Leading Transformations In The Organization

 

This article is a story of a graduate in his own words This month, I dug out a graduate school reference book, John Kotter's "What Leaders Really Do." This book, along with a few others, is the kind of reading that serves as good refreshers on a regular basis. We face the challenge of implementing change as part of our projects as project managers. In order to help our organizations create successful change events, I thought it would be helpful to outline Kotter's eight reasons why change transformations fail

Not Creating a Strong Enough Sense of Urgency: Without motivation, people will not help, and the effort will be futile. According to Kotter, the majority of businesses fail during the first phase. Organizations are frequently paralyzed by having too many managers and not enough leaders. Change management necessitates leadership. These organizations frequently underestimate the amount of effort required or how difficult it will be to push people out of their comfort zones. According to him, a successful sense of urgency rate is 75% of the company's management is convinced that business as usual is completely unacceptable.

Not Developing a Strong Enough Guiding Coalition: For the leadership coalition to be effective, it must grow over time. In a small business, this could be three to five people. In a larger organization, this figure could be in the 20 to 50 range. Senior executives must always be at the center of the group.

Inadequate Vision: Vision extends beyond financial goals. It clarifies the company's course of action. "If you can't communicate the vision to someone in five minutes or less and get a reaction that indicates both understanding and interest, you're not done with this phase," he says.

By a factor of ten, communicate the vision: Employees must believe that the change is feasible and worthwhile in order to make sacrifices. Business leaders must consider how the proposed solution or change fits into the overall picture and vision. Executives must constantly disseminate information about the change effort. This organization must "walk the walk." It is critical to maintaining consistency in both actions and words. Inconsistencies will detract from the effort.

Leaving Obstacles in the Way of the New Vision: The more people who participate, the better. Employees could stymie the effort. They should be treated with dignity and informed about the new vision.

Systematically, no. Planning for and Creating Short-Term Gains: You must demonstrate short-term gains. Leaders must look for ways to track performance, make improvements, and recognize those who contribute to the effort. When a lengthy change effort is planned, the level of urgency may decrease. Short-term victories, and the celebration of these victories, can help to maintain urgency levels.

Declaring Victory Too Soon: We may be tempted to declare victory with the first noticeable improvement. Celebrating short-term victories is still important, but we must be cautious not to "declare the war won." It may take five to ten years for these efforts to permeate the company culture. Change initiatives necessitate new approaches and are prone to regression.

Changes in the corporate culture are not being anchored: We must be cautious and aware that change is not permanent.

For each of these obstacles, the positive statement and action item would be:

Create a Sense of Immediacy

Form a Strong, Guiding Coalition

Make a Vision

Make the Vision Known

Encourage Others to Take Action on the Vision

Prepare for & Make Short-Term Gains

Consolidate Improvements and Bring About Even More Change Implement New Approaches

Most of us are aware of these items on our own, but I believe the real power and insight come from considering them together. We may be focused on the schedule, scope, resources, budget, and stakeholders like project managers, but we should also be aware of and help to champion the underlying change effort.

What distinguishes project managers is their ability and drive to overcome these change barriers. These eight steps can and should be included in your implementation plan. You may have a perfectly defined project and a well-executed plan, but if the items listed above are not considered and managed, your project will not achieve its full potential and associated long-term sustained improvements. These are some points you can use these and may consider many other points a/c to your knowledge and understanding it is up to you.

This article not necessarily but might help you if you have below mentioned questions

organizational transformation organizational transformation mode organizational transformation organizational transformation strategies leading our transformation examples organizational transformation process what is organizational transformation?organizational transformation examples

 

Reference:

Kotter, John P. (1999). John P. Kotter on What Leaders Really Do. Harvard Business Review Book.