Managing Organizational Change: Plan, Execute, Evaluate

“Change is good,” or so they say. The more accurate statement is, “Change is inevitable.” That being the case, how we handle organizational change is critical to the ongoing success of any organization.

Often we aren’t even aware that “organizational change” is occurring because it happens continually and, often, very rapidly. You can easily define organizational change in this way: “Anything that affects people, processes and chains of accountability is organizational change.” Something as simple as an employee requiring extended leave can have significant impact—just as a complete restructuring of an organization can derail even the strongest of teams. But, if your organization is prepared, it will naturally adapt to smaller changes and weather the significant changes.

Regardless of the size of an organization or the industry in which an organization resides, preparing for change is the same. Approach the process one step at a time knowing that mistakes will be made, and that you can minimize mistakes by being well prepared. As you begin the process, evaluate the tools you have in place to help you and identify the tools you will need to add to effectively plan, execute and evaluate the organizational change.

Create a Plan

In order to create a plan that outlines where you are going, you must first know where you are or, in this case, who-reports-to whom. One incredibly simple and well-known tool you must produce and maintain is an accurate organizational chart. By providing a tangible picture of the complete organization, all employees, reporting relationships and workflow processes, you have equipped your team to produce a logical, fact-based plan.

The organizational chart lays the foundation for organizational change and will continually help you evaluate your people-related data, people, processes and points of accountability relatively easily.

Creating an org chart can be an arduous task, but it doesn’t have to be. By using an organizational charting tool such as TimeVision’s flagship product OrgPublisher for Intranets™ software, you can automate the process of building and maintaining Web-based organizational charts by extracting people-related data from existing sources and publishing org charts to your intranet, Internet, print copy or, in some cases, common handheld devices operating the Microsoft® Pocket PC 2002 or Palm OS® platforms. Through these published charts you can perform numerous tasks, such as displaying the organizational structure, creating multiple team-based org charts, distributing accurate phone lists, maintaining critical employee data, tracking employee skill sets, performing on-the-fly analysis of people-related data and more. Most importantly, during the entire planning stage ask as many questions as possible. Focus on questions relating to data, people, processes and accountability.

Data

• Where is people-related data currently stored? Who manages or is accountable for it?
• How up-to-date is the people-related data?
• Who has access to people-related and process-oriented data?
• Is people-related data easily accessible to those who need it?
• Are reports easily generated to evaluate people-related data?

People

• Who reports to whom?
• Which employees have multiple reporting relationships?
• Does your organization—or should your organization—capture team-based reporting relationships?
• What skill sets does each employee possess? Is there a natural redundancy in skill sets?
• Should you base your organizational structure on people or processes?

Processes

• Do workflow processes already exist within your organization?
• Are those processes clearly defined? Are they documented?
• Are processes cross-departmental in nature?
• How are process changes managed? Are there process managers or owners? Accountability
• What are the existing approval processes within your organization? Are these processes tracked?
• Are points of ownership/accountability established and monitored?
• Are records kept regarding process changes and points of accountability?

Execute the Plan

Organizations typically have a geographically dispersed employee-base. Whether employees are on a separate floor, different campus, across the globe or simply mobile workers, there must be a method for distributing your plan, communicating regularly and observing the plan in action. Intranets and employee portals provide the most logical path to distribute information. Information presented in a visual format is often easier to understand.

It makes sense, then, to publish the organizational structure itself to the corporate intranet or via the employee portal. In doing so, you provide an accurate and timely picture of the organization at the same time to your entire employee-base. Consistency and accuracy are of utmost importance during times of change. Everyone in your organization will then take ownership of their own org chart box and provide input on any inaccuracies, resulting in greater data integrity overall. You can increase the ease of communication by incorporating phone lists, hyperlink e-mail addresses and photos in your Web-based org charts. In fact, your org chart can serve as an entry to your employee portal and be linked to external documents such as department objectives, mission statements or even job descriptions. During this phase of the process, it is important to be aware of human nature and our reaction to change. Most of us don’t like change, but we adapt to it readily enough if we have good information that allays our fears.

Below are just a few of the questions you should be asking yourself regarding plan execution. Focus specifically on questions regarding how you will distribute, communicate and observe the plan as it is rolled out.

Distribute

• Does your organization distribute an organizational chart?
• Is the process of distributing hierarchical information automated?
• Is there an easy way for each member of the organization to provide feedback regarding the organizational structure?
• Are you distributing enough useful information to the employees that need it the most?

Communicate

• Do employees have easy access to an accurate, up-to-date organizational chart?
• Do employees have access to correct contact information for all other employees in your organization, regardless of location?
• Is an intranet or employee portal in place to support a centralized location for sharing hierarchical or people-related information?
• Can managers collaborate on organizational change?
• Is there proper security built into electronic systems that protects private information from becoming public?

Observe

• What is working?
• What makes it work?
• What is your objective?
• What are the benefits of achieving this objective?
• What can you do to move closer to your objective?

Evaluate the Outcomes

We must evaluate our actions in order to learn from them. If we don’t know what went right—and more importantly, what went wrong—then we are likely to repeat the same mistakes. But when change happens, how do you evaluate the outcomes? Honestly, some of it is subjective. What does your gut tell you? What is the temperament of your employees? Has your corporate culture changed?

On the other hand, some of the post-change evaluation is quite tangible. Using the data from your organizational chart, you can discern numerous outcomes. Your org charting tool should allow you to easily generate a “dashboard” report of statistics that you can share with organizational leaders. Analyze these statistics to ensure that future change comes about in an easier and smoother fashion.

As you evaluate the outcomes, keep in mind that you should ask questions that focus on how you will report on and analyze information regarding the organizational change. The following are some suggested questions that you may want to ask.

Report

• Was the organizational change itself documented?
• Can managers access and report on people-related information?
• Will reports be shared departmentally?

Analyze

• Did the change help or hinder the organization?
• How are you measuring these results?
• Are any employees left without defined reporting relationships?
• Are there communications breakdowns?
• Is the process sufficiently automated?
• What additional changes need to take place, and on what do you base this decision?

Change Again

How will your organization modify your plan to make organizational change better? This is the most important question you should ask after each and every organizational change. Experience remains the very best teacher. With every change, large or small, the experience you gain allows you to modify the process in order to better meet the needs of the organization. You will innately be more prepared, create a stronger plan, have a smoother execution and more easily evaluate the outcomes.

Change may be inevitable, but doing it right makes all the difference in the world.

---

Founded in 1994, Irving, Texas-based TimeVision, Inc. is the leading global provider of Internet/intranet-based organizational charting software used by over 1,700 companies in 53 countries. Customers include the City of Boulder, Colgate Palmolive, Dept. of Ecology Washington State, Dept. of Land & Water Conservation, Internal Revenue Service, WellPoint Heath Networks and XO Communication among others. Stand-alone or combined, TimeVision’s products OrgPublisher™ and OrgBuilder™ software provide the most comprehensive solutions for creating, maintaining, distributing and analyzing organizational information across the enterprise.

To evaluate TimeVision products free for 30 days, please visit TimeVision.