Posts Tagged tools
Tools For Change: Leadership Involvement and Alignment
Posted by cgrant in Business, Management on September 17, 2009
I’m reviewing two tools for change this week. The first tool is the Leadership Alignment Assessment and the second is the Leadership Involvement Plan. Both of these tools aim to solve a critical issue in most change initiatives, appropriate support by leadership. The leadership involvement plan is similar to the traditional ARCI, or RACI charts that describe responsibility, accountability, contributor and informed. The Leadership Involvement Plan simplifies this by listing only actions and deadlines. The idea is to define roles and responsibilities for the initiative, such as “Conduct regular conference calls with staff regarding project” This example might be applicable for a director where a manager may have an action of “Provide regular status reports to executives”
While this tools is rather straight forward and easy to use, it may be difficult to complete one of these plans for various superiors that my be involved with the project. Understanding roles and responsibilities is very useful for everyone in a project. If you can work through some of the hierarchical challenges this is a valuable tool to use.
The second tool, the Leadership Alignment Assessment, is designed to understand where each of the leaders stands on the facets of the change initiative. The objective is to first identify then work to bring the leaders into alignment on the initiative. In one-on-one interviews with each of the leaders, a series of questions are asked, such as “Who do you think is accountable for the change results” and “How do you define success for the project.
The Leadership Alignment Assessment is a simple technique to use and provides wealth of information. When I used this technique in my own experiences I’ve found many of the leaders agreed on the general principle of change but key elements such as success criteria were different. Through highlighting these differences with the leadership we were able to come to agreement on the initiative. This agreement helps mitigate conflicting priorities and limits personal agendas.
Both of these tools are useful and can be implemented by contributors at any level of the organization. The Leadership Alignment Assessment provides value even when working with a single leader, helping to clarify expectations. You’ll find me using these tools in various ways in the future.
For more information on these tools check out.
http://www.army.mil/ArmyBTKC/enablers/cm/toolkit_04.htm
http://lumanconsultants.com/alignment.pdf
http://www.change-management-toolbook.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1481
http://louisville.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2006/08/14/smallb2.html
Tools for Change: Systems and Structures Action Plan
The change process doesn’t end when the last piece has been implemented. Successful change initiatives require maintenance to sustain the positive results. As John Kotter states in his article Our Iceberg is melting: Make it stick. Create a new culture. Hold onto the new ways of behaving, and make sure they succeed, until they become strong enough to replace old traditions (Kotter & Rathgeber, 2006). Making change stick over the long run can be daunting however there are a few tools available to help sustain the initiative.
The Systems and Structures Action Plan (Nelson & Aaron, 2005), is a template designed to help evaluate and plan for gaps in HR and other organizational systems and structures. This template contains rows for various systems and structures such as Staffing, Measurement, Rewards, Communication, etc. Each of these System/Structures is discussed in subsequent columns to help manage the gaps and sustainability. Some of these discussion points include: What we do now, what should be modified, followed by how and who is responsible. This straightforward template serves as the catalyst and definition for the critical discussions needed to sustain change. This is a very simple tool to use and can be modified to meet the differing needs within organizations.
Applying to my own organization key gaps became apparent surrounding measurement and rewards. Most of the focus behind the change initiatives were focused on Organizational Structures, and Staffing. Once the change was in place the resulting teams were left with little to gauge themselves by and few opportunities for recognition. These tools enabled an action plan to be placed around these gaps to rectify the situation.
Unlike some of the other available tools for change, the Systems and Structures Action Plan can and should be applied regularly within regular operations. Scheduling quarterly review of these topics can support not only previous change initiatives but day-to-day operations as well. This valuable tool should be a part of every manager’s toolbox.
Works Cited
Kotter, J. P., & Rathgeber, H. (2006). Our Iceberg Is Melting. Leadership Excellence , 23 (2), p11.
Nelson, K., & Aaron, S. (2005). The Change Management Pocket Guide. Cincinnati, OH: Change Guides LLC.
Organizational Change: Readiness Assessment – (revised)
When addressing the topic of change within an organization, leaders need to start the process on the right foot. Many change initiatives fail due to poor initial planning. Taking an initial assessment of will help identify where the organization is now and what potential obstacles might impact the transformation.
Change initiatives find a higher level of success when all aspects of organizational transformation are addressed. Frequently their are many unseen elements within an organization that can derail a change initiative. Understanding the organization’s readiness enables you to address challenges before fully engaging in the full change initiative.
What’s in a Readiness Assessment
Objective and Vision
The first section, the Vision or Communication section, identifies the degree to which the change initiative is understood by both the leadership and stakeholders. The goal is to ensure that all key players have clear view of what the change is and what the success criteria are. Frequently different members of leadership may have different agendas for the same initiative. Simply asking initiative leaders the question “what does success of this initiative mean to you” demonstrates Read the rest of this entry »
Coffee Notes: Falling in love again
Posted by cgrant in Productivity, Technology on January 30, 2008
OK, so I’ve been head down in a new job and graduate classes. I just recently took time to sharpen the saw and get back online to see what’s going on in the real world. After getting through thousands of Google Reader entries and found some really interesting websites that made me fall in love with the Internet again.
Google Reader
The best online reader I’ve found. Easily sort, parse and search through volumes of feeds quickly and easily. Features such as shared and stared entries are nice extras that you’ll end up using all the time.
GrandCentral
This is a fantastic service. You get a phone number that allows you to manage all calls through it. Have all your contacts call one number. The system allows you to send forward those calls to any or all of your other phones. Send friends to your cell, coworkers to your office, and family to both home and cell. A fantastic spam feature helps you cut down on those unwanted calls.
Google Docs
I’m a big fan of online office applications. I like being able to access my life wherever i am. Unfortunately I tend loose flash drives. So Google Docs is high on my list. Nice plugins for Firefox complete the package.
Zoho
OK this was a new one for me and so far I love it. It provides the same types of functionality as Google Docs and more. The current application is much better than Google Docs and they have a few upcoming features which will knock Microsoft out of the park.
Joost
Streaming Video. Sweet interface, decent quality, lots of shows to choose from. Well worth the cost of admission (free).
Mint
I was a little weary about this one at first but went ahead with it anyway. They’ve got a variety of security credentials that made me feel a bit more confidant. They pull in your bank statement info and provide some key insights on your statements. If they integrate some bill schedules and billpay it will be fantastic.
Try some of these out. You’ll like them I’m sure
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