Size Does Matter in Organizational Change

“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.”

Diane Ackerman, (1948 – ) Illinois-born poet, essayist, naturalist

Today is my birthday, so I won’t write too much as I just want to go enjoy the time with the people I live, work, learn and play with.

When thinking about the impacts an organizational change may have, look not only up and down (direct reports, bosses) but also across the organization. People often forget to consider the many tentacles that groups may have with other groups, divisions, business units, clients, suppliers, etc., and a change may impact them as well.

Action:

Develop a Stakeholder Analysis as part of the planning stage of the organizational change you are considering. This analysis is simply taking a step back and thinking about which individuals and teams may be impacted by a change, how they will be impacted and what workneeds to be done to prepare them for the change (i.e. training, communications, coaching, process redesign, technology shifts, job performance expectations.) You can create a simple chart to map out this information, and build it out with additional context – timeline, key messages – as your planning progresses.

Have a great day.