Starting a Transformation? Don’t Change Everything!

Elizabeth Doty

https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Starting-a-Transformation-Dont-Change-Everything?gko=302aa&utm_source=itw&utm_medium=20180118&utm_campaign=resp

Great perspective when faced with having to change your organization to enhance performance.

As organizations of all types — in both the public and private sectors — strive to be more agile, they reorganize more often. Executives are asked to take on new teams, merge related teams, or pivot to a new set of priorities. Such challenges can be exciting: As a leader, your mind may be buzzing with ideas, questions, and possible solutions. The pressure is on, and you are eager to put “points on the board.” 

Yet, for your team, a reorganization may involve a reset as much as a new direction. When things are in flux, people naturally tend to slow down on special initiatives — they don’t want to risk marching in the wrong direction. As new players are assigned, processes can easily become muddled, handoffs dropped, and best practices forgotten. Individuals are not yet familiar with one another’s quirks and talents, and may be feeling the loss of their former teammates. 

Moreover, even after you set the direction and clarify roles, your team may still hesitate until they trust that new commitments will persist over time..,. 

 
….The trick is to recognize that your team is already in motion. In one form or another, initiatives are under way, ideas are being discussed, processes are in place, and relationships have developed. Even if your charter is to radically change course, chances are there is much that you can repurpose or redirect. By taking the time to uncover what is happening on the ground now and affirming explicitly what you want to continue, stop, or start anew, you can dramatically reduce the reset effect. To put this in practice, consider holding three types of conversation early on in your tenure with a new team. 

1. The “team story line” conversation. Although it is very tempting to focus only on the future, take some time to learn about your new team’s journey. Ask them: What have been your priorities and goals over the past year? What have you accomplished? What have been the biggest breakthroughs? Where are you focused now?...  

2. The “new challenge” conversation. This is where you share the larger opportunity or need the team is being asked to address. Get creative, and try to bring this new challenge to life as vividly and concretely as possible, building on what your team already knows and understands…..  

3. The “realign the work” conversation. Now, with shared understanding of direction, you and your new team can outline what you need to change in practice. Review your goals, roles, processes, team commitments, and the dashboard of measurements you use to track progress. Then, determine together what you need to continue, stop, or start to deliver. … 

…..As satisfying as it is to generate your own ideas, you and your team will get to results most quickly by tapping into efforts already under way wherever possible. You may be surprised by how flexible your team is if the new focus is clearly articulated in ways that directly relate to their prior goals. For their part, team members can help new leaders by highlighting work they can leverage. For example, the senior director above eventually invited the new governor to review the current initiatives and the impact they were having, then asked his input on