Who Gets To Manage Change in SME’s?
Imagine this scenario:
As owner/CEO of a small company, you and your team have been coping with difficult economic pressures but it’s clear that keeping the business afloat isn’t enough. There is enough revenue from existing customers to pay overhead and salaries. However, developing new products has been slow and it’s clear to you that the current business model is unsustainable, particularly if the economy goes into another recession.
Earlier in the year, you and your team hashed out what the ideal customer looks like. It’s clear to you, as the leader, that the organization is going to have to change if you work with this ideal customer. When you try to have this conversation with your staff, Jane expresses concern that the easygoing collegial feeling will go away and it will feel “just like any other business.” Bob wants to know what your vision is and why it has to change now. He asks, “It’s all well and good that we’ve identified that we want to work with Big Firm in Nearby City but what’s wrong with our current customers?” Other staff members say nothing. Fred has made it clear that he thinks you are nice but too unrealistic to take the company to a more sophisticated stage.
Making this transition isn’t easy for anyone.
As anyone who has led a business will tell you, there has to be a process to managing change or the organization will become (more) dysfunctional. In larger organizations, it is easier to assign roles and tasks to the C-level team. However, in smaller organizations, the process is much more intimate.
Basic model of managing organizational change
1. What needs to change? Without identifying what is outdated, wrong or broken, there is no compelling pain or impetus to do something new.
2. Why now? Making changes without a reason is basically shooting an arrow into the wind and hoping it hits the target. There are so many other questions to ask but it can be summed up as “why is it important now?”
3. What is getting in the way? These barriers can be internal and external. People’s attitudes, market conditions and a host of other things can be obstacles.
4. How can we overcome these barriers? Identifying the strengths of the organization and the individuals involved can provide solutions to removing any obstacles. Couple this with identifying weaknesses and figuring out ways to manage or eliminate these and you will find people are more likely to cooperate.
5. Measuring the change process. Like everything else about your SME, how do you know if it is working? Taking the time as a team to set up milestones gives you two benefits. First, change is big and you’re not going to make it all happen overnight. One step at a time is a good perspective. Second, you can adapt the plan as needed to make the change process successful for everyone.
But…we’re back to our original question. Who gets to manage change in SME’s?
In the opening paragraph, I gave you a scenario. It’s actually a composite of the change projects I’ve done with my coaching clients. Time and time again, identifying which person will inhabit specific roles, who facilitates the process, who has ultimate responsibility and availability of unanimous support for the change project are essential.
What did you notice about this organization in the scenario?
If you were the leader, what kind of conversation would you have with your team? Why?
When would the business owner/CEO of an SME not be ultimately responsible for a change project?
What level of responsibility would you assign to the team members and/or employees?
When is it most beneficial to bring in a consultant/coach to assist with the change project?
We’ll be discussing this topic on the Twitter chat, #kaizenblog on Friday, September 2nd at 12:00pm ET/5pm BST/9am PT. Please consider yourself invited to join our discussion. If you can’t make the chat, add your comments, thoughts and opinions here.
*I wanted to cite who created the drawing used as a graphic for this post. However, I wasn’t able to find the origin of the drawing. I found it on the site for the Christ Church Northern Beaches. My apologies to the artist.
About the author: I’m Elli St.George Godfrey, a small business coach and trainer who guides established small business owners to be comfortable in their own skin. I have a deep appreciation for learning and understanding my client’s business style and culture. Whether you are expanding in your own backyard or into another country, my 3 keys coaching process helps clients move from being excited about a new business opportunity to having the tools to make it actually happen. Curious? Schedule your complimentary coaching session here.
6 Comments
It’s not clear how the new “ideal customer” that was decided upon maps to the SME’s current capabilities.
Is this customer in a market that’s growing or declining?
Does the SME have experience in this market?
If the SME does have experience in this market, are there customers that the SME can cite as references?
What are success stories that the SME can communicate about how it’s made a positive impact with its customers in this market?
How does the customer’s needs align with the SME’s capabilities?
What are the gaps between the customer’s needs and the SME’s capabilities?
The answers to these questions can serve as a foundation to drives answer to the post’s questions that begin with “What needs to change?”
If, at the end of the day, the decision is to move ahead with the change, the two most important considerations in leading this change will be well thought out Change Leadership and Risk Management Plans. These plan should mutually reinforce each other. The need for these plans and corresponding actions begs another question, “Does the SME have experience with such a change?” If not, what and who are resources that the SME can draw upon? Forrester has an excellent post at http://ht.ly/6jWw5 that identifies the six principles of change management.
As Ellen St. George rightly points out, beginning with the title of this post, it always begins with the questions. Asking the right questions upfront and determining the answers to those questions can help mitigate risk associated with these types of initiatives.
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Joe,
Great questions! You totally captured the kind of conversation that has to happen before the change plan is implemented. I’ve found that it is often a shift in mindset that has to occur first (sometimes concurrently) before action is taken.
Thank you for the post from Forrester! The more we can learn about change management, the better it is to handle the inevitable ups and downs of the process.
~Elli
Communicating change and buyin, with compassion is key. I think implementing change when the outside environment is pushing back at you seems like a nightmare for the management. However if the management can see that as a catalyst, that makes the transition that much easier, still painful at times.
I also think in tougher economic climate, Managers (even really good ones) become more controlling. If they shift from managing people to managing the process, they can achieve better results. Make people more accountable, right down to the bottom of the pyramid. Make sure that they are not only being accountable for their specific function, but also feel a part of being accountable for the overall strategy.
The Managers in this scenario always are looking for improving performance of the process, and letting people they manage take decisions.
Communicating Strategic concerns is key.
Managers controlling process, not people.
Having a culture of accountability.
I think consultants/coaches should be brought on as soon as the management feel that they are frustrated and have a sense of loss of control.
If you are not well, and tried off the counter medicine and its not helping, you go see a Doctor. Same analogy, consultants can see the symptoms and can help, before there are more complications.
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Ritu Raj,
Thank you for commenting!
It certainly seems that when facing stress or some other pressure, managers often go to the fall back position of asserting more control. This often removes that sense of ownership and accountability that motivates people to perform well. Your points about staying focused on process, not people, is well taken.
We certainly missed your insights during #kaizenblog!
~Elli
Creative communicating, asking for advice, listening to people at work has always worked much better than lowering ones value.
Anytime a status of a person is lowered that person WILL unselfconsciously adapt to that image.
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Marlene,
Thanks for your comment! It’s truly amazing how we live up or down to someone else’s perception of our status. There’s a lot of research on this and it’s well worth considering how we want to communicate our opinion of anyone who works for us.
~Elli