Organizations consist of and are run by people. Everyone knows this. Still, this often gets lost in the heat of the battle when you are managing changes. But with our transformation model, you can face the work head-on alongside the people who, at the end of the day, are the ones tasked with getting things done.
At Peak the tasks we solve all involve some kind of change. These changes can be the implementation of ISO 27001/02, GDPR or other standards. They can be acquisitions, digitalization projects, outsourcing or tenders. We know from experience that regardless of the type of task at hand, it always involves an element of change. And we also know that the thing about working with people, is that it is not always easy.
To combat this, we have developed a model that creates a framework to work on changes and transformations. Admittedly, it is not rocket science. But it can help you set to work in a thorough and pragmatic way – regardless of whether your organization (or customer) is facing small changes or significant transformations. What the model does, is put the person front and centre. Because regardless of whether you are working with consultants, managers or employees, you are working alongside people who have been tasked with doing things differently from what they are used to. And if that is to succeed you need the support of your organization.
What is it all about?
This transformation model helps you work with changes on the basis of 4 dimensions, all of which impact whether the organization’s members (read: people) have the desire, courage and skills to change their behaviour. Each dimension of the transformation model touches on a range of key problems and also contains some valuable tools you can apply – depending on the situation.
- Organizational calibration
All organizations have their own logic, culture, stories and desire for development. You need to bear this in mind when you begin your work. Therefore, you should make sure that you gain a thorough understanding of the organization and its culture as quickly as possible, so you can discover the right, customized approach, needed for a specific situation. Because what is the good of using PRINCE2, SAFe or MSP, if what is really needed is difficult workshops with the manager group or crisis management in the project group? The key is to work with the organization and not against it.
- Leadership and ownership
Changes obviously require leadership from top to bottom – but they also require ownership from everyone involved. When involving and engaging stakeholders, it is a good idea to base your work on the premise that everyone is mutually dependent on one another. In that way you can bring feedback, curiosity and genuine interest in good collaboration to the forefront. A useful question to ask yourself is: “what can do to help you solve your task in the best possible way?”
- Competencies and capability
If you are doing something new, you of course need to have the competency to do it. Education is usually the primary tool used to ready managers and employees to do something new. Education is important, but changes also shift power balances, positions and identities. Those are changes you can learn from! This requires difficult conversations, coaching, matching of expectations and ongoing evaluations with a focus on learning and taking baby steps. When working with people, being competent also means being sociable and compassionate.
- Effect
Benefits realization is incredibly important. Still, for many organizations, realizing benefits can be very difficult. This is why we believe that benefits should be the lifeblood of your organization. They have to matter – and you should be prepared to go through fire and water in order to realize them. But it is also essential that you are open and honest about negative benefits. This creates far more credibility. What often happens, is that only the new things and the things you want to achieve get discussed, while all the troublesome stuff and the things you are saying goodbye to, are not even mentioned once. This creates uncertainty and, in the worst-case scenario, mistrust. This does not help get the necessary change going. This is why: You should talk about the difficult things, work on them and create a safe environment in which to do so.
Do you need counselling?
The model functions as a reminder that it is not enough to merely understand why the change is necessary. It should also be easy to change behaviour and you need space to say goodbye to old things. The change also needs to be important. If you are facing a big change or transformation and need help uniting all of your stakeholders around a common task, we are naturally prepared to help.
