In 2000, Blockbuster rejected a proposal from Netflix to buy the company for US$50 million because, said the Blockbuster CEO at the time, it was a “very small niche business” and it was losing money. Ten years on, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy. By 2018, Netflix reported annual revenues of US$15.8 billion.
Business leaders today realise the need to innovate, adapt and embrace the future in order to survive. More recently, ‘transformation’ programs are becoming a critical part of sustainable business strategies. Companies are investing heavily in order to secure their futures, however, despite a well-formed strategy many transformations are unsuccessful.
Given the significant investments being made, fool-proofing the transformation is critical. Adlerian Consulting has been involved in a number of complex change projects and over time has identified recurring themes that are critical to overcome for transformation success.
1. Don’t forget the “As Is”
When introducing a shared service model, implementing a digital transformation, outsourcing or off-shoring, some organisations overlook a thorough assessment of the current practices, processes and interfaces with other systems and roles. Instead, they jump straight to redesigning systems and processes in the “To Be” state. While this design is necessary work, without understanding the current state there is little understanding of what is actually changing, and therefore few targeted actions to manage those changes. As a result, “surprises” occur when a new process does not transition smoothly, customers are disappointed, employees are disrupted and errors abound.
2. Harmonise data, policies and practices before going digital
Many organisations leap straight to making the most visible changes – new systems, new organisational structures or new processes. Allow time to harmonise and simplify current practices and processes so they are in good order for the transition. The tedious task of cleaning data so new systems and processes work effectively is also important. This work will result in a smoother implementation and productivity improvements prior to going live. Without this step, there is likely to be a significantly more time and effort required in ‘stabilising’ new systems and ways of working. It’s about getting the inputs right.
3. Secure a consistent, active senior sponsor
The vast majority of organisations are very conscious of the need for senior leadership support and normally one or more senior people are appointed to a Steering Committee and/or Sponsorship role. However, in many cases, the responsibilities and need for active Leader Sponsorship are not well defined and Sponsors do not provide strategic guidance, political support and able to advocate for change. In that case projects flounder due to indecision, political resistance or lack of clarity.
4. More training and communication is not always the answer
Often something gets off track during a change process and feedback about a negative experience or failure is given to the project team. A typical knee-jerk reaction is to try and solve the problem with additional communication and/or training. While these responses may be appropriate and necessary, understanding the underlying cause and addressing this should be the first step.
5. Provide a clear definition of the changes
Most projects are able to articulate their benefits, including quantifying them in a business case. An important step that is often overlooked is to specifically define what is changing in simple, lay language. This is important for the project team but even more important for people whose work will change. For example, in the new world, how are routine tasks initiated? Have authorities to approve actions changed? Which roles will complete work for roles that no longer exist? How are issues escalated? Clearly defining these changes and then communicating them to everyone impacted is critical to effectively operationalising change.
6. Don’t over-estimate readiness to change or the size of change
Organisations frequently misjudge how difficult a transformation is to implement or how wide ranging the impacts will be. Often the focus is, quite rightly, on people whose roles are disestablished by a change and a strong but short-term focus on go live dates. Effectively managing change requires thinking broadly about who, what and when the impacts of change and incorporating these impacts into design and implementation of change. Treating change as a process rather than an event better achieves a transformation’s objectives. It is also prudent to assume that stakeholders’ readiness and capacity to change is low, particularly in an age where change is constant and many people have an ongoing sense of overload.
7. Putting ‘round’ project resources into ‘square’ project roles
Transformation projects do provide great career development opportunities for many in-house resources. But side-ways moves must made thoughtfully. A classic example is appointing a line manager who understands the business well and has strong relationships as a Project Director but is lacking Project Management experience. While that person’s capabilities are valuable to the project and are required within a transformation, they will not be best placed to drive and deliver key outcomes that only strong project management experience can achieve. Defining roles and skills prior to thinking about the ‘who’ will ensure that people appointed to project match the skill required.
This list of watch-outs is not exhaustive. There are many other related change management issues to navigate such as the influence of organisational culture, appetite for change, consideration of other major changes or business initiatives occurring concurrently and organisational capabilities. Adlerian Consulting works with organisations to ensure they have thoroughly planned, assessed and analysed all the implications of any change prior to embarking upon a transformation so thatthe right resources, appropriate sequencing of actions and other issues and risks are considered and in place for a successful transformation.
