Strategic change as A Journey

We have seen the scenario before. And 'the kick-off meeting schedule for your project high-profile strategic change. The Executive Director has been rubberised to make the call to arms. The Sponsor has reiterated how important and how the future of society depends on the efforts of all. The door closes. The strategy and leading the team rolls up their sleeves to start work. And then the questions begin ...

Were often asked to facilitate change strategy and planning sessions that follow this familiar pattern. And while I felt that I and the sponsor had a good understanding of why the project was undertaken, often became clear that members of the Strategy Group were not so united. Doubts about "what this exercise is really" often came quickly to the surface. Someone wondered if the board was unhappy on the overall performance. Others were convinced that HR was really driving the agenda because of perceived problems with recruitment.

On another occasion, the problems were more about where the emphasis of change should lie. It was important that the company will change its internal culture? If the emphasis is on building a new strategic competence? Or were these sessions really concerned about improving the customer experience?

Comments and concerns like these should not be dismissed lightly. They reflect something that is very relevant to the task in hand - and that is the direction the company should take. At the same time, the last thing you want to change strategy or a facilitator is to open a Pandora's box of endless debate. Planning the strategy or the change is not an intellectual exercise. It 's done for commercial purposes, and very real: the company has to change otherwise it falls behind.

So how can these problems be addressed, or, better yet, used for the benefit of the sponsor or facilitator?

The key thing to remember is the commitment. When people voice concerns, the only thing that can be taken from the situation is that they are engaged in the process. They are not simply sit back and let someone else make decisions, while in private, deciding that the sabotage later. The facilitator or sponsor must then use this productive effort.

Sponsors and facilitators of strategy and change can use the concept of "strategic change as a journey" to exploit the energy behind this debate latent. During the planning process, the design team ends each session with an event to provide a vision of anonymous voting group on the true heart of the process. Every day, the voting continues, a fascinating view of the group emerges in general. This shows how the prejudices held early in the process of change over time, people become more confident that the planning process is addressing the real needs of the enterprise. Organized properly, this voting process can be very funny at the end of a hard day schedule.

Participants begin to see the strategy or change the schedule as an exploration. Individual team members can privately compare their perspectives of this journey with the group as a whole. Between the sessions, the members reflect on these comparisons and can move in the following workshop with the altered perceptions and a renewed commitment to the process. At first, people may have totally different opinions on what you want and what senior management expects. While going through the process, begin to see how the group is changing its thinking, and how it compares. The process turns out to be an effective way to create a real buy-in from the team.

Of course, the strategic change facilitators and designers must have the confidence to allow this commitment. The skill lies in allowing debate and at the same time providing leadership and ensuring that the process does not go off course. But those in this position of leadership to allow sufficient flexibility to ensure that team members really feel that their opinions counted.

In a collision with a global enterprise IT services, the shift in focus for a week long planning session change was obvious. Initially, the perception about one third of the participants was that the emphasis of change needed to be on the internal culture of the company. Within a few days of discussion, however, the emphasis had shifted radically improve customer relations. The group has developed an internal consensus that has proved more robust than previous attempts at planning. Once in this position right through the debate, were prepared for the efforts that were hard to follow to improve the relationship with the customer. What started as a dispirited group of individuals without a unifying purpose has become, in the course of a week, a strong and committed group that would force the customer to change the company mantra wider.

Strategic change as a journey provides a creative approach to ensure that the processes of strategic planning and change really harness the energy of the group. While the team sees as his point of view of collective evolve and mature over time, develop a strong commitment to ensure that the application is a success....