When it comes to organisational change and transformation, processes matter. Unfortunately, they’re often overlooked in favour of people and technology considerations – and that can mean the difference between success and failure of the program.
Let’s set the scene: your organisation has itself a burning platform, and you’ve identified an opportunity to leverage it for positive transformation once the initial crisis has passed.
You’ve activated your management cohort to help bring your people on the journey. With the right tools and support, they’re leaning in to help quell the flames of the initial crisis; and maybe you’re even beginning to see alignment and understanding across the workforce of the need for longer-term strategic change.
Meanwhile, there’s also the technology to consider. If the burning platform is a technological one, such as a failing core platform, you may already have someone working on a fundamental needs assessment to inform the business case for a new solution.
If this is you, great work. People and technology considerations are paramount when you’re dealing with organisational change – whether driven by an immediate burning platform crisis scenario, or not. However, you’ve probably noticed there’s one key area not mentioned above: processes.
In some ways, process integrity and change is a bit like the “ugly stepsister” of the People, Process, Technology change framework – or at the very least, the less exciting and slightly forgettable middle sister of the trio. The Gen X-er authors of this article note that we have shown our age with this reference and continue when naming process as the Jan Brady of the equation: easily overlooked until something doesn’t work, and even easier to ignore if it looks like they’re getting in the way of progress.
Often issues with process really reflect what’s going on beneath the surface, when we start to hear the familiar tropes:
- “This technology doesn’t work for us!” (Is it really the technology? Or is it bad process design that you’ve attempted to enable with technology?)
- “We’re doing our job well – but every other team in the enterprise is letting us down!” (You might be doing a great job, but chances are the other team thinks the same about you. Or is it that the process has not been designed end-to-end)?
In these moments, it’s tempting to blame the people or the technology. However, in many cases, your processes may actually be letting you down – particularly if there are no other glaring indicators that a tool is failing or that a particular team is underperforming or failing to deliver on their objectives.
When we see the needle shift in a positive direction on workforce engagement or technology-driven financial outcomes, those achievements tend to be what we hear shouted from the rooftop (and rightfully so). On the other hand, wins in the process space are usually underappreciated, yet, they are the critical enablers that ensure the outcomes get delivered.
The link between processes and culture
Here’s the thing about processes: they are typically very closely linked to organisational culture. Much has been said and written about the various types of cultures and their strengths and weaknesses, which we won’t rehash here.
At one end of the spectrum, you have an “adhocracy” culture—generally characterised by less formal organisation and last-minute reactivity. Everything is urgent, and there is never enough time. This type of culture can feel exciting and fun at the beginning, like being in a start-up focused on entrepreneurship and innovation. However, it can become exhausting and frustrating when even the simple things feel like a challenge.
If you’re in a larger organisation facing a significant program of change and transformation, it’s also worth noting that adhocracy culture doesn’t scale well. Why is this? Simply because in the absence of structure, people are almost certain to go “off the reservation” – and that’s a recipe for disaster when it’s essential that everyone is pulling in the same direction to support a transformation.
What’s more, processes that are based around individuals and teams – rather than reaching across the organisation – tend to break under pressure.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, you have a highly bureaucratic culture that revolves around well-defined rules, regulations, and procedures. While you’re unlikely to see a lot of unstructured innovation and boundary-pushing in a highly bureaucratic organisation, you will be in a far better position to maintain stability if substantial change and transformation is required.
These are two ends of a spectrum; the vast majority of organisations exist somewhere in the middle. The key point here is not that one type of culture is better than the other; rather, it’s that leaders who are setting out on substantial change programs should have an awareness of their type of culture, particularly as it relates to processes (or lack thereof) prior to commencing the work.
If you exist further towards the adhocracy end of the spectrum, for example, there will almost certainly be some quick wins you can introduce to strengthen your process culture and increase the likelihood of a successful transformation that “sticks”. For example, start with some high-level framework style processes that bring a simple structure to organising the flow of work to achieve a desired outcome.
You could also try introducing some basic business rules and role definitions that enable people to make good decisions and understand what happens next. Sometimes, it’s the simple things that have a remarkable impact on increasing speed and reducing noise. (If you don’t believe us, we happen to have a handy A3 page template to help you).
Processes and transformation – three questions to consider
If you’re setting out on a burning platform transformation program, consider these three questions to assess the integrity of your organisational processes:
- Do you have a clear and documented understanding of handover points between teams, as well as roles and responsibilities?
- How are you managing intra-team dependencies – the relationships and interactions between different teams within the organisation that must exist for work to get done?
- If our processes are managed informally (that is, based on relationships rather than agreed procedure), who can help us stand up some better processes, so we can move quickly without impeding the program?
Don’t ignore your processes
At the end of the day, every organisation wants to be efficient. Process integrity may not be as shiny and existing as a new technology; or as inspiring as the efforts of teams and individuals. However, processes are what matters when it comes to unlocking efficiency during transformation and are the glue that holds your people and technology together.
Can you afford to ignore them?
To find out more about how Quay Consulting can help your team with change management, please contact us.
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