The market requires companies to be increasingly willing and flexible to adapt to changing requirements. In the context of digitalization and globalization, new challenges arise every day, which ideally are approached proactively and holistically by companies within the framework of transformation projects.
However, the opinions of those responsible often differ as early as the definition of the project scope. Topics such as strategy, processes and IT are set; the level of detail is discussed in terms of employees, organization and corporate environment; and in terms of corporate purpose, vision, culture and leadership, it is critically questioned whether these are really part of the planned transformation.
It is therefore important to clarify the change mandate in the first step. What exactly is to be achieved with the transformation and how much change can the company cope within the planned period? The following graphic shows different types of changes that are evaluated and customized depending on the project mandate:
For this purpose, the change effects on all business areas and the willingness of the organization to change must be understood. A good basis for a common understanding is a Change Impact and Readiness Assessment:
- The Change Impact Analysis determines how big the changes are compared to the current status quo and where changes are expected or necessary.
- The Change Readiness Analysis assesses how well a company is prepared for the upcoming changes.
Ideally, the effects are manageable and the company has a culture of change with a high willingness to implement the change independently. Unfortunately, the reality often looks different.
Based on the results of the Change Impact and Readiness Assessment and the objectives of the transformation project, the appropriate transformation approach (see chart below) can be determined:
- Project with minimal change parts: These are purely IT projects with very limited impact on processes and employees. The necessary change tasks relate to stakeholder management and can usually be taken over by the project manager.
- Project with a complex change objective: SAP projects or outsourcing initiatives go beyond purely technical changes. Employees and organization are confronted with significant change. Therefore, an Integrated Change Team is needed to lead the necessary measures.
- Comprehensive and long-term transformation: Many of today's transformation projects involve more than just IT or individual processes. The focus is to make the entire organization "fit for the future". In the context of digital transformations or comprehensive changes in working methods, leadership behavior, mindset of employees, etc., long-term change support within the framework of enterprise coaching makes sense.
The key to successful change, therefore, is to first understand what should change, including the "side effects", and to communicate this clearly. The change story describes why, what and how the change should be made. In this way, all stakeholders, including employees, know what to expect right from the start. What sounds banal is in reality often the reason for the failure of many large transformation projects.
The right change understanding with the right change dose brings success!
Depending on the specific customer situation and the planned changes, we work with you to develop a holistic and integrated transformation approach that takes all change components and their dependencies equally into account.
The AdEx Partners team for organizational transformation will be happy to help you successfully implement your transformation. Please contact us.
