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Solving the Change and Transformation Rubiks Cube.

CEOs and business leaders have seen a new phrase over the last few years - Change and Transformation. Now a discipline in its own right, the veritable ' Rubiks cube' of change is difficult to solve.

CEOs and senior business leaders have seen a new phrase emerge over the past few years – Change and Transformation. Now a discipline in its own right, this veritable ‘Rubik’s cube’ of different aspects of organisational, people and management systems is brought together to deliver profound business improvement in everything from culture and re-branding to new working processes.

So how do you solve your own change or transformation ‘cube’ through your staff and, when successful, what are the six faces staring up at you in harmony?

Firstly Governance; not just the technical process of roles, accountabilities and risk management of boards, but the genuine and aligned buy-in of your senior internal and external colleagues. The chances are that they are bought into a change programme, but is it all the same one?  Collective understanding is critical to deliver strategic support and progress.

Turn the cube around and we have Leadership. Required at all levels to drive delivery, there are some critical aspects. Firstly, you need single-person senior leadership accountability. More than one top leader usually means varying decisions, motivations, interpretations etc, no matter closely they operate. Secondly, clear communication across the entire leadership group, whether at a senior, programme, project or line management level, to build trust and coordination.

Another 90 degrees and we have Planning. Thorough planning at all levels is essential, not just each individual project, but as important, project interfaces and contingencies. These are often neglected as the project managers plough forward on their own ‘piece’ – after all, that is what they are trained and paid to do!

Turning over, there is Project Delivery. This relies on the clear objectives, both strategic and operational, but also the quality of your project management teams to deliver to time and budget. Good project leadership will build in review points and alert early if there are delays, using issues & actions logging. If this isn’t happening, make sure it does!

Another 90 degrees and we have Employee Engagement. Significant employee buy-in and commitment is usually required to ensure the right supply of ideas and information to the change programme. Also, beware of the core of ‘resistors’ (there are usually some) and have a strategy to address their concerns.

The last face – Embedding. Lasting change requires all employees’ commitment through new working practices, culture, new management systems etc. Addressing these issues early on is critical to set expectations, but in the early stages of the programme, when it is all about specific project information, it is often difficult for the more behavioural aspects to be heard – make sure they are!

To help you in solving your own Change & Transformation Rubik’s Cube, visit www.business-enlightenment.com . We can help you understand where you most need to focus your efforts through a simple but thorough on-line audit of your current approach.

By Alan Garmonsway a Director and a Co-Founder of Business Enlightenment.