Many of you are probably planning business transformations. However, the loftier the goals, the more care needs to be given to the process of achieving them. All organizations today face the need for more frequent and ongoing change in order to maintain their competitive advantages and relevance in the marketplace.

 

  • Five Key Ingredients

 

Successful change formulas involve (1) vision, (2) benefits, (3) sponsorship, (4) resources, and (5) methodology. If any of these five ingredients are left out, the outcome won’t taste all that great. For example, if aligned vision is lacking confusion sets in quickly. The keyword being aligned.

 

  • Areas That Change Impacts the Most

The areas of an organization affected most by transformation are mindset, behavior, culture, strategy, design, and tactics. Mindset affects behavior, which creates a culture that either succeeds or fails in implementing a strong strategy and necessary tactics for execution. Leadership must have an authentic belief in the mission. Successful organizational change is impossible if leadership alignment doesn’t exist - meaning that not all of the senior leaders are bought in.

 

  • Feedback

To develop a mindset shift, create an organization-wide feedback loop. Take a data-driven approach. How? By asking! Ask your employees what’s important to them and what motivates them most.

 

  • Ask The Important Questions

Do the actions of your leadership team align with the behavior and culture you want for your company? Is the aligned path (and associated goals and KPIs) talked about frequently? Or do assumptions start to take place driving discourse between perception and reality? Your strategy will guide the vision and behavior set out by leaders of the organization.

 

Part of a strong strategy is continual communication of what everyone wants to accomplish as a team. It also includes clear direction on who is responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed for which action items.

 

A true transformation requires many steps and small changes to ultimately make an impact. It’s a long-term investment that is well worth it for any organization that wishes to achieve lasting success.

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