Change is necessary for any organization to succeed. Changes should be planned and geared toward two objectives: evolving the organization and overcoming obstacles.
A clear vision of the future will enable leaders to outline the areas within an organization where change is required for growth. The way to change from the organization’s present situation to its desired future state is to evolve. Elements of an organization that evolve are products or services, processes, technology, human resources, finance, physical location, logistics, and data. Often a change in one of these elements will affect the others.
So how can an organization evolve in a requisite manner? The way an organization evolves toward its vision is called “Strategy” or the “Strategic Plan”.
The first step in strategic planning is to affirm the organization’s beliefs, purpose and vision. The second step is to identify where the organization stands today. The final step is creating the plan based on goals that will lead the organization to its vision. Each of these steps is assigned within the layers of the organization as follows:
- CEO/Visionary: Determine the beliefs, purpose and vision for the entire organization.
- COO/Integrator: Determine the organization’s overall 1, 3, and 5-year goals.
- Directors: Determine the business unit and department’s 1-year goals and approve department level initiatives.
- Managers: Create executable plans to achieve their department’s goals
Well defined goals require the following:
- Clear Purpose: How will the achievement of the goal help to evolve the organization toward its vision?
- Clear Objective: What needs to change or be accomplished and on what timeline?
- Accountability: Who is responsible for achieving the goal?
A plan of action is required for goals to be achieved. At Aligned Operations, we call these plans Rocks. Departmental goals often include multiple rocks for achievement. Each Rock requires the following:
- Clear Purpose: How does the rock contribute to the department’s goals?
- Plan/Solution: What is the best solution from all the viable solutions?
- Priority and Timing: When will it start and what is the target completion date?
- Team: What expertise and personnel resources will be required?
Rocks are executed based upon their priority within the year’s Strategic Plan. The rule of thumb is to undertake no more than three rocks per department per quarter. As rocks are essentially projects, current project management methodologies and tools should be used to further break down efforts into milestones and action items to be assigned to team members. The weekly status of Rocks should then be presented at each department’s weekly huddle.
Uncertainty will always exist within an organization. Change is necessary to overcome unexpected obstacles, such as fluctuations in the market, new competition, or the availability of resources. Although change to overcome obstacles is not planned in the same manner as evolution toward the vision, a requisite approach should still be applied. The difference is that the purpose is provided in a detailed statement which clearly identifies the obstacle. As with Rocks designed to evolve, they are created by department managers and approved by business unit directors.
Our next article will focus on the final aspect of change in the organization: understanding the impact of change through data analytics.