by Tom Somodi
Most people would argue that the ability for an organization to change over time is critical to that organization’s long-term survival. To this end, the literature is full of theories, methodologies, recommendations and analysis on how an organization should be structured in order to maximize the likelihood of obtaining successful change.
Organizations need to be structured to provide employee empowerment, lean operating techniques and continuous improvement philosophies. Yet organizations still fail to obtain desired change even though they put in exemplary efforts to support such structural recommendations.
The reality is that if we want to see advancement in this arena, a major paradigm shift needs to occur in the way we view organizational structure.
1. Develop a proper perspective on change
Change is constantly and continuously occurring around us. Therefore, it is important for everyone in the organization from the board of directors down to individuals in frontline administrative positions to recognize this fact.
Every time a new customer order is received, an engineering drawing is created, a product is produced and an invoice is generated, a change has occurred within the organization. Organizations are continuously inundated with changes and, assuming that the organization has managed to survive, this change has been successfully addressed.
So, step one is for everyone to stop thinking of change as strictly specific efforts and/or events and recognize that the organization is already successfully dealing with a continuous stream of change at every level in the organization.
2. Develop an organization-wide understanding of responsibility
So how does an organization manage this stream of change? The answer is simple – delegation of responsibility. From the person who enters the customer order to the manager that resolves a conflict, responsibility for the control of these various changes has been delegated.
It is important to recognize that the concept of employee empowerment automatically exists as soon as that individual is given responsibility for managing and controlling the change that has been assigned to them. What is most often lacking is a top-to-bottom organizational recognition of the fact that not only is there a significant amount of change continuously occurring in the organization, but through the assignment of responsibility, all the employees in the organization are already masters at managing and executing all of that change.
3. Recognize two categories of change within the organization
Given that organizations are already managing and executing a continuous flow of change, why all the talk about how organizations struggle with change? The answer lies in the fact that organizations have allowed the lines of responsibility between day to day operational change and strategic change to get blurred. More importantly, the relationship between operational change and strategic change has become disconnected.
Strategic change responds to both internal opportunities for improvement and external forces that can threaten the organization.
Operational change focuses on the short term expected and unexpected changes that needs to be executed and is based on strategies that have been pursued in the past.
It is critical that everyone in an organization understands that both operational change and strategic change is equally important in order for the organization to survive. There needs to be an understanding and an acceptance on the part of all individuals within the organization that operational change needs to be continuously executed in order to support the customer in the here and now, while strategic change needs to be continuously executed in order for the organization to survive into the future.
4. Adjust responsibility to support operational and strategic change
Successful organizations can still face challenges if there is not a clear delineation of responsibility for operational and strategic change within the organization. The following guidelines will help:
- Drive responsibility for day to day operational change as far down the organizational pyramid as possible. Ideally, the more operational change that can be executed and controlled at the administrative and production levels of the organization, the better. These are the people closest to the operational change and generally have the greatest ability to address opportunities and issues that may arise.
- Clearly communicate (i.e. including through appraisal and compensation arrangements) that the primary responsibility over strategic change begins with the lowest management levels. There will always be operational change that requires involvement at the higher levels of management. A major customer contract could easily require sign-off by the CEO, but it should be clear that the main responsibility for management should be related to the accomplishment of strategic change.
- There should be a clear understanding at the ground operational level that it is management’s responsibility to make sure there is continuous strategic change occurring in the organization with an objective of long-term improvement and survival of the organization. However, it is also important to make sure a communication loop exists that supports the delineation of responsibility. This includes communication of the whys and what behind strategic change to those with a primary responsibility over operational change along with feedback communication to those responsible for strategic change regarding the performance of strategic change initiatives and other opportunities for improvements that might exist.
By following these four steps, the formula associated with an organizational structure that will enhance the ability to support the change required for growth and long-term survival is really quite simple.
Source: CEO