Change is about moving an organisation from its current position to a future condition.

Change may be desired by the organisation, in order to effect a change in strategy or to ensure that the organisation is better placed to respond to market conditions. Bringing about the desired change within an organisation is a complex and challenging process.

Organisational change is also about much more than developing a plan for change. Organisations are made up of people; people have minds of their own and can decide to react in any way that they choose to the change initiative.

Sometimes organisational change initiatives fail because the ‘change leader’ makes the assumption that employee reactions to the ‘change plan’ can be controlled. Another reason for failure is that the change plan does not cover how the change leaders will manage the process of change.

As we know, any organisation has its own unique qualities; scale of operation, sector, location, history, employee population. No other organisation is quite the same. Therefore any organisation that needs to change, needs to identify its own unique change path.

Trying to impose a change plan on an organisation just because it is has been used successfully in another organisation is risky. This can happen when an ‘experienced’ external change consultant is brought in. The consultant may try to impose their ‘tried and tested’ change formula on the organisation.

External change consultants can make a major contribution to a change programme, but it is critical that any change programme is specifically designed to be sensitive to the context within which the particular organisation operates.

It also helps when change is seen as a process to be facilitated rather than a plan that can be dictated to the employees.

Facilitating A Change Intervention

When facilitating a change intervention there are many different aspects to consider. These include considering what kind of change path is required for the organisation? Does it need to be evolutionary change or revolutionary change? At what pace should the change take place? Should it be sudden change? ‘Big bang’ style change? Or incremental change?

Any organisation has a range of levers it can use to effect organisational change. These include structural levers like the organisational structure through to ‘softer’ levers likes the routines and rituals within the organisation – examples would include the way meetings are run through to the type of stories that are told within the organisation. Alongside these there are many more change levers that can be used in a successful change intervention.

The change leader also needs to determine what is to be targeted in the change interventions. Is it about changing attitudes, behaviours or values?

An effective change plan will also consider where in the organisation the change process should start – at the top of the organisation, at the bottom, or, in some other place?

The change leader will also need to consider how the process of change will be managed. It may be that the organisation is in a critical situation. Under these circumstances a more directive approach may be necessary to make things happen fast. If there is less urgency then time can be taken with other approaches like education, communication and collaborative decision making.

The organisation will also need to identify the people who will take the key roles in the change process. This includes deciding who will lead the change process and who will manage the change process at the different levels of the organisation. This could involve creating change teams.

External change facilitators or consultants can also be involved.

Facilitating Change: Business Benefits

A successfully managed change process prepares an organisation for the next chapter of its history.

Depending on the nature of the change plan and where in the organisation the change is targeted, a range of benefits can ensue.

• The organisation will be better placed to grow.
• Productivity and profitability can increase because the allocation of available resources, investment capital and people are better prioritised.
• Employee satisfaction can increase due to clearer goals and a better understanding of what is required.
• Customer satisfaction can increase due to more customer focused attitudes and behaviours by all employees.

Facilitating Change: Why Choose Anatellô?

The Anatellô team includes highly experienced change facilitators. Their expertise is in understanding individualorganisations and facilitating change that responds to that unique context.

A sample programme might include helping your team with :-

• Analysis of the organisation’s market position
• Diagnosing the type of change that is needed
• Envisioning the desired future state
• Determining the change strategy
• Creating the detailed change plan
• Managing the transition
• Evaluating the outcome

Anatellô change facilitators have world class process and facilitation skills. This enables them to fully support your internal change team through all the challenges of organisational change, so that you reach the place you want to get to.