Good companies react quickly to change
great companies create change
Move before the wave!! change before you have to.
(Hriegel and Brandt, 1996)
During a bpm project, unless it's an extremely small and isolated project, culture will need to be dealt with. however we need to pay attention to those who use culture as an excuse to get away with the process of change. it's the leadership's responsibility to create the right conditions so as to pass change without pain in the organization. And pain comes easily into the organizations lifecycle if we dont pay attention to change management basics. But be carefull because change management is not a strict and predefined series of steps. It has to do with PEOPLE. And when culture needs improving then it always be as a result of some part of the organization processes, structure or people management systems not responding or changing as required. These issues are usually the root cause, and the culture is the outcome. Within a BPM project, always remember that the project outcome is the goal, and any cultural change that may be necessary is a result of the process goals.Some cultural change is essential as part of a succesful project. However cultural change is not an end in itself.
Here we provide a process of how to assist these 'ordinary managers and workers' to become prepared for, and accept change.
process steps
1) resistance to change
the only person who likes change is a wet baby. (Mark Twain)
And he is right because there are reasons to support this:
a)fear
b)feeling powerless
c) effort and pain to change
d) absence of self-interest
2) why change? what's the leadership role
Michael Hummer stated in 1993 that'coming up with the ideas is the easy part, but getting things done is the tough part'. And he is absolutely right. The gatekeepers of change are the people involved. there can be the best processes and BPM systems, but if people refuse to use them, or use them poorly then the project will not be succesful.
there are two methods that can be applied for the change to take place and become acceptable from the people.
a) there must be a crisis and it's the job of the CEO to define and communicate that crisis, its magnitude its severity, and its impact.Just as important, the CEO must also be able to communicate how to end the crisis-the new strategy, the new company model, the new culture.
(Gerstner, 2002)
the second method is more subtle, and requires leadership to have people understand that there is a problem and inform them of the magnitude of the problem and why it is essential to change.
the people within the organization do not need rah-rah speeches; they need leadership- direction, consistency,momentum, and persistence. they want leaders who will focus on solutions and actions.
There is important to exist a person responsible for these changes. a LEADER. this person should and must always be ready to provide answers for the following questions:
what is change intended to achieve
why the changes are necessary
what will be the consequences of these changes to both the organization and the individuals?
(Scheer et al. 2003:26)
3) components of the change program
a) planning a detailed project plan
b) selection of a key personnel to get involved in the project
c) a clear understanding of the program's links to: strategy, culture, structure, new people roles, new processes and the overall BPM project.
d) a detailed communication plan outlining the way information will be delivered to all stakeholders
4) Getting ready for change
a) create an enviroment that will allow and encourage people to change.
b) Ensure that there is feedback regarding performance and the change program
5) required behavior
there are three simple sub-steps that can assist the people change management process
a) a short clear uncomplicated message needs to be developed. win execute end team (Gerstner, 2002) provides an example of how short clear and powerful this message can be.
b) a behavioral charter needs to be developed showing the behavioral change required for change from the current to the new behavior
c) a set of principles that we will all live by within the organization must be developed.
these all must be documented and communicated to all people in the organization to have a positive result
6) how to get there
finally after we adressed all these issues, it's important to know what it takes for the leaders to get to the wanted results. Depending on the scenario, it could even take houndreds of hours to get the work done.. we should always have in mind that there are no quarantees.
The first step is to analyze the needs of the BPM project, based upon the
project scenario selected, because deciding what and how to change is critical:
● Does the project require the entire organization to change, or only
parts of it?
● Once this is agreed, determine the depth and breadth of the change
program.
● Always have ‘depth’ rather than a ‘shallow’ change effort; understanding
this will take longer and require more effort, but will yield
significantly better sustainable results.
● Always match the change program to the various aspects of the
People phase of the framework.
Stace and Dunphy (1996) provide an extremely useful summary of the
decisions and outcomes of a change program, and this is shown in Table 25.2.
In looking at and evaluating the actions to be executed during the people
change management program, always test the tasks and proposed actions
against both the project scenario selected and the following rule:
If it doesn’t:
● add-value to a customer
● increase productivity or
● increase morale
then don’t do it.
(Information taken from Book"Business Process Management: Practical Guidlines to Succesful implementations by John Jeston and Johan Nelis")
Giannis Giataganas IS Consultant, BPM Analyst Bsc in Informatics, AUEB MscIS, Athens University of Economic and Business
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