This is the last part of a 4 part article on how to effectively lead organizational change. Please read Part I, Part II and Part III of this article.
Remember, by following a simple process, we can more effectively and successfully launch organizational change initiatives.
Evaluating and Maintaining the Change
Once you have transferred the change project to those individuals who will be owning (utilizing, managing, operating, and/or maintaining) the change moving forward, do the following:
Evaluate the entire change initiative: Get the group together who worked on the change initiative, along with key stakeholders, and evaluate the initiative. Ask the following 3 simple questions:
- What went well in launching, managing and transferring this change initiative?
- What could have been done better?
- What else should be shared so that future change projects are successful?
You want to capture these lessons learned to understand what might be done on future change projects to ensure they are successful. When change initiatives are successful, people are more apt to adapt to change more easily. They are confident in the change process overall.
Develop a plan to maintain the change: Have a plan in place to evaluate the change over time. This might be on a 6 month, 9 month and 12 month basis initially; and then annually or bi-annually after that. As with any process within an organization, regular evaluation is essential to ensure the process still meets the needs of the organization. As organizations change – they grow, new products and services are launched, new employees come on board, the client base grows, etc. – it is essential to evaluate processes to ensure that they are still beneficial, effective and help support the organization.
As goals and objectives of the organization change over time, processes must change to ensure the organization can meet those goals and objectives.
This wraps up our 4 part series on leading organizational change. Need to launch your own organizational change initiative, learn how Abudi Consulting Group has helped clients to ensure that major organizational change initiatives are successful to help them meet their strategic goals and objectives. Abudi Consulting Group also offers workshops to help clients both lead change initiatives and ensure their employees are positioned to effectively support those initiatives.
