"Change is occurring very rapidly in 2010-2011.” Change can become the key constant impact following this recession. Therefore, being prepared for change is a vital base for strategy formulation.
If the organization is proactive, then agility, change and adaptability become needed strategic traits. Whether it a minor or major change related to your business model, technology, value proposition, management, mergers, affiliations, policies, ownership, strategic direction, marketplace or policies, then change must be carefully planned and executed in 2010-11. Regardless of your logic and driver for change, a thorough change readiness assessment and developing a strategic change management plan. A change readiness assessment answers the question, ‘Where are we today?’ and ‘Can we successfully achieve the change?’ The assessment basically looks at past practices and the current situation. I recently completed an assessment that examined 20 measurable and tailored criteria for a professional services firm. The firm is facing the retirement at the end of the year of three senior “rainmakers” that contribute over 60% of total revenue each year.
Hopefully, these assessments can answer:
- Did your change readiness assessment thoroughly answer how prepared or “ready” your organization is for the desired change?
- Did it fully assess how well the key stakeholders understand and are trained to support the forth coming change initiative and its goals?
Based upon the assessment, does your change management plan identify the key change enablers, potential barriers, tactical steps required to ensure success over the long-term, and clearly demonstrate how the change adds to the value chain?, and
If needed, what gaps for a potentially successful change still exist and which key recommended steps are required?
The typical gaps that thorough change management assessment identify are:
- Competing "high priority" change projects
- Limited resources
- Lack of change leadership
- Lack of organizational leadership and support for change
- Level of understanding and buy-in for the reasons for change
- No thorough strategic change plan
- Change Management plan is not tailored to the specific needs of the organization
- Ineffective communications with all stakeholders
- Inadequate controls, accountability and measurement for implementation
- Ineffective potential integration of the ‘old’ with the ‘new’, and
- Insufficient formal training to enhance skills for implementation and support.
