Change and the Organisational Strategy
Every organisation should have a clear vision and strategy. The Change Managers’ role is to ensure the organisation strategy is linked to the transformation program to the appropriate organisation, business, IT and/or customer strategy. A clear strategy and purpose empower people. Empowered teams participating in the transformation and decision-making process have a lot more ownership with the opportunity to directly impact strategy execution, business benefits realisation and improved business performance.
Not the Change Managers Role
It is NOT the Change Manager's role to develop the organisation, business, or strategy. Some organisational change managers may have the skills, knowledge and experience to develop the strategy. However, the success of any change initiative is wholly dependent on the organisation defining and owning their organisation’s strategy and the transformation program’s strategy, goals and benefits.
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The Change Strategy
As noted above, the change strategy is defined by the business. However, a successful change strategy typically requires the involvement of managers and employees early in the change program. Facilitating this bottom-up process is not the change manager's role. However, it is essential to engage with the process. Engaging at this early stage will provide the change manager with critical information for the stakeholder analysis. And bottom-up goal setting is great for innovation and provides an opportunity for early engagement with key stakeholders.
Linking the Change Initiative Strategy
The change program must link to the appropriate organisation, business, IT and/or customer strategy. The program needs to consider three dimensions:
- The organisation strategy for the core business initiatives.
- The strategy for the transformation program is to complement the business and generate the agreed benefits.
- The need to consider and plan for possible interactions between the business and the change program. This must include both opportunities, such as planned synergies, and risks, such as potential cannibalisation and/or disruption of the core business.
Document the Change Strategy
However, the proposed change won’t go anywhere without executive buy-in and ongoing support. So, get it and get it early. The change manager will work with the sponsor and business stakeholders to confirm and document the strategy in the Change Implementation Plan.
