Dual C Business Solutions

In Spite of ... Change

 

Have you ever seen or perhaps sent the following email?

 

 “Congrats on the implementation of the New Cool System or NCS that the IT team and select business users have [implemented;delivered;built].  The Old Decrepit System or ODS has been shut off and the majority of your data has been transferred.  Please contact the Help Desk if you experience any issues.  The NCS will allow us to better: [increase shareholder value; realize operational efficiencies; increase top-line sales].  Training will be scheduled soon.

 

Thanks,

The Management”

 

Technology change reflects a significant portion of the change employees experience.  Unfortunately poorly managed technological change has resulted in a cynical attitude by the end users.  The above letter will often result in open revolt or a grassroots movement attempts to identify various ways to work-around the new system.  In Spite of Change, the organization continues to function; albeit hobbled by the NCS.  The prevailing feeling “In spite of the NCS, we are able to deliver our product or service” when the feeling should be “Because of the NCS, we are better able to deliver our product or service”.

 

How can a change agent effectively ensure a proper technology innovation? 

 

Recognizing the guardrails of OD in IT are vital.  First, I posit that the majority Software Development Life Cycles (SDLC) models that exist today are effective at creating a realistic solution.  The effectiveness of each methodology is outside the scope of this article.  Secondly, the solution delivered will result in a change to an organization or subset of the organization in a significant way.  A “significant” change being defined as a change that results in the altering of current or expected behavior to accomplish a process or series of processes. Additionally, the team will create a business process document outlining the as-is versus the to-be process.  Most software requires input from a specific subset of the affected team.  This subset of business users is expected to sufficiently represent the business needs to influence the solution.    Finally, the organization is sufficient in size so that the technology development team is external to the affected organizational subset. 

It is within these guardrails that the change agent must act.  Change management is often defined as “Training” within the project plan, usually towards the end of a project.  Sometimes this occurs after the project is completed.  Effective technology change management means ensuring the user is meaningfully engaged throughout the entire SDLC.  Adoption velocity is an important measure of the success of an implementation.  The quantity of individuals who are effectively using the new tool will help leadership understand, reactively, how effective the change is be embracing.

The following table outline the primary phases that occur throughout a project;  SCRUM will occur iteratively and Waterfall will be sequentially. 

Project Phase	When OD / Change Management is “Training”	End User’s Perspective
Pre-Scoping
Analysis
Design
Construction
Test & Validation	Training – ready set go.	“Another change? How will the new system affect me?  I don’t remember being asked for my input.”
Implementation	Keep Training	“It has been released?”
Post Implementation	Even More Training	“Why am I learning about this the hard way? Grrrrrrrrrr.”

 

The process in the table above will not result in the most effective adoption of the new system.

 

 

The optimal OD & Change Management process in IT projects is below.

 

Project Phase	Effective OD in IT steps	End User’s Perspective
Pre-Scoping	Identify affected user groups.
Analysis	Create ownership within affected user groups. Ensure visible leadership support.	“I’m engaged to help define the optimal solution.”
Design	Engage affected user groups to communicate changes and value. Ensure visible leadership support.	“I realize there are other stake holders who have inputs.  I need to be flexible.”
Construction	Create transition plan. Identify barriers to transition. Ensure visible leadership support.	“Knowing the changes and how I can embrace them allows me to plan appropriately.”
Test & Validation	Engage the user groups to ensure transparency and validation of transition plan. Intervene as necessary. Ensure visible leadership support.	“My feedback is valued since I will be working directly with the new system.  The transition plan ensures efficient steps towards the new state.”
Implementation	Monitor change after implementation. Ensure positive change is encouraged and negative change or backsliding is discouraged.	“I expected and planned for this change since I knew what to expect.  Here we go!”
Post Implementation	Follow up on change.  Incorporate recommendations in future changes.	“Here is what works, here is what didn’t.”

 

 

The second process will increase adoption velocity, adoption coverage and build trust between the technology and business teams.

The reality is that most organizations cannot immediately adopt the a stringent OD approach.  If the teams are willing to engage this change management process over time until the full process is utilized then the incremental success will be readily recognized.

 

Help move the organization perspective from “In spite of change we are generating revenue” to “Because of change we are better able to generate revenue”.

Merger Mania

At a high level; a merger is simply the management of redundancies, communicating objectives, ensuring collaboration and most of all ensuring the proper partnership across all levels of the new organization.

Just an average day at the office, right?  Simple in the same way that open heart surgery is simple.  To further extend that analogy would require more medical knowledge than I can muster.  In a final effort to resuscitate the correlation, both activities require implementing change while still performing at full speed.
Beep beep beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep…

Moving on.
A Business Capability (BC) is a function that performs some discrete activity that adds value.  Most organizations have a catalog of these capabilities mapped to the different business processes and systems to ensure an adequate portfolio vision.
Below graphic is an example of the Business Development business capability at a generic corporation.

 
It is safe to assume that both organizations have teams, business processes, and technology to accomplish this BC.  Would you acquire a company that didn’t do business development?

For each of the business capability redundancies, identify:
1.    Percentage of overlap
2.    Gaps analysis
3.    Cost of closing gaps
4.    Cost of changing business process
5.    Risk of coexistence

Leadership will then be able to make the appropriate decisions on how best to address each capability based on priority, risk, and cost.

Communication needs to remain at the top of the list for leadership in ensuring a smooth merger.  Magniloquence and verbosity fall short in value to an organization than message content.  Have no doubt that the rumor mill is working all three shifts.

In one meeting at the MN Entrepreneurial group, The Collaborative. One of the CEOs on the panel was discussing his first companywide meeting after acquiring a business.  His introduction was one of the most impactful that I’ve heard.

    “If there are two things you need to remember from this speech, they are:
        Number 1;  You have a job.  You’ll have a job tomorrow.

        Number 2;  You’ll have the same benefits package you do today.“

Years later one of the machine operators said that his message immediately and unquestionably squashed the scariest rumors about downsizing and benefits.
It is imperative to communicate early and often about the pending changes to either people, processes or systems.

This most difficult integration point is the people.  The significant difference in personalities, cultures and attitudes between the teams will lead to difficulty.
Let me say that again.  Integrating people is hard.  Even more so if they are former competitors.
An unfortunate tendency of the acquiring organization is to discount the value of the people of the acquired organization.
The perspective change from ‘Us versus Them’ to ‘Us versus the Market’ is a time consuming, investment intensive endeavor.  There will undoubtedly be some attrition as individuals are unable to adjust.  Non-trite team building is necessary at all levels to ensure the proper partnerships are developed.

Other considerations:
1.    People
    a.    Career Paths
    b.    Job Descriptions & Levels
2.    Technology
    a.    Data Center Location and need
    b.    Licensing
    c.    Vendor contracts
    d.    Support SLAs
    e.    Technology Portfolio
3.    Business Development
    a.    Market segments and penetration
    b.    Customer lists and cross selling
4.    Strategic
    a.    Flagship product lifecycle
    b.    Hybrid products and services
5.    R&D
    a.    Investment priorities
    b.    Intellectual property knowledge sharing


Oh, did I mention that the new organization still needs to generate revenue while completing the merger?

Good luck!

Effective Meeting Villains

Effective Meeting Villains

Facilitation is an expected trait from any leader.  Time and time again we will all sit through a meeting wondering why we are there.  After thorough research involving searching my memory the list of the primary offenders and their traits are listed below.

The Villains

Name: The ReHasher aka Earl of Echo
SOP: This individual will lapse into long winded and unnecessary soliloquies surrounding everything historical that was previously discussed.          

Name: The Pop Culture Commenter
SOP: Every problem is followed by a movie, television, pop-culture reference or quote.      

Name: Please Me Professional
SOP: Each item must be addressed to a single person’s pleasure.  Considers all meetings to be a personal time to have an inquisition on all topics.          

Name: The Handout Hipster
SOP: This special meeting attendee weighs the value of her contribution through the weight of the stack of handouts.  Often expresses surprise when the entire stack which would make Tolstoy’s editor cry cannot be addressed in a single meeting.      
Name: The Etch-a-Sketch™ Executive
SOP: This special meeting attendee often suffer from the Rehash curse.  No information, decisions or discussions ever stick to his oil slick veneer.          

Name: PowerPoint™ Apostle
SOP: Presenter professional who believes that if it is worth communication, it is worth making a full slide deck with transitions.  Easy to identify from the array of personal laser pointers and projectors that accompany them.  If no projector is available, becomes an effective Handout Hipster.     


The next post will address how to handle each villain.  The good news is that it isn’t rocket surgery or brain science.