ChangeMethod
Supportive Organization & Culture
Best Practice Area 05

Supportive Organization & Culture: Enabling Adaptability.

Align structure and culture to support the change initiative.

The Key Question
"How should we arrange ourselves – our structure, processes and systems – to support the changed way of working? And what are the values, attitudes and behaviors we want to collectively embody?"
Best Practice 05

All change initiatives have some implications for the architecture and culture of an organization.

Almost all change initiatives have some implication for the architecture of an organization, whether limited to reworking role descriptions following a process change or rolling out a whole new operating model to support the merger of two organizations.

This best practice area defines the implications of the change program for the organization structure, and aligns the organization to the future business processes. It is used as a framework in which specific roles, jobs and teams will be defined. It serves as a basis to define the transition approach to the new organization structure.

Culture is simply the expression of the values of an organization, ‘the way we do things around here’, and as such can be the great, intangible ‘something’ that tips the balance of project into success or failure.

01

Business Process Alignment

Purpose
  • Align changed business processes to business roles and – where there is a system element – end users
Step 1

Review future state definition

Step 2

Document or review future state process design

Step 3

Conduct process to role mapping

Step 4

Create role profiles

Benefits
  • Ensure process, people and organization elements of the change are all ‘joined up’
Risks If Ignored
  • High risk of organizational disconnects and duplication after go-live
  • Negative impact on productivity and / or service levels, benefits of change program not fully realized
Templates
Process-to-Role Map Role Descriptions Role-to-User Map
02

Prepare Organization Design

Purpose
  • Reconfigure organization structure in order to enable operational change
  • Address formal and informal structures, internal processes and systems, relationships, people and knowledge
Step 1

Agree organization design principles

Step 2

Design organization structure

Step 3

Define roles, jobs and teams

Step 4

Estimate organization size

Benefits
  • Ensure new organization structure supports overall strategic objectives of change program
  • Provide effective framework for roles, jobs and teams to function
Risks If Ignored
  • Organization structure not aligned with future state processes
  • Inefficient allocation of work activity
Templates
Job Definitions Job Gap Analysis Job Descriptions Team Design
Tools
Job Design Options Team Design Options Organization Structure Options
03

Implement Organization Design

Purpose
  • Describe activities required to transition from current to future job, team and organization structures
Step 1

Review deployment approach

Step 2

Confirm Full Time Equivalent (FTE) requirements

Step 3

Develop organization transition plan

Step 4

Develop additional material and support transition

Benefits
  • Facilitate smooth transitions of impacted stakeholders into new roles, jobs, and teams
Risks If Ignored
  • Major disruption to business as usual, change program benefits at risk
Templates
Organization Transition Plan
04

Culture Change Analysis

Purpose
  • Define core values, cultural characteristics and individual behaviors required to deliver the change strategy
  • Key input into behavior change and change leadership development programs
Step 1

Review Future State Vision and Change Impact Assessment

Step 2

Identify desired cultural attributes

Step 3

Identify capabilities that define desired behaviors

Step 4

Agree values and behaviors that support change

Benefits
  • Engage employees in determining what the future culture of the organization should look like, increase buy-in
  • Address critical success factor needed to bring change to life and deliver business benefits
Risks If Ignored
  • Existing cultural norms undermine adoption of change, uphill task to realize business benefits of change program
  • Leaves legacy of ‘change doesn’t work here’, reduces change agility
Templates
Culture Analysis Plan Culture Assessment
Tools
Culture Definition Tool Culture Web
05

Behavior Change Plan

Purpose
  • Define specific behavioral changes to support the desired culture and overall business objectives of the program
  • Develop behavior change scales, plan and implement behavior change interventions
Step 1

Identify behavioral changes required

Step 2

Assess current situation and identify gaps

Step 3

Plan behavior change interventions

Step 4

Monitor behavior change progress

Benefits
  • Clarify level of behavior change required to deliver business benefits – and how best to use limited resources to achieve this
  • Track where behavior is and isn’t working and adjust plans where necessary
Risks If Ignored
  • Change effort does not move from acceptance and commitment to behavior change
  • Overall change program success at risk
Templates
Behavior Change Plan Behavior Change Tracker
Tools
Behaviour Change Scales

Ready to apply this framework?

Get instant access to the full suite of 100+ tools, templates, and the complete step-by-step guides for every process.

Get Full Access to Toolkit Back to Methodology