CITI - partners in change » Stakeholder engagement

Director of wealth management in a bank was handed an unmanageable portfolio of work

Paul Ashton — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 17:27:04 +0000

A newly appointed director of wealth management in a bank was handed an unmanageable portfolio of work. He attempted to gain agreement from the management team on prioritising projects. This proved to be impossible because of conflicting agendas and very differing views as to what was ‘important’. Working with the management team, agreement was gained on the prioritisation criteria whilst ensuring all involved had a common understanding about what was being done and why. This allowed for a significant ‘cleansing’ of the portfolio and acceptance of where scarce resource needed to be deployed.

Followers or leaders – who is more important?

Thomas Docker — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 13:22:46 +0000

Is this a twist on “Which came first the chicken or the egg?”

Maybe, but one thing is clear, unless there is someone willing to follow there is no leader; not even if one has the title of CEO or executive sponsor.

There are a lot of change management workshops and courses on leadership and creating leaders, but ‘creating’ followers tends to be handled across a number of areas that includes ‘motivation’ and ‘dealing with resistance’. Are we doing the followers justice?

Derek Sivers uses one of the many music festival videos in discussing leaders and followers. Be warned, the camerawork is shaky at best!

http://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement.html

What is your view on ‘creating’ followers?

Why has the great, early commitment faded?

Paul Ashton — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 16:04:01 +0000

Gaining commitment and maintaining impetus are fundamental to implementing successful and lasting change. After the initial surge of activity in creating the change vision there is a real risk that business-as-usual concerns will rapidly diminish our interest in, let alone commitment to, making the change. Continual reinforcement of what we want to achieve is required to make sure the individuals from the business stay engaged in the change. This requires a clear communications strategy translated into appropriate, localised directions for use by change leaders throughout the organisation, whether they are business managers or ‘people like us’ – local role models.

Things to consider

Have you established a clear, shared vision for the change among all interested parties?
Does the communications strategy cover the ‘breadth’ (involve all relevant areas) and the ‘depth’ (involve all relevant levels) necessary for long term commitment?
Are you looking out for previously unidentified individuals and groups who need to be ‘on board’?
Do you know how to communicate with each individual or group and how often?
Are those impacted by the change empowered to contribute to the change?
Does the communication feedback tell you what you need to know about how individuals and groups feel about the change? Is their commitment steady, rising or falling?

No-one in the business seems to be standing up to take ownership of the change

Paul Ashton — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 11:34:11 +0000

If change is to stick, the business must take ownership of the change products – make them their own. This means that the business must be engaged from the start in determining what those change products (deliverables) should be. When someone in the business (the ‘change owner’) commits resources by commissioning a change, they must also take accountability for successful implementation. That means embedding the change products into a modified business-as-usual to ensure the realisation of the benefits sought.

With significant change, where benefits will be realised across many functions, the change owner must be in the upper layers of the business, and have significant political influence. Where ownership responsibilities are delegated, these will probably mirror line management structures, and there will be a need for coordinated activities by the senior managers involved. Without careful attention, effective business ownership may not happen. Consequently, the ownership of each change must be clearly visible and communicated to all.

Things to consider

Is business ownership of each change product clear and accepted?
Is accountability for the benefits clear and accepted?
Is the change ownership role assigned to the appropriate individual?
Are the risks of any shared change ownership being appropriately addressed?
Is the ownership of the change apparent to the adopters of the change?