Lasting Change Comes First
In most corporate-wide change initiatives, people form functional committees to change the policies and procedures, which often fail. Sustainability is missing from these action plans, so changes can just be made to the new policy again next week. Work Effects takes a holistic approach that ensures everyone is on the same page.
The closer we can align the teams, the more effective they will be in accomplishing those
goals. While we strive to have teams aligned with the organization, there may be teams that are purposefully misaligned.
If we look at Apple’s approach to risk, they very much embrace it and want to push the envelope. However, their accounting department in that organization wouldn’t benefit from embracing risk; this means finance has a unique culture within the organization. Their thinking and processes will differ than the rest of the company, and as long as
it’s done purposefully, that’s okay.
The Fine-Tuning
Following previous phases of defining culture and
designing action plans, we continue cascading
goals and strategies by focusing on the frontline
level.
Behaviors of those in the organization and culture, which is the system of beliefs people have surrounding the organization play a large part in determining our approach.
For example, in a workgroup, even if we have the same goals there may be differences in how people approach decision making. If half the individuals act from intuition and the other from fact, this will result in inefficiencies and conflict.
This process calls for executives and team leaders to be very clear about their strategic goals. These objectives are then cascaded down to the front line people in a way that conveys the impact and contribution they have in the organization.
The Work Effects Approach
Finally, we assess the health of the organization and determine the capabilities to create alignment. We give people leaders or culture champions the opportunity to spearhead this transformation and ensure that every step is purposeful.
They must be equipped with the right tools; so we train the managers with various leadership capabilities, how to communicate and listen effectively, and skills for facilitating the right conversations.
We strive to create a climate where individuals do not expect to be given all the answers, but know that their ideas and obstacles are always heard. Managers prepare by practicing a facilitation so they can uncover themes and best practices for how they’ll interact with their workgroups.
When they get back with their workgroup, they have a feedback meeting to understand root causes, connections between strategic goals, and their ability to adapt to certain changes. It’s then a manager’s job to recognize the opportunities to ask their team members, “How would you do this job if you were focusing on creating greater customer intimacy?” A few weeks later, we bring the team leaders back together to discuss the acceptance and integration of the solutions.
The Rhyme and Reason
It’s not adding extra work, but rather acting with more intention. Work Effects avoids the us vs. them mentality that stems from management and leadership is creating change independently. Increased communication and knowledge of the teams allows leaders to accurately speak on behalf of their team, maintaining the relationships in the workgroups.
We strive to cultivate the Work Effects mentality in organizations, through focusing on bringing different perspectives together to work in unison. This calls for brainstorming, sorting through what those solutions are, what are the potential obstacles, and then choosing the right solutions to put in place.
To ensure sustainability, those in charge of implementing the goals and action plans are held accountable. The whole part of Phase III takes another 6-8 weeks to accomplish.
Outcomes include:
- Clear plan of action
- Individuals are motivated by knowing how they create value
- Understand beliefs and types of thinking they need to accomplish these goals
- We ensure sustainable change and reliable support, which is why we also have Phase IV
