Leading Organizational Change Series: Developing a Strategic Roadmap
This is the second episode in the Leading Organizational Change Series. A link to the first episode, on Articulating a Powerful Vision, can be found in the show notes:
https://theexclusivecareer.com/tec-podcast/blog-post-articulating-a-powerful-vision
A quick overview of that episode to set the stage for this week’s content:
-Definition of organizational change
-How to articulate the vision for the organizational change
-Make sure your people know how this change will affect them, and listen to their concerns
-Set SMART goals around the change initiative
-Be genuinely excited about the change – you can’t expect your team to get on board if you aren’t
This month’s episode is on Developing a Strategic Roadmap. Now that the change initiative has been developed and communicated, you as a leader in the organization are expected to translate that companywide initiative into practical and actional steps for your unit.
Why a Strategic Roadmap?
Organizational change is complex; a roadmap gives your team direction, facilitates alignment with the overall goals and the various work teams that report to you, and will reduce the uncertainty, confusion, and resistance that comes with change.
This is more than just tasks and timelines, but rather it brings together the corporate vision, strategy, and the people in a way that keeps your team on task, motivated, and focused.
Know Your Current State
-SWOT/PESTLE Analysis – it is important to understand the existing landscape including challenges, opportunities, and constraints. (PESTLE is an acronym for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental factors.)
-Identify how the change will affect your team – including the work they do, who does what work, and any additional processes, technologies, or people you might need.
Identify Key Stakeholder Needs
-Who will be impacted by, or involved with, the change? Think of your customers, suppliers, investors, and regulators as appropriate for your unit. What will their concerns, expectations, and potential resistance points be? How will you involve them from the beginning to build early buy-in?
The “How”
-Break down the overall change into 3-5 high-level strategic areas, such as “Technology Transformation,” “Culture Shift,” “Process Optimization,” “Talent Development.” Then make sure each of these pillars directly contributes to the overall change vision.
-Establish clear objectives and Key Results for each pillar, including SMART goals, then prioritize and sequence these objectives using a prioritization framework to determine which initiatives will deliver the most value with reasonable effort. Also identify dependencies to know which initiatives must precede others.
-Break down the change into manageable phases, such as “Discovery,” “Pilot,” “Rollout,” and “Optimization” that allows for learning and adapting to the changes.
-Define roles and responsibilities and secure the financial resources needed. Identify key leaders, change champions, and implementation teams.
-Assure accountability with a framework such as RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed).
Communication
-Develop a multi-directional communication plan that indicates how information will flow, what consistent messages need to be conveyed, and how/how often communication will occur. Also be sure to create a mechanism for feedback to solicit and address concerns and suggestions.
-Internal communication is just as important as external – determine a schedule for consistent meetings to track progress against OKRs, review risks, and make any needed adjustments.
-Maintain dashboards to show progress, key metrics, and areas that need attention.
Here are my bottom-line points for this episode:
-Without a well-thought out, comprehensive roadmap, your execution of the strategic initiative is bound to fail. Clearly articulating the who, what, when, where, and why are critical.
-To the degree that you can, include all members of your team in developing the strategic roadmap – this will increase buy-in, engagement, and ultimately the success of the initiative.
-Recognize – and communicate – that your strategic roadmap is a living document, not a fixed plan. Be sure your team knows how to provide feedback – and encourage them to do so.
-Think holistically – this initiative is going to affect people outside your unit. Plan how you will gain their input, communicate with them, and seek their buy-in.
-There really is no such thing as over-communicating during this period. Map out how, when, and what you will communicate – keeping in mind the communication needs of the various entities you will be communicating with.
In July, I will cover Embracing the Pushback as the next episode in the series. Stay tuned!