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When implementing change within your organization, it can seem like there are a thousand things to consider. You might worry that overlooking just one will bring everything crashing down.
With this in mind, Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, from the consulting firm McKinsey and Company, developed The McKinsey 7-S Framework.
It identifies seven elements that need to be aligned within an organization if you want to make your change a success.
But it's not just about implementing changes – the 7-S framework can be applied to almost any organizational or team effectiveness issue, and it can also be used to improve company performance.
There are three "hard" elements: Strategy, Structure and Systems; and four "soft" elements: Shared Values, Skills, Style, and Staff.
All these elements are interdependent. Changing one will change them all. And neglecting one will affect all of the others, too.
Let's explore each of them in a little more detail.
First, let's take a look at the "hard" elements. These are the easiest to define and influence.
Your Strategy determines how you'll beat your competitors, and how you'll succeed in your mission.
Your organization's Structure determines its hierarchy or organizational chart.
And your Systems are the resources and procedures that people use to do their work.
The four "soft" elements are a little more difficult to define, but just as important.
- Style refers to the leadership style that's used in your organization.
- Staff concerns employees and their capabilities.
- Skills refers to the abilities and competencies of the people who work within your organization.
- The last element – Shared Values – is at the center of the framework. This is because shared values determine the way that you work, and the way that you solve problems.
So, how do you use the model?
The framework is designed to help you to implement change, boost performance, and spot any organizational or team effectiveness problems.
It does this by making you consider the alignment of the seven elements. If you're planning any change, the framework makes you think about how each element might be affected by the proposed change. Likewise, if something's wrong, chances are there is an imbalance somewhere between them.
When you start going through each element, there are several questions that you can ask to better understand each one. For instance, a few questions to consider if you're looking at Strategy include: What is our strategy? How do we intend to achieve our objectives? And how do we deal with our competitors?
There are several vital questions for each of the seven elements. Once you've answered them all, you can then use the Mind Tools McKinsey 7-S worksheet to compare the elements, identify any inconsistencies, and plan out how'll you'll achieve alignment.
You can find out more about using the McKinsey 7-S Framework – and download our free worksheet – in the article that accompanies this video.
