delivering complex change

Change in a large organization like banking and financial services should offer similar challenges to those of any smaller less complex organization.

So why is it that statistics show they will are will take proportionally longer and be less likely to succeed? It seems the answer may in some very simple but highly critical factors that become exponentially more difficult as the size of an organization increases.

Vision and commitment are critical factors. Some key questions every body is asking, even if they never voice them in their management meetings, are: Who is sponsoring this project? Just how far will they go to make this happen? Have they got the money? Beyond that, at all levels, the vision must be clear to all.

Big projects need a clear vision and big commitments from the top. In a complex organization this can become a highly political landscape without the right foundations set by the top team. It’s no wonder that difficulties arise when the top team involved in change is as large as it typically is in a bank, keeping everybody on board is a major challenge.

Next in line for the most common cause of failure is communication. Consultants are often used as the answer to this because they dedicate the time, bring their own communication models and, after all, everybody listens to an outside view they are paying for!

The reality though is that when companies get smart it can work well. Planning communication needs to be smart, especially in a large complex organization. The old style of directing the top will be less effective than building a network of volunteer Facilitators that become ‘agents of change’. Often organizations concentrate on hard skills when building this kind of network (a typical six sigma issue), soft skills are even more critical, after all ‘selling the new approach’ will be critical to the projects success.

Once again the bigger the organization the more costly and complex this commitment will be. Roll out the consultants? No way, this one has to be an internal job I am afraid.

We all understand that complex change programmes require money and planning, but let’s not forget the soft skills that are so often the cause of inefficiency and failure.