not leaders), a picture of what the environment and culture will look like, the improvements, the relationships, the interactions and the new technology (if applicable).

Where

With why you can determine where this change will land. This in-cludes all of the groups of people who may participate, be effected by or be aware of the change initiative. This is not just internal areas but also external partners, customers and the greater business environ-ment. At this point, there are no lists, no timelines, no procedures and no rules. Where is to build understanding of what this change is, how big an area it covers and get clear on strategy/big picture/vision and be ready to translate that into the end state.

Where benefits from the inclusion of expertise in the organization. Those called on to help with the definition will be stakeholders in the change process later with implementation. This early connection will be the glue to hold together wide reaching change. In a historical ap-proach, you might say these are the “champions”. They will certainly champion the change because they were included, but they will do it with their own motivation and not as cheerleaders.

Who

However tempted you may be to figure out what, Who is the next step. Who determines individual and group stakeholders and their general responsibilities. It is important to differentiate between who will participate and who will be effected by the change. This determi-nation is valuable for the communication process later in the timeline.

Executive Summary


High Level Change




little what, little when and little how…

These are items of secondary importance (to change management). This is the start of the lists, the timelines, the checkoffs, resource determination etc. We make them “little” because status quo ap-proaches, focus on these, especially with a PMO led change initiative. That focus is detrimental to the people/corporate strategy side of our equation (at least at the beginning). This is a differentiator in our ap-proach. People and strategy first; plan and action later.

What

Why, Where and Who have set up the frame work for the specifics of Action or, the big What. Now is the time to create a tight timeline for work effort. The project management PMO process can begin includ-ing formalization of resource and budget alignment, agreements and responsibilities. Metrics are also defined for process measurement.

When

The previous when (the little one) covered the planning of dates in the timeline. The When of the 5 W’s is the Adoption date or the date in which a transition to the new change has become inevitable. It is not necessarily the date of the end state, but close.

This date is the time to transition from work to use. The past, present and future must begin to tie together to form the End State.

When that date arrives, there must be celebration, support and a commitment to Adoption and or the behavioral change needed for the End State to be a success.

How

From a change management perspective How is the use of the right person at the right time with the right skills and competencies. If they are not present internally they will have to be contracted. How is also the process and approach to use throughout the change timeline.

Executive Summary


High Level Change




A High Level Change Entity gives you…

The creation of a Change Management Group gives your organization a way to address the people side of change. It provides the ability to create horizontal connections across functions with strategic corpo-rate business objectives as the glue to collaboration. Designed well the internal politics that resist a matrixed approach get pushed aside.

It is an easy entry point for external expertise and guidance. Chosen well those external consultants can also be part of your organizations Human Capital development program. Equally valuable is the easy link to operational effectiveness. Both the external and the internal team members will move through the organization differently than any existing resource up to and including the CEO. With a balance of change management and an eye for efficiency, the savings can cover the overhead.

The CM Group allows for a consistent and up to date approach to the management of change. There is the potential for the consolidation of communication if a good structure for the division of topics is includ-ed.

Since there are few Change Management groups within organizations that do not look just like the other functions there is the opportunity to highlight success as an advantage for recruiting. Innovations and firsts always draw talent.

In short, a well designed Change Management Group:

Addresses the people side of change at a high level of visibility•

Provides a resource avenue for external expertise•

Has the potential to facilitate operational savings•

Can streamline employee development•

Is a magnet for talent acquisition•

Executive Summary


High Level Change




Change that Works- Again and again

Today’s leaders have not been able to keep pace with the need

to manage change. They are pulled from one side with the expec-

tation of business results and on the other with the necessity of

addressing the people and the work involved. The design and in-

clusion of a Change Management entity operating at the highest

level of the organization, separate from the vertical/operational

status quo structure, narrows the gap between ability and need.

Focusing on connecting the context of work with the big picture/

corporate strategy ties motivation, realistically, to business ob-

jectives. The executive who understands the importance of this

description can innovatively balance People and Structure.

Adding a language of change to current culture through the ex-

pertise of the members of a Change Management Group ensures

consistency of approach and replicability. With the use of the

Five W’s of change- why, where, who, what and when- communi-

cation and approach acknowledge different people and different

perspectives.

With the right external and internal talent, operational savings

are pinpointed during change initiatives, employees can be devel-

oped in real environments and corporate strategy is given a clear

path to success.

The result is an organization that gains flexibility for innovation

and fast change.

Executive Summary


High Level Change




About Vision to Work

Vision to Work, Inc. is a management consulting firm specializing in

the design of Corporate Change Management capability, horizontal

implementation of change and human capital development.

Founded in 2000 by Garrett Gitchell, we work with our clients to

leverage change initiatives, develop client internal capability and im-

prove the efficiency of operations. We are unique in our approach to

change because we work at a high level in the organization and we

weave the change process into the culture. Because each culture is

different each engagement we partner in is also unique.

For the executive that means confidence that strategy has a path for

implementation and for the individual stakeholder it means a con-

nection between their work and the goals of the organization. The

result is the ability to address present efficiency and mold capacity

for current and future change.

For more insight visit us at: http://horizontalchange.com

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Corporate Change Management-Designing a High Level Change Entity

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