Common Mistakes in Organizational Transformation to Avoid

Introduction

In basic terms, organizational transformation is a strategic plan to move your organization from where it is now to where it needs to be in the future.

Trends in business will continue to change the organizational landscape. So, leaders need to foresee and prepare for those changes to sustain growth.

Change may be needed but it’s not always welcome. And that’s where mistakes can happen.

Since business leaders can’t be experts at everything, it’s critical to understand the objectives and resources necessary to have a strong plan in place.

Our blog identifies the reasons why transformations can fail to achieve their objectives. And we’ll provide tips on how to avoid the most common (but preventable) mistakes in organizational transformation.

Understanding organizational transformation

Definition of Organizational Transformation

Organizational Transformation is a process that strives to align the organizational culture (how employees work together) with its strategy (the trade-offs the company is willing to make to achieve its goals).

As a part of this change, the process alters a company's major components (culture, infrastructure, and internal processes), and internal processes.

Components of Organizational Transformation

1. Strategic intent. Some organizations find it helpful to ask simple but profound questions like, “Why does this organization exist?” to help them clarify their expected outcome.

2. Operating context. The operating context should identify the need for transformation and how it will impact operations.

3. Desired future reality. Identifying how the future should look will help drive the change necessary to create a new reality.

4. Organization stories. Involve teams by encouraging them to share their work experiences. This will foster trust and identify the history that binds them together as an organization.

5. Meta-narrative. Synthesize those histories into a master story to support the shared vision and objectives.

6. Stakeholder engagement. The plan must include all parties that will be impacted by the transformation. This may include external parties or groups as well as members of the organization.

Types of Org Transformation

•  Development change. The improvement of a previously established process of transformation.
• Transitional change. Moving an organization away from its current state to a new state to solve a problem.
• Transformational change. Fundamentally altering the culture and operations depending on the products and market trends.
  
  

Types of Org Transformation

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

The first step in avoiding or preventing mistakes is understanding that change is inherently unstable and prone to unexpected problems. Identifying potential gaps and planning a strategy to avoid mistakes will reduce the chances of significant mistakes that could jeopardize your organizational transformation.

What are some of the most common mistakes?

1. Inadequate timeframe. Change takes time and there’s no rushing. An unrealistic time frame does not allow for the inevitable challenges that will occur with change initiatives.

2. Poor communication. There will be resistance to change from a variety of sources. Lack of good information and leadership can derail the initiative at the very beginning.

3. Lack of leadership. If no one is driving the initiative, participants will make decisions and take actions that do not align with the objectives.

4. Resistance to change. Both people and organizations don’t like change. Failing to understand how change impacts participants can cause cracks in the strategy.

5. Applying new technology. Technology generally plays a significant role in transformation. However, the right technology must be used for the process. Utilizing technology without the necessary support and training may derail the process.

6. Failure in resource management. Transformation requires a large number of resources like workers, information, leadership, finances, technology, and more. Failure to allocate sufficient resources results in frustration, a lack of engagement, distrust, and stress.

Strategies to avoid these common mistakes

Planning for and identifying common pitfalls is one of the best things you can do to ensure the success of your organizational transformation strategy.

1. Plan ahead and decide a timeframe for the process. Start your change journey at the beginning. Identify the human and technical resources you’ll need and ensure they will be available during your planned timeframe.

2. Clarify the goal and need for change being made and identify how it can benefit others. Communicate clearly and often about the need for the plan, the objective, how it will benefit the business overall, and how that translates to improvement for teams.

3. Listen to objections that may lead to resistance and find ways to address them. There will be concerns – whether expressed verbally or manifested in other ways. Ensure that you have understood the root of the concern and address or correct any misinformation.

4. Consider feedback as a guide rather than an obstacle. Feedback doesn’t have to equal criticism. Use feedback as a valuable tool to close any gaps in your plan that weren’t previously considered.

5. Monitor the process until it meets desired goals. Organizational transformation is a journey, not a destination. The plan must be nurtured throughout the process and course corrections implemented, as necessary.

6. Manage the resources and assets thoughtfully. Business leaders have a great idea for change that will help everyone in the organization. But they sometimes forget how that impacts individuals and the availability of resources. Your plan should take into consideration differences in needs for resources.

7. Define milestones for progress. Everyone likes to see progress on their goals. Identify and celebrate small and large wins. Communicate progress so participants are invested in the process.

8. Celebrate success at the end to encourage further change. Be thoughtful about the contributions of everyone affected by the change initiative. Identify the improvements that the change made possible and how that improves the future of the whole organization.

Tips for ensuring smooth organizational transformation

• Identify the type of change required and create an agile management system. Your plan has to start with a plan. Decide at the beginning what changes are needed, identify why they are needed, and create a plan to achieve that change.
• Utilize software that can give you insight into your company and track your progress. Managing the transformation is a big job. Leverage the power of software to track data and provide results on your progress.
• Visualize your business’s progress through org charts. Org charts are not just for displaying titles and reporting structures. They’re a tool to help you visualize all the parts of your organization and how they interact with each other.
• Run analytic reports to see how changes are being adopted. Results are everything. Analytics will enable you to see how well the transformation is working (or not) and where changes need to be made.

Conclusion

Significant changes in businesses over the past few years have increased the need for and value of organizational transformation. It provides a strategy to move organizations from where they are currently to a future state that achieves their desired change.

But, unfortunately, many organizational transformations fail because of a lack of adequate preparation and easily preventable mistakes.

However, that doesn’t have to be the case. With a well-planned strategy for organizational transformation, businesses can better understand the true value of change and leverage it to achieve the successful conclusion they have planned for.

Agentnoon team is skilled at helping clients manage their organizational transformation strategy. Book a demo today to discuss how we can help your team’s journey.