Cultural Change Management Analysis for Technology & Life (2 of 5)

In my previous post about the private organization that wanted a Data Dictionary, but had reluctance to do some foundational work to make the initiative a long-term success, I touched on the idea of Cultural Change Management – the ability for people and departments to “play well together.”

There are a number of factors that can cause situations to fester and result in poor culture.  Although this private organization did not have all of these, here are a few symptoms to be aware of:

·      Executives that don’t walk the talk

·      Management more concerned with CYA than taking responsibility

·      Management more willing to take credit than give credit

·      Micromanaging and managing by fear or power exertion

·      The “challenge-your-decisions” atmosphere

·      Enabling poor performance

·      No all-business goals aligned throughout the organization

·      Not understanding the relationships between capacity, resources, project dependencies, demand, productivity and efficiency to reach the best sequential prioritization of projects

As you can see, these are entirely the responsibility of the Executive and Management teams … because, as they go, then the employees will follow.

So, here are some tools, exercises and attitudes to follow to build the appropriate culture:

·      Have a model to follow for change – This will create an environment of knowing expectations. If you do it this way every time, then there will be fewer surprises and everyone will know what it will take for change to get accepted, coordinated and implemented. Here’s a classic six-step approach:

1.     Define the project – Is it worthy?

2.     Understand the Current Workflow – You have to know where you are.

3.     Develop the Optimal Workflow – Based on what you know now.

4.     Implementation Development – A step sometimes omitted.  You can’t implement without it being contextual.

5.     Implementation – The best ones are those that are well planned.

6.     Ongoing Maintenance – It won’t run itself.

7.     The Silence  - Sit back and bask in the glory of success.

·      Hire an executive in charge of culture – This person should only have reporting responsibility to the CEO/President.  There will be no agenda for his/her motives, just the good of the company.  It takes a special breed to avoid the politics, but they are out there.  Find one.

·      Nurture your evangelists – Find those people with passion in your organization and help them develop.  Don’t hold them back.

·      Find out what are perceived and what are real resources. If you’re going to take on change, it might have to be a trade off for other duties, projects or initiatives.  Your resources will need the time to serve the project appropriately.  Give them that time for success – the short-term loss will yield long-term success.

·      Don’t allow anonymity – If it’s going to be said, it needs to come from a source. If the source isn’t willing to provide a face to the comment, then there is no comment.

·      There needs to be a sacred place to meet – this place will be the “war room,” where participants leave their agendas at the door.  The meetings will be facilitated by a third-party (it can be a manager from a non-involved department if the VP of Organization Development is not available).  This room will provide the best place to develop the change – think walls of white board or corkboard.  Get rid of the tables if you can – remove any barriers, physical or mental.  And, leave those devices at the door – focus on the project.

·      Live by these five principles, originally developed by Zenger-Miller:

1.     Focus on the situation, issue or behavior, not on the person.

2.     Maintain the self-esteem and self-confidence of others.

3.     Maintain constructive relationships.

4.     Take the initiative to make things better.

5.     Lead by example.

·      Most importantly, learn this approach: “What” is the question (period).  This takes away the defensiveness of responses. If you can ask a question using “what” rather than “why”, you’ll find a life-changing experience awaits.  I dare you.

·      Key books for your constituents to read:

·      The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

·      Who Moved My Cheese

·      Journey to the Heroic Environment

·      Flawless Consulting

·      Leader as Coach

·      Crucial Conversations

Software just doesn’t get implemented without a complex Change Management process.  But, it goes beyond the processes and the software.  The success lies in the people, the leadership and the belief that something greater will happen as a result of the change.

Few organizations have had the hierarchy, the insight, or the resources to accomplish this change in total as described in this paper.  Many want to rush to the end, but the mantra of doing something “Right Up Front” (RUF) can result in payoffs well beyond expectations.  Good luck!