Elsevier Organization Design The Collaborative Approach_5 pot

Change agents: staff assigned to specific roles to facilitate change and support line management in the process, based on their enthusiasm forthe changes the OD project brings and their

A second method of classification is to identify stakeholders as fallingbroadly into three categories:

1 key individual players

2 key groups within the organization

3 key external players and influencers

You can sub-categorize these groups:

Key individual players

Change sponsor: the director, senior manager or person who initiates

and drives the change and who, in most cases, is willing to take overallaccountability for the success of the change programme

Promoter: the person(s) promoting a particular kind of solution to

address given problems

OD project manager: the person responsible for the performance

out-comes from the OD project

Change agents: staff assigned to specific roles to facilitate change and

support line management in the process, based on their enthusiasm forthe changes the OD project brings and their available skills

Targets: users of the changed design, including those who expected to

benefit from it in other business areas

Champions: natural supporters or enthusiasts in the business who can

become opinion leaders in generating support for the proposed changescoming out of the OD project

Support players: those whose functional support is required for effective

implementation of the project but who do not have direct accountabilityfor it or a strong stake in it

Key groups

These comprise mainstream employees whom the proposed change willdirectly impact and whose jobs and performance standards will be

changed as a direct result of the change process In most organizations,these include:

Senior management: This group is usually the board or an executive

body, which is responsible for organizational performance Membersmake key decisions Their sustained and mutual commitment will berequired to endorse the changes required and to maintain energy withinthe OD project

Change owners: This is the management group which is ‘buying’

the change It will have an operational impact on their business area –generating most performance improvement You need to understandfully their needs, expectations, and preferred ways of doing things asyou implement your OD project

Line management: This is the intermediate management group between

top management and employees Ensure their wholehearted support for the project as it is critical to your success in the short, medium, andlong term

Employee representatives: This group represents the interests of the

non-managers in your organization It may be through Works Councils

or through Trade Unions Whichever representative body you have inyour organization, you must involve it as a partner in your OD project.How far you involve it depends on the nature of your business and theinterests of the representative body

At a minimum, members of this group act as a useful focal point togive information about the task ahead, and help you avoid pitfalls (Thiscan be done either formally or informally or both.) Ideally, you shouldinclude members of your employee representative group as part of yourproject team

Specialists: This includes those groups who may be responsible for policy,

design, planning, technical specification or functional control of variousaspects of the change, for example information technology (IT), finance,recruitment, training and development

Support: This category of staff includes those who support the key

operational groups, for example secretarial staff or facilities management.They often wield power in their role of gatekeepers for other stakeholdergroups

The two classification methods mentioned above work in most projects,but there are other types of categorization possible For example, it may

be preferable to identify key internal groups according to their businessdivision, level of management, skill areas, location, or roles in the ODproject

Key external stakeholders

What constitutes an external stakeholder will vary according to the sizeand scope of the OD project For some organizations, planning majororganization design change without involving suppliers as stakeholders

is inconceivable For others, a broader view of the likely impact on thirdparty groups is sufficient If you work with outsourcing agencies or in apartnership or alliance with another organization, consider what rolethey play as stakeholders in your project Such organizations could

be either internal or external stakeholders Which category you putthem in depends on the nature of the changes your OD project brings about However, the following comprise the usual list of key externalstakeholders:

One-to-one interviews are most effective with senior managementand external stakeholder representatives Workshops are often the bestway to gather information on key internal stakeholder groups with alarge number of people

You will find that with major OD projects, the concerns, interests, andobjectives of different stakeholder groups are frequently in conflict.Different levels of detail may be necessary for different kinds of stake-holder analysis, depending on the characteristics of the organization,the information readily available and the nature of the proposed changes.For example, an organization with hundreds of suppliers may require only

a high-level review of them as a group, whereas one with a strong ency on a number of key suppliers may need to treat them differently.You must update the stakeholder information and classification peri-odically during the course of your project This is because stakeholderpositions usually change over time as the implications of a projectbecome clearer In addition, other stakeholders can emerge as the pro-ject proceeds

depend-For each stakeholder group decide what is going to be the best nique and approach to use to increase their level of commitment to your

tech-OD project and its outcomes Commonly used techniques include:

■ Running change readiness workshops: These are held before the

OD project is up and running, to help identify the extent of yourorganization’s capability for and willingness to change

■ Revising performance measures: This is a sensible way of ensuring

that you align key performance indicators to what the OD project istrying to achieve This technique is based on the principle that ‘whatgets measured gets done’ If you think through what people need toget done and implement measures of this effectively you can elicitthe desired behaviours for the new environment

■ Develop change agents: This technique is one of identifying

stake-holder groups and individuals who can play a key role in drivingthrough change with their consistent commitment to and enthusiasmfor the change If you slowly build these up group by group to a criticalmass, change agents can help others in the organization understandand accept the change

■ Adopt a stakeholder: Using this technique requires you to have

each member of your organization design team ‘adopt’ an importantstakeholder The adopter then takes on the responsibility of commu-nicating with ‘their’ stakeholder regularly about the project This pro-vides valuable feedback and warning of when stakeholders might befeeling particularly uncomfortable about the change

■ Deliver quick wins: This is a very popular technique for generating

commitment to an OD project People usually start to feel committed

to the change when they see visible gains from the change early on

■ Recognize those who are trying to jeopardize the change: You

need to keep your antennae tuned to use this technique Often peoplebecome disaffected with OD projects if they are not part of animplementation team and thus feel excluded from what is going on

In other cases people may resent having to take on more of the workloadfrom their colleagues who are working more directly on the project.Once you recognize the signs of resentment, tackle the issues andtake appropriate actions

Supporting Personal Change

The main barrier to employees and other stakeholders welcoming your

OD project tends to be their fear of how the change will affect them sonally Resistance usually results from people feeling wary or scaredabout what the change will mean for them For example, will their jobchange? Will they lose their job? Will they need to work harder in thechanged environment? Most fears result from a loss of power and con-trol over the job, uncertainty about what is going to happen next orindeed loss of the job itself If you can identify and allay or confrontthese fears as early as possible into the project, and pay attention to newfears as the project proceeds, you will get people involved and improveyour chances of making the change work

per-Concentrating on the employee groups – at a simple, almost typical level, you can categorize their fears as follows:

stereo-Senior managers: Members of this group are afraid the project will fail

or that the promised outcomes of the change are not achievable Thiswould have a knock-on effect on their organization’s credibility, particu-larly if they are in the sponsor role The nature of their job means thatsometimes they feel distanced from the work that is going on and wonderwhat is happening

Middle managers: These stakeholders tend to be fearful that their jobs

will go, reduce in scope, or get bigger and less manageable Mostchange programmes have significant impact on middle management

You may recall the ‘de-layering’ that took place in large organizations inthe 1990s usually affected the middle management group the most.

Front-line employees: This group fears that they may lose their job

because of the OD project or they fear that their role will become morecomplex or less enjoyable Front-line staff tend to be the most overtresisters of change perhaps because they feel they have the least power toinfluence it

The change curve (Figure 7.1) is a helpful way to describe the typicalemotional cycle that people go through when faced with change Whenyou first moot the idea of changing something, there is often a numbed

or shocked feeling as people block off what is happening As the ness wears off, people start going into denial, often refusing to believethat the change will happen or be implemented successfully As youcommunicate more detail about the change, people tend to start worryingabout what it means for them and what is going to happen to their jobs

numb-As the change gets underway, people generally start to feel more cerned This is usually quite an unsettling period, where uncertainty is

high and people are depressed about the future Once in the thick ofchange, where the inevitability of change is accepted, people feel at theirlowest This is because change, even when positive, is not without itscomplications.

When people are ready to move on from this point, they start testingthe change – how it will feel, and what it will mean for them This tends

to lead to some kind of association of personal meaning about thechange and finally to internalization That is when the change becomes

a part of the ‘norm’

Although everyone knows that life is change (the only certainty is thatlife is uncertain) often people are fearful because they have not beenreassured about what is going on and/or they feel their anxieties have notbeen taken into account Your task is to help people to accept theinevitability of change without fearing it As not all change will result in

a positive outcome for all individuals, one way is to help people developconfidence that they can handle whatever comes along To reduce fearhelp individuals come to terms with and mitigate whatever it is they feelthey are losing Do this as part of the OD project but recognise you may

be able to draw on other resources to help people transition into the new environment For example, if your organization has an EmployeeAssistance Programme or an Occupational Health Department youcould approach these for help

For you to be successful in your project you must get the majority

of the stakeholder to the point where they have internalized the change You may find that putting new business processes in place is

a much simpler task than getting people to use them effectively This

is often the outcome of a poorly managed transition from the old to the new The ‘grey’ time between doing things the old way and doingthings the new way can be the most difficult part of any change experience

Consider and agree your strategy and tactics for helping stakeholdersinitially understand the impact of change and then think about what has tohappen to make this change acceptable to them In many instances, it will

be a case of listening to and talking with people For example, on largerscale change projects 1:1 sessions, group review meetings, or informaldiscussions can all help progress the change

Note that the process of undertaking stakeholder analysis is important

in two ways First, you can choose to involve several people in gathering

information about the stakeholders and then analysing it, which willincrease their involvement, and interest in the project.

Second, each contact with a stakeholder (either individual or group)

is an opportunity to convey messages about what is going on Takecare to ensure consistent messages if a number of people are gatheringinformation

Trust and Risk Taking

As your project starts up and gets going your role is to enable the holder individuals and groups to move from the current state to the futurestate trusting that what they are moving into will bring benefits Theymust be willing to take the risks that will go with making the change.Geoffrey Bellman (2002) discusses aspects of trust and risk related to

stake-change projects in his book The Consultants Calling He notes that ‘you

cannot eliminate the real risk present in change work Building trust canmake risk more acceptable, but it will not make risk go away.’

You can do a lot to increase the stakeholders’ ability to trust in theproject and be willing to take the risks that go along with it and Bellmandiscusses these in some detail The following two lists are adapted fromhis discussion

To develop trust:

■ Be open about the change project and about yourself

■ Encourage stakeholders in your project to talk to others who havebeen through similarly sized and shaped projects People will learnfrom others’ experience

■ Discuss other change projects that you have worked on or been involvedwith Show that you are applying your learning from these into thisproject

■ Learn about the specifics of people’s role and involvement in the ect The more you understand where they are coming from, the moreyou will be able to help them move forward

proj-■ Show stakeholders that you are sympathetic to the way they thinkand feel about their role and the part they play in the organization

■ Find out what they think needs to carry forward into the future stateand why

■ Demonstrate your belief that they can create a successful future statethat they will be motivated to work in.

■ Point out how you are trying to help stakeholders achieve a successfuloutcome to the project

■ Remind stakeholders that you are all working for the success of theorganization

■ Encourage stakeholders and be supportive especially when they seem

to be struggling

■ Offer input and feedback without criticism

To make risk more acceptable:

■ When you see risky situations point them out and help stakeholdersdeal with them

■ Be a model risk taker showing stakeholders that you are willing totake risks yourself

■ Voice your doubts and fears about the project as well as your hopesand dreams for it

■ Show that you are not fearless but that you are able to handle yourfears – teach them how to do this if appropriate

■ Follow through on all the commitments you make to them

■ Model the behaviour you want to engender in the stakeholder groupsand in the future organization For example, if you want more openness,then be open

■ Share responsibility for getting work done

■ Help stakeholders recognize that changing is a process and progresswill come one step at a time

■ Prepare stakeholders to mitigate risks by planning, taking plannedactions, and staying focused and on track

You may find yourself in more than one dilemma as you try to buildtrust and a risk-taking environment Some examples of these (framed asquestions) are:

■ How do you work with stakeholders who may be rivals or have peting interests and different objectives?

com-■ How do you re-design for profitability without sacrificing your interestand concern for your people?

■ How do you maintain your own sense of integrity if you have to work

on aspects of the change that you do not agree with? (For example,redeploying people, or making them redundant.)

Handling dilemmas is another of the skills you have to deploy – particularly

in relation to the stakeholders and their responses to the change It is agood idea to do some work with your management team and key stake-holders on managing dilemmas The exercise below is an example ofone used successfully with stakeholder groups in helping them see eachother’s perspectives, build trust amongst them, and come up with a solu-tion that they can work with (It originated as a real dilemma faced by adepartment head.)

Instructions

1 You must all agree on the same solution

2 You cannot add to or amend the solutions given

Dilemma

Three months ago you joined a new department with the brief to make

it more effective and reduce the overlap and duplication You designed

an approach that did this without loss of jobs but with a certain amount

of re-skilling You have just come back from an executive briefing whereyou have been told to reduce your department by 50% within the next

12 weeks What do you do?

1 Vigorously build a business case demonstrating that the path youplanned will deliver productivity gains sufficient to pay for all thestaff without making any cuts

2 Go along with the corporate injunction despite what it means foryour people

3 Involve your people in coming up with a plan to reduce by a certainamount but not by 50% and make the case for that

4 Resign your position as you feel that working in that environmentcompromises your integrity

Working through this sort of exercise with stakeholders helps preparethem for the real dilemmas they will inevitably face as the project proceeds

It also helps them think through the risks that they are willing to take asthey propose solutions or try to come to an agreement.

Useful Tools

Tool 1: Stakeholder Analysis, Version 1

Use this to map all those who are involved in or affected by the change

as follows:

■ Identify the individuals and groups

■ Determine the commitment of each to the change

■ Determine the level of influence of each in the change

■ Plot the position of the various stakeholders on the matrix (Figure 7.2)

■ Identify and agree where you need to focus your communication andinvolvement effort Where the level of commitment is high with peoplewho have a high level of influence this is positive and you should

maintain it If there is low support from people who have very littleinfluence over the success of the project this is not ideal but neither

is it a cause for concern Where a high level of support is needed butnot evident you need to develop strategies to raise and maintain levels

of support as a matter of urgency

■ Plan the actions you will take to get the stakeholders you need mostworking with you

Tool 2: Stakeholder Analysis, Version 2

Complete the form (Figure 7.3) as follows:

Stakeholder: indicate the stakeholder by name of individual or group Type: indicate the type of stakeholder (e.g individual, group

member, external player.)

Interest: describe the stakeholder’s interest in the change

Resources: indicate the resources the stakeholder can put into the

■ Extract from the stakeholders what their expectations and needs arefrom your organization

■ Ascertain what impact the OD project outcomes will have on thestakeholders

Figure 7.3 Stakeholder analysis form

■ Elicit what reactions the stakeholders are likely to have in response tothe change.

■ Find out what power the stakeholders wield in relation to your designand implementation plan

■ Assess what would maximize stakeholder support for your projectand formulate an action place that would achieve this

Self-check

As you think about your stakeholders and plan the actions you willtake to gain their support for your project, consider the questionsbelow If you have good answers to all of them, you are well on theway to working effectively with your stakeholders

Have you planned to conduct a stakeholder analysis at the start ofyour project? To get your project off to a good start you need to know

at the outset who is going to work with you and who is likely to workagainst you It is not enough to have a ‘gut-feel’ about this You need

to work out systematically on how you are going to get the criticalmass working in your favour

Do you have a clear picture of your stakeholders? If you have done

a good stakeholder analysis you will know who the primary stakeholdergroups are, their level of influence of the success of the OD project,their levels of support for the change, and their areas of resistance.Have you planned for periodic reviews of the analysis? As theproject proceeds and the organizational environment changes yourstakeholder group is likely to change also If, for example, a key indi-vidual leaves the organization their successor may take quite a differentview of your project and you will have to start from square one ingaining the new person’s support

Do you know what other projects are competing for your holders’ support? It is unlikely that your OD project is the only changeproject that affects your stakeholders In most instances, they will befeeling the impact of other, perhaps significant, projects Get the fullpicture of what is going on so that you can co-ordinate your effortswith others

stake-Have you created an involvement strategy? Create the strategy and mechanisms that will keep your stakeholders informed of the

progress of the design work Part of this should include ways of ting their feedback and reaction as the design emerges so that youcan make adjustments or take action as necessary.

get-Have you accepted the importance of managing external holders as well as internal stakeholders in your project? It is not enough

stake-to know that you need stake-to include external stakeholders, for examplecustomers and suppliers in your stakeholder analysis; you must alsoplan to take action in relation to these At a minimum, they shouldknow what is going on It would be better if they had a more directinvolvement in the project design and implementation

Are you clear what stakeholders (individual and group) are expectingfrom the project and what it will take to get their support? Once youhave done your stakeholder analysis develop a clear set of actionsrelated to getting the co-operation and involvement of each group in

an appropriate way Not all stakeholders will want day-to-day ment, for example

involve-Have you planned a communications strategy that keeps holders informed on a continuous basis as to how the project is pro-ceeding? Most projects change as they unroll so it is essential to keep

stake-a regulstake-ar two-wstake-ay communicstake-ation flow between yourself stake-and yourstakeholders As you know, the communication channels you choosemust be appropriate to the stakeholder group you are targeting.Are you willing and able to confront the reality that your integritymay be called into question if your proposed re-design cannot avoidthe result of taking actions unpleasant to individual stakeholders?One of the things you have to face working on an OD project is thatthe design may have unfortunate consequences for individuals It isimportant that you maintain a strong sense of perspective, and havethe personal confidence to manage complex, perhaps distressing situations, and dilemmas

Are you supporting people facing the changes your OD projectbrings in a way that prevents them feeling and acting as passive vic-tims? Your task is to enable people to feel positive and optimistic inthe face of change – willing to take accountability and risks in order

to benefit from the changes Even if job loss is a possibility, there isevery reason to help people prepare for this and help them believethat they have a good future ahead of them

References/Useful Reading

Bellman, G (2002) The Consultants Calling Jossey-Bass.

D’Herbemont, O et al (1998) Managing Sensitive Projects Routledge Jeffers, S (2003) Embracing Uncertainty St Martin’s Press.

Shaw, R B (1997) Trust In the Balance Jossey-Bass.

Do’s and Don’ts

■ Do segment your stakeholder groups

■ Do complete a thorough analysis of each group

■ Do aim to understand each individual’s response to the implications

Summary – The Bare Bones

■ Conduct a thorough and complete stakeholder analysis at the start

Communication

Plan

High-level project plans

Detailed project plans

Project progress reports on implementation

Internal audit review and report

Preparing for

change

Choosing to re-design

Handling the transition

Reviewing the design

Creating the level design and the detailed design

high-4 3 2

1 5 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Appoint project manager Develop detailed project plans Assign team member’s tasks

Carry out tasks iterate as necessary

12 16

Launch

6 months later review Review

Where do we go from here?

How do we get started?

What do we do next?

When have we completed the design?

What are the people implications?

Why are we getting bogged down?

How do we keep things going?

Why should we review?

How should we go about it?

Phase one Phase two Phase three Phase four Phase five

Figure 8.1 Phase three – creating the high-level design and the detailed design