Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Change management is a structured approach to
transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations
from a current state to a desired future state. Change
management (or change control) is the process during
which the changes of a system are implemented in a
controlled manner by following a pre-defined
framework/model with, to some extent, reasonable
modifications.
The House
(Of Quality)
Needs
Foundations
Underestimating
the need for a
support structure
can be a big
mistake in the
processof
deploying Lean
or Six Sigma. It
is important to
first assess the
gap between
your current state
and the future,
desired state.
This activity
produces a list of
things thatneed
to change and, in
addition, those
that need to be
positively
reinforced. In
thechange
process, this is
not an either/or
proposition.
Both need to be
done. As
anexample, if one
has the fortune of
having an army of
talented Black
Belts but a
brokenChampion
support system,
the program can
fail in a
heartbeat. Again,
if both
are present and
yet, executive
support is absent,
then that can lead
to disastrous
results for a
program as
well.The role of a
consultant is
potentially huge
in this case. The
superior
knowledge
basecan be
helpful in
foreseeing
roadblocks and
addressing them
at the very outset.
Speed Can Be An
Illusion
One common trait
of all change
initiatives is that
they go through a
series of
necessarysteps
that have their
own lead times.
Failing to
recognize this
fact often leads
toskipping
essential
activities that
only create an
illusion of speed
and never
producesdesired
results.
Sustaining A
Shared Vision
Most executives
do a good job of
communicating a
strong sense of
urgency to
effectchange and
move people out
of their comfort
zones. This often
launches a flurry
of activities
in the right
direction to
start with.
However,
sustaining the
quality
and levelof
activities is a
different ball
game. For the
abstraction that
is called
business,
itrequires more
than
organizational
structure,
incentives
and job
descriptions to
have amultitude
of people work
in a concerted
manner towards
a common
objective --
itrequires a
shared vision. It
is one, in which
everybody has a
role to play,
everybodyclearly
understands his or
her role, and
everyone knows
"what is in it for
me?"