Methods are the tools we bring to bear on the issues we identify as worthy of our attention. They are the means to an end, not the end in themselves…
Here’s a generic approach that ensures a feedback loop without getting bogged down in technical details. It is based on first assessing the scope of the organisational transformation; second, improving it; and third, understanding the consequences of the changes that have been implemented.
It involves looking at your organisation as a system and your processes as the means by which you create value for your clients. By approaching your organisation this way, you can take any part and assess the demand placed on it, from within, from outside, by regulations, by resources and how your organisation responds to that demand.
First. Assess
To help you assess the state of your organisation, you can use the methods and techniques collectively known as “quality”. You can augment this with methods found in business process management, knowledge and risk management and organisational change and development.
There have been many fads, “best practices” and latest discoveries in this field but when you sift away the dross, you’ll find that the work of Deming, Out of the Crisis and Wheeler, Understanding Variation will stand you in good stead.
Second. Improve
Improvement is simply change that creates value. Not all change brings improvement but all improvement means change.
In this phase of an intervention, you need to jointly, with your implementation partner, determine how you will know if the improvement has been successful.
Third. Understand
Understanding the impact of the changes is crucial to the success of your transformation process. In this phase, you need to look for the unintended consequences of the change, the results of the plan meeting reality. Then work to minimise those effects.
While it may seem obvious to do, this third phase is the one most often left out due to lack of time, lack of resources, new projects needing to be done and other reasons with which you will be overly familiar.
