The Change Architecture – Getting The Most From Your Strategic Plan

By Dawn-Marie Turner, PhD

A strategic plan is your organization’s road map; it defines where the organization needs to go, why it needs to go there, and what it needs to do to get there. Now more than ever an organization needs a strategic plan to guide its decisions and actions. It is an essential tool for business success Read more

The Change Management Methodology – Getting the Value Intended

by Dawn-Marie Turner, PhD

In part one of this article I shared the benefits of using a change management methodology. In this article, I will share how combining the intangible people side of change with the concrete organizational elements of change can increase the value of your change management methodology. Successful change leaders understand the underlying dynamics of change. They have learned it is not enough simply to move through the steps of a methodology.

Change has two distinct dimensions. One dimension is the change event. The change event is visible and concrete, with a defined beginning and end. Some of the activities of managing the change event include, creating a vision or intended outcome, documenting processes, establishing a change management team, and implementing training. The other dimension is what I call the Whitespace. The Whitespace is intangible and internal to the individual. It has a less defined beginning and end. Some of the activities associated with this dimension include, enabling the conversations of change and facilitating the change process.

Due to the abstract or intangible nature of the Whitespace, it often gets overlooked in the typical project deliverable approach to managing change. When this happens you risk losing an essential element for change success. In the white space individuals turn knowledge about the change into the actions necessary to achieve and sustain the intended outcome.

Change affects the entire organization

Applying systems thinking to your change management efforts can help you get greater value from your change management methodology. In a systems approach the change is managed from the perspective of the whole organization and the people affected. From a systems perspective no organizational change is an isolated event.

Leaders who manage change from a systems-based approach know that every organizational change is like the pebble thrown into the pond. They know each change causes a ripple throughout the organization. These ripples can either increase or decrease your organization’s change capability.

The DEAM© methodology has been designed with the ripples in mind. It does not replace knowledge with a series of steps. DEAM©’s activities and processes support the iterative nature of the change process. It allows you to circle back to key activities to support individuals as they move through the change process and as you enable different levels of the organization to engage and commit to the change. It provides a structure to guide your knowledge of the change process, the response of the individuals involved and the context of the change for your organization.

If you are not using a systems based change management methodology (like DEAM©) here are three things to consider that may help you get more value from your methodology:

  1. Am I using the methodology to add structure and guide my knowledge of the change process?
  2. Have I incorporated the activities needed to facilitate within the white space with the activities needed to manage the change?
  3. Am I taking a systems view of the change for the organization and the people affected?

The Change Management Methodology – A Useful Tool for Organizational Change

by Dr. Dawn-Marie Turner

A change management methodology is helpful a tool in your organizational change toolbox. But like any tool, you will get better results when you know what it can and can’t do, and how to use it effectively. In part one of this two part article we explore the nature and purpose of a change management methodology, its value as an organizational change tool, and what you should look for when choosing one.

The failure rate of organizational change remains unacceptably high. Some researchers place it as high as 70 per cent. So it is no surprise that leaders are looking for ways to reduce the risk and stem the tide of failure. For many, a change management methodology holds the promise of a solution — a way of gaining control of the proverbial organizational change “monster”. Sadly, too many leaders believe that simply by using a change management methodology they are “doing” change management.
A methodology is definitely an important starting point. A change management methodology is a structured set of steps for planning and implementing organizational change. Like other methodologies, (e.g., project management, business process re-engineering) it provides a consistent framework for decision-making and guides the activities of the change leaders.

Five key benefits of a change management methodology

  1. Helps ensure that you do not overlook key activities.
  2. Provides you with pre-tested tools and techniques to help with planning and implementation.
  3. Allows you to use resources more effectively.
  4. Offers a consistent language that leaders can use to guide the specific communication, behaviours and activities that can enable change in the organization.
  5. Can be used as the basis for educating leaders throughout the organization.
Having a methodology, though, is only part of the solution. Unless the people using it have an underlying knowledge of the change process, it can be reduced to a set of check boxes and activities that may or may not enable change in your organization.
The key to getting full value from your methodology lies in your ability to read and respond to the people side of your change.

Three things to consider when choosing a change management methodology:

  1. Its principles and philosophy are based in behavioural, organizational and change science.
  2. It can be adapted easily for large or small projects and a wide variety of leadership styles
  3. It is integrated and iterative. Your change management methodology should be able to integrate fully with other methodologies your organization is already using. Change does not occur in a neat series of steps so it should also recognize the iterative nature of organizational change.
In part two I will explore how looking at change from both the perspective of the organization and the people in it can help you get more from your change management methodology. (Read part two: The Change Management Methodology – Getting the Value Intended)

Helping you launch lead and live change successfully.

Dr. Dawn-Marie Turner
2015 LLC change leaders binder

Learn the DEAM methodology of organizational change. Living and Leading Certificate Program

7 Tips from Change Management to Help You Keep Your New Year’s Resolution

by Dawn-Marie Turner, PhD, CMC

Planning to lose weight in 2011? Spend more quality time with family? Advance your career? Applying the elements of change management to your New Year’s resolution can help you be more successful in reaching your goal.

Remember, all change is personal change, and the esssential elements of organizational change management are rooted in the study of how individuals move through change.
So whether you have never made a New Year’s resolution or you always make one, here are seven things you can do to set yourself up for success.

1. Confirm your need to make the change. Every change begins with need. Before taking action toward your resolution write down the answers to the following questions:

  • Why do I need to make this change in my life?
  • Why do I need to make it now?
  • What will happen if I am not successful with this change?

2. Establish a clear outcome that you want to achieve. Be specific. Describe how you will look, and what you feel when you have achieved your goal. Write it down or draw a picture. Keep it with you and look at it at often. I mean really look at it – so that you can see and feel yourself achieving the outcome. I will often carry my outcome on a small index card or on my iPod.

3. Prepare your environment for the change. This means ensuring your environment will support the change you are trying to make.

Last year I made a resolution to become physically fit. One of the things I quickly realized was that to be successful I had to exercise. Finding the time to exercise meant rearranging of my schedule. Easier said than done. Initially I just blocked off time in my calendar. The first month that is all that happened — the time was booked in my calendar. However, each time I reallocated the time or just ignored the reminder, I acknowledged the conscious choice I was making to give up the time.

Regardless of how many times I reallocated it, I continued to schedule exercise time in my calendar. Why? Because when I was ready to take action the time was already available. If I had not prepared my environment I probably would never have taken action. Seeing the calendar item come up each week reminded me that it was not that I didn’t have time, it was that I was choosing to use it for something else. The calendar also helped to reinforce why I made the resolution and the outcome I wanted to achieve.

4. Adopt the language of the change you want to create. Change begins with language. Both our internal and external conversations shape our view of the change and our transition. Pay particular attention to your internal conversation – ensure it supports your change journey.

5. Asses your readiness for the transition you will need to make. Every change requires us to leave the comfort of what we know and move into the unknown. When adopting change we all move through the continuum of change. This continuum consists of five phases: no problem, awareness, discovery, implementation, and new steady state. The continuum represents your change journey, and there are no short cuts. Learning to assess where you are in your change journey is a powerful tool that can help you achieve success.

6. Create a plan. Not just a list of activities but a plan that supports your journey. See tips 1-5.

7. Celebrate your successes – even the little ones. Maintaining your New Year’s resolution is a journey, not an event. Peter Drucker once said when we focus on our strengths, our weaknesses become irrelevant.

Wishing you health, happiness and prosperity in the New Year and always.

Exploring Organizational Change Best Practice: are there any clear-cut models and definitions?

Jacob Hallencreutz, Dr. Dawn-Marie Turner

This paper explores whether there are some existing widespread and common models and definitions for organizational change best practice in the literature. Read more