Embarking on major change initiatives without effective planning often leads to setbacks. While strategy may define the 'what’ and the ‘why' to change, neglecting the 'how' can hinder success.

Despite this, many change programmes move into the implementation phase without sufficient planning and suffer the consequences. Taking a little time to translate strategic intent into successful outcomes will pay dividends and should consider all of the following:

• Design principles: establish guiding frameworks to empower change teams to make informed decisions throughout the project that consider the impact on the whole organisation.
• Sponsors: identify change champions with the capability to motivate, coach, and direct at critical change stages.
• Workstream structure: design optimal workstreams to ensure initiatives align seamlessly for both customers and the organisation during development, not just at testing.
• Governance: design governance structures that have delegated authority and contain the right individuals to guide the project and will build confidence with the executive committee and board.
• Programme roadmap: define key deliverables for each workstream, identifying dependencies to ensure optimal sequencing.
• Change methodology and people: assess the culture, capabilities, and capacity required to deliver change through its various phases.

Setting up and implementing change programmes are not always straightforward and given the complexity of managing multiple components, executive committees and boards often seek independent quality assurance throughout the program lifecycle and before 'go live'.

This helps challenge any potential for ‘group think’ and ensures that outcomes align with both customer needs and organisational goals.

Interested in finding out more on this topic?

We have created a downloadable document where we delve into some common pitfalls organisations face when mobilising and executing their change programmes, along with some ‘handy hints’ to help kick-start your change programme planning. Click the image below to access.

How we can help

At Johnston Carmichael, we help our clients design, translate, execute and assure their major change programmes and initiatives. Please don't hesitate to get in touch with me, a member of our Consulting team, or your usual Johnston Carmichael adviser. You can also fill in the short form below.