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Half of Change Projects don't Deliver - Part Two

Article by Malcolm Anderson

Click here to read Part 1 of this article.

In Part One of this article, noting the prevalence of change projects that weren't properly thought through, we explored the basic process required to drive change that will endure. This led us to consider the critical success factors (CSFs) for sustainable change, and we concluded by examining the first of these, the need to understand the demands of successful change. Now we will proceed to look at further CSFs.

CSF#2: Defining the Right Change to Make

'For every complex problem there is a simple, easy to implement, straight-forward to communicate, quick, cheap, and wrong answer' (Alan Ward)

Many people can identify with the above quote from painful personal experience. The answer is to use a structured process to ensure the right information is identified, the right people are involved, the right questions are asked, and the root cause is identified. This enables the right change to be outlined and the required change strategies and accountabilities defined. It is important to be aware that this approach applies if the core of the desired change is 'hard' (e.g. systems) or 'soft' (e.g. culture).

At changedrivers we have developed the VIA - Vision -> Into-> Action - process as our proven 'way' of making a direct link between a complex business problem and an implementable accountability plan. We use the VIA process to work with the senior management team to determine the desired future for the organisation. We then help the middle managers of the organisation to translate these goals into deliverable business plans. Our reasoning is simple. If you want to deliver real change, you must involve the accountable managers, their teams and the key stakeholders in the implementation process.

In the same way VIA can be applied to business or organisational issues at any level and within or across functions. So, what are the key factors that make such a structured process successful in devising the right change?

It must be structured, fundamentally simple and eminently repeatable

It has to involve all the key stakeholders to the issue(s) or it won't work

It must be capable of enabling the key stakeholders to achieve agreement on:

  • What the end result would ideally look like?
  • What the current situation is?
  • What kind of future is realistically deliverable in the necessary timeframe?
  • What the basic requirements of that future are?
  • What barriers exist the inhibit achieving the desired future?
  • What needs to be done - by whom - by when - to overcome those barriers?

There has to be top level commitment to time being spent to fix the issue once and for all and therefore to the follow through necessary to make change happen.

The whole process needs to be underpinned by prior research to ensure that the decisions taken are soundly based on data to support all the opinions!

CSF#3: Planning for Sustainability

Do we want our hard planned change to stay once we've made it? Of Course we do! But make no mistake, this is where change managers face 'the hard yards' because experience clearly shows that sustaining change requires special effort. This is where most managers need special help, because this is where most change programs fall flat. Sustainability requires two key pre-requisites which are hard for many managers to deliver:

  • The ongoing active commitment of all managers, especially senior managers
  • An understanding that sustainability requires and integrated and comprehensive approach

The 9 Essentials of Sustaining Change (The 9 E's)

That's why we at changedrivers created our model for sustaining change, the 9 E's, developed from the cumulative change consulting experience of our Principals during the last 20 years, coupled with the best in current management thinking.

9Es Model

Figure 1: The 9 Essentials of Sustaining Change

The Value of the 9E's

The model identifies nine organisational dimensions that require attention if change is to be sustained. Note that you do not have to make changes in all these areas, but you do need to take all into consideration if you mean to sustain the change you are planning. Also, be clear that the 9E's does not describe the process of change, it focuses your thinking on issues that will aid sustainability downstream, but must be considered up-front to be effective.

Click here for more information on the 9E's.

CSF#4 Managing the Project: Making Change Happen

Finally, change projects need careful, active and sustained management. Critically, change projects, like any other project, cannot be delivered without dedicated resources. While this topic, like many in this article, could be the subject of articles in themselves, suffice to say at this stage that if the project is not properly understood at the outset, the odds are that it will fail. At changedrivers we use the 7D model at the end of a rigorous VIA scoping workshop to articulate the required change in a series of Project Outlines. The 7Ds broadly works like this:

Developing Project Outlines: changedrivers' 7D Process

  • Definition
  • Deliverables andDeadlines
  • Dependencies andDemurrage
  • Development
  • Devolution

Definition

  • A concise statement of required outcomes that are to be achieved by the project team.
  • Must be written in terms of outcome, not method of achievement
  • Who will own the project?
  • Who will hold accountability for the elements?

Deliverables and Deadlines

  • A precise statement of the outputs that are expected from the project team
  • Clarity about when stakeholders are expecting delivery

Dependencies & Demurrage

  • What could go wrong that will stop your project delivering the promised improvements?
  • What can you do to effectively reduce the risk to your project?

Development

What are the 4S issues that will need to be addressed to deliver this project?

  • Systems & Processes
  • Structure & Resources
  • Skills & Knowledge
  • Stakeholders & Motivation

Devolution

  • When the project's job is done, who is going to own the ongoing process?
  • What are the transition issues that the project needs to address?
  • To what degree do the eventual owners need to be involved in the development process?
  • How will you generate ownership for the solution?
  • When do they need to be included in the work?

At the end of it all, it is rigorous, holistic and sensitive management of the project strands that is required to deliver coordinated change that leads to the embedding of the systems, the leveraging of people's behaviour and the sustainment and enhancement of productivity.