Organisational Change Management Volume 2

Rules of Thumb

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. Use every possible channel to communicate the purpose, ie words and deeds

This alignment is not present if

- you can't communicate the purpose to someone in 5 minutes or less and get a reaction that signifies both understanding and interest

- the workers at each level of the organisation cannot recite the purpose with commitment, conviction and understanding

. Staff don't just want to work for an organisation; they want to belong to it

In the end, every individual extracts the most basic sense of purpose from the personal satisfaction he or she derives from being part of an organisation. Creating that sense of satisfaction is a challenge to management. For many people, the primary means of personal satisfaction is the work place, so there is a need to recognize and respond to the reality that staff want to belong to an organisation, not just work for it. More than just providing work, organisations can help give meaning to people's lives. To capitalise on the value of committed staff, an organisation needs to bring its big ideas and bold initiatives down to a personal level.

. Change is more than an organisation's structural changes

As powerful as a new structure can be, structure is only one instrument of organisational change ‐ a blunt one at that. The "informal" organisational structure is usually significantly more powerful than the formal structure, ie things get done, despite the rigidities of the formal structure, by staff going around it.

Structure tends to stress hierarchies and a static concept. More and more organisations are a coalition of dynamic processes that need to

- generate creativity and innovation in the front-line

- build competencies across the organisation's internal boundaries

- promote continuous renewal of the strategies and ideas that drive the business