The time between Christmas and New Year is traditionally used as an opportunity to escape the hustle and bustle of our busy days, take a step back and reflect where you have been and where you are going.
For Change Management, this is even more of a necessity. As an Organizational Change Manager, whether you’re in the “old-fashioned” mode of ‘change after change’ or in a culture of ‘multiple clashing changes’, there are some essential questions that you need to ask yourself:
- Is our change process still on track?
- Have any of the conditions changed? Were they fundamental to our plans? Do we have new drivers, change agents, bottle necks or road blocks? Have new goals and objectives emerged? Are corrections necessary?
In order to answer these questions systematically – yes, organizational change management is not only systemic and intuitive, but also a systematic process – it makes sense to have concrete measurements and a description of the initial and future state so that you can
- Describe and measure the interim state
- Compare the interim state with your change plans
- Correct and manage your change plans
This may sound trivial. However, in my experience sponsors in organizations that are undergoing change– for various reasons - often prove to be resistant to measuring and assessing organizational change at the beginning of initiatives, so monitoring and assessments should be the first order of the business when aligning sponsorship buy-in from the get-go.
Finally, what John and Yoko had in mind when they recorded one of the most iconic Christmas song in pop culture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr9EOFuuIk4, was obviously not change monitoring. But it was about reflecting the state of the world and the energy and actions that each of us can take to improve the state of the world we live in, so that it can evolve in a positive way, every day.
Merry Christmas!
