IMA's Implementing Organizational Changes at Speed Blog

One of the key principles of organizational change management is that implementation takes place at the local level. No matter how good your project team is, you still need a skilled cadre of Change Agents to actually implement your change. The success of your project depends on having the right Agents with the right skills, traits and characteristics working with Sponsors and Targets in an established change structure. What’s more, the type of Agent you need at the beginning of the project will be different from the type of Agent you need in future phases—see our Mini Guide to Installation vs. Implementation for details. 

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Many organizations believe they are “special and unique,” but organizations ultimately face very similar challenges when it comes to implementing business or clinical changes. Whether you are implementing new technology, a Shared Services model or a simple process change, there are certain bumps in the road that need to be avoided. 

There are a lot of choices when it comes to change management models. On the surface, many of them look pretty similar. For example, most change management methodologies are founded on behavioral science research concepts in areas like human motivation. They include tools and templates for project teams to use in implementation. Some of these frameworks are home-grown, combining a “mish mosh” of several well-known frameworks; a little AIM here, some ADKAR model there and a dash of Kotter over here. 

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There is no doubt about it…change is hard. But, when you start talking about enterprise-wide, transformational change, things become geometrically more complex. Moving to Shared Services or implementing Agile or introducing a new patient care model may make perfect, strategic sense for your organization. But these types of transformational changes are not only time consuming; they’re also incredibly challenging. 

Several years ago it was Quality Assurance. Then it was Lean Six Sigma. Now everyone wants to be Agile. The allure of these bright, shiny business protocols is understandable. They are solid programs that promise to improve operational efficiencies. And who doesn’t want to improve business results? 

If you are a Next Generation Change Agent, you know what your #1 priority is. It’s not about spending precious time filling out templates and checklists. It’s not about a useless effort trying to eliminate (instead of manage) resistance. And it’s not about communication messages that try to convince Targets that this change will be good for them. For a Next Generation Change Agent, that’s missing the boat! 

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Recently we’ve talked a lot about the importance of shifting from traditional to Next Generation Change Management. NextGen Change Management is about achieving business outcomes, and utilizing your limited resources to get maximum benefit in the shortest amount of time. It’s a shift from change management “activity” to change management “impact.” 

Prospective clients interested in AIM inevitably ask, “What’s included in your Toolkit?” This question always causes us to hesitate, because yes, there is a toolkit; however, unlike some of our competitors, we understand change management, when done right, is really about targeting your organization’s limited resources for the most impact in the shortest amount of time to get to value realization at speed. 

We’ve all heard the statistic 70% of all organizational change projects fail. This figure was first reported by Hammer and Champy in 1993 and, unfortunately, recent research confirms the staggering statistic hasn’t changed by much. The ugly truth of the matter is today’s organizations are still plagued by projects that are sub-optimized, if not facing outright failure. “Spotty” implementations are all too common with success in one area but not in all areas impacted by the change. 

Operational Excellence programs like Lean Six Sigma have been around for many years and have proven themselves time and time again to be invaluable in identifying areas where business process improvement is necessary. Lean Six Sigma, in particular, focuses on improving performance by removing waste. The five steps in the Lean Six Sigma process are designed to optimize and stabilize business process and design and are abbreviated by the initials DMAIC: