Change happens.
Coping with change; be it a shock to the markets, the arrival of a new competitor, sudden growth or better-than-expected success, deliberate innovation, overseas expansion, or making the transition from a family-owned business to a large corporation, can be a real challenge for any organization. While most change management consulting in the market is focused either on the structure of the organization or its procedures and protocols, what is too often ignored is the impact that change, of any kind, has on the people in the organization.
There are many sources of assistance with the technical aspects of change. And business schools are full of courses on organizational development and architecture. However, a closer look at the reasons why organizations fail to cope with change reveals that “solutions” such as new organizational charts, new communication protocols, and new software are insufficient. Most failures to implement lasting changes – and most failures to cope with change – are associated with the non-technical aspects of change; namely, what the change means for the people in the organization.
Our Focus: On People, Hierarchies, and Relationships
In most organizations, change creates both threats and opportunities. And not everyone is affected by change the same way; nor does everyone have the same capacity to cope with changes. Understanding the impact that changes will have on your people is crucial. There are many variables to consider; from attitudes to anxiety, to For example:
- If a company innovates by introducing new software. That new software might increase efficiency. But it might also have a disruptive effect on hierarchies and relationships within the organization; because senior people, who have been with the company for decades might have more difficulty adopting the new software than a recent graduate who is more comfortable with it.
- If a small century-old company is acquired by a large, newer firm, some people in the newly-acquired firm will feel as though they have gone from “being a big fish, in a small pond,” to the opposite. And it will affect their attitude, and they might be likely to leave, or retire early. While someone else in the firm might see the new, larger environment (and new management) as an opportunity to advance and be part of a much larger player in the market, with more diverse holdings.
- If a company decides to move locations; employees with families (and kids in school) will often see the move quite differently than recent recruits, just out of school.
- A family-owned company might commit to a process of “professionalization,” on paper. However, if customers – or people within the organization – continue to rely on their personal relationships in order to by-pass new procedures, that might undermine the company’s efforts to grow and prepare for the future.
In order to understand the consequences of change on your people, executives, managers, and others in your organization must have the right skills and the right tools. Change is more than an organizational chart. It requires more than mere “solutions.” Change requires capacity.
Building “Change Capacity”: Beyond “Solutions”
Most change management consultants will arrive at an organization, conduct interviews, return to their offices to do their own analysis, design a new organizational chart, and return to the organization with a “solution.” At Sea-Change Partners, we believe that static solutions are an insufficient answer to the fluid and ongoing changes experienced by most organizations. Rather than giving an organization short-term answers; we are committed to working with our clients to help them develop the skills and capacity to become effective at managing the changes they face over time.
Change is a process, and there is a set of skills associated with each part of that process. In order for an organization to manage changes – and to cope with the effects of change – people within the organization must be skilled in the following areas:
- Organizational scanning and diagnosis – to understand what should be changed and why,
- Visioning, brainstorming, and scenario planning – to design the changes to be made,
- Negotiation, consensus-building, and communication – to solicit necessary input and to generate necessary organizational support,
- Effective communication and project management – to implement changes, and
- Evaluation and feedback – to manage and review changes
Sea-Change Partners professionals help organizations to develop “change capacity” by enhancing these skill sets within our client organizations, and working with our clients – as partners – in applying these skills to the challenges they face.
Our Services
In order to help our clients drive, implement, and cope with change, we offer the following services: