2010 February | Horizontal Change Management

Where are we and how do I fit in? Change Management Communication for the Stakeholder

Successful change management communication informs stakeholders of the time and place for their work.

Time-

is the relationship of stakeholder work and participation to the total amount of time for the initiative, the time frame of the phase(s) they are included in and the period they will need to accomplish their tasks.

Place-

is the relationship of that work to participation and tasks that occur before and after their own (and possibly a connection of importance to the bigger picture).

Well of course this is simple time and project management right? If we communicate what is happening then

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Planning for Change from the Beginning- Change Management for fast growth companies

Plan ahead for levels of growth by structuring your organization with a change component.

Each layer of growth in a firm typically adds a layer of titles; each new title has the potential to create a new silo. Eventually it becomes difficult to move the organization fast enough to grow again.

If from the first stage of growth someone is responsible for horizontal connections (collaboration, communication, training across functions, diagonal mentoring etc) your culture will build around working together on the companies business objectives.

That person, CEO, founder, COO, VP of Change or external change

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One future of Change Management- Up high, partly inside and boutique

Trends I am seeing that will influence change management’s future-

Stakeholders get it- often more so than their leaders Executives are trying to establish control over the various organic change movements within their organizations External consultants are endlessly debating the definitions of project management (PM) and Organizational Change Management (OCM) The Big 3+ firms are subbing independents for strategy and high level change work PMO’s are being used less and less as the placement area for change agents and change management consultants Change consultants are being moved from function to function (rather than serving as HR business partner types)

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The most important word for the leadership of Change Management? Empathy

Empathy (just in case you missed that)

Technorati Tags: CEO, change management, Garrett Gitchell, vision to work

The path of least resistance- powerful change

In a previous “life” I was a rafting guide.

I used to marvel at the patterns that took place in the flow of the river. There was always a path where the water moved the swiftest and the smoothest. When it encountered the resistance of rock or sand bar it would move over the top if powerful enough or deflect into the path of less resistance.

Guides usually choose to follow that least resistant path. Most of the time I was no different. Occasionally though, on contemplative or mischievous days, I would seek the eddies, the slower

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End State- Change Management’s Pot of Gold

At the End State lies the alignment of vision, process and people/behavior change to business objectives. There you will find a Pot of Gold full of capital for the next initiative-if you can navigate the change path. It is winding, meandering and typically only the first leg is clear. To smooth out the journey it helps to visualize the last leg of the trip and to be clear about the end state. Like a stream down a hill the path will then appear.

What is the End State?

The environment that exists after change has taken

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C-level leverage of your Change Management Trusted Advisor

You do have one?

Placing an external change management resource high in an organization is incredibly powerful. Leveraging that power in a way that is honest and effective is an approach few C-level executives choose to use. I will make the assumption that this is a tool at the bottom of the box that you did not know you had.

This is what has happened when I have lived this role for a client-

The employees are shocked and surprised like a kid who gets two pieces of candy at the store instead of one.

Because this makes

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