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In her book Organizational Change, Barbara Senior identifies two different systems for planning and implementing change: ‘Hard’ and ‘Soft’. [1] Hard Systems Change is designed to address problems or needs which are tangible, easily defined and for which a logical solution is identifiable - such as process or software problems. Senior calls these ‘difficulties’.
Soft Systems Change, on the other hand, is designed for ‘messes’, where the problem or need is less tangible, difficult to define or diagnose, and involves human factors and emotions - such as behavioral or cultural issues. Problems generally lie along a continuum between these two extremes.
The Hard Change System breaks down into three phases, each of which contains a number of individual stages.
While these have a natural flow from one to the next, Senior says that, in reality, it is extremely likely that backtracking to previous steps will be required as and when new insights are discovered.
Importantly, she points out that, regardless of the complexity of the issues, it is always advisable to involve the people who will be affected by the change in the planning process as early as possible. This should help to maximize their commitment to the change.
Description Phase
This phase is about defining the issue to be addressed, fully understanding its implications and setting the objectives of the change exercise.
Stage 1: Situation Summary
The first step is to describe the situation and system that currently exist and then, in general terms, identify the overall objective(s) of the change exercise. Essentially, decide what you want to achieve and define your starting point. This should help identify the range of issues which need to be addressed.
Stage 2: Identification of Objectives and Constraints
Here, you break the main objective(s) down into sub-objectives which will need to be achieved to reach your ultimate goal. The authors suggest the use of an objective tree (similar to a family tree) to map out this process visually, showing which objectives have to be completed to facilitate others.
Source: Barbara Senior & Stephen Swailes, Organizational Change (Pearson Education, 2010) p 289.
Once you have done this, draw up a list of constraints which will affect your ability to achieve your objectives and separate them into two lists: those which can be overcome or modified in the interest of the change and those which cannot be altered.
Stage 3: Identification of Performance Measures
In the final Description stage, you establish how to measure your success against your goals. Where possible, try to quantify a change in terms of money, time or another definitive, numerical measure. Otherwise, establish a qualitative alternative - perhaps a form of ranking or rating. Do this for each objective on your tree and write the measures alongside them.
Source: Barbara Senior & Stephen Swailes, Organizational Change (Pearson Education, 2010) p 290.
Options Phase
The object of this phase is to generate options for achieving your objectives, choose some to work up in detail and evaluate them against your success criteria.
Stage 4: Generation of Options
Having identified what needs to change in the previous phase, this stage begins to address how it will change. For each objective, generate some ideas on how it might be achieved and list the options underneath. On a detailed tree, some of the lowest sub-objectives might themselves be ‘options’. You could use a variety of idea-generating techniques here, including brainstorming, interviews or benchmarking, for example.
Source: Barbara Senior & Stephen Swailes, Organizational Change (Pearson Education, 2010) p 291.
Stage 5: Editing and Detailing Selected Options
The next step is evaluating the options against your objectives and constraints, to eliminate those which are unlikely to be feasible. Those that remain should then be modeled in detail. This includes identifying exactly how they would work, who would be involved, what resources would be required, what costs would be incurred etc. The precise modeling technique best suited to this exercise will depend on the nature of the option and your organization, but approaches include cost benefit analysis, computer simulations and diagrams. You may wish to seek help from other departments with experience in these kinds of models, like finance or IT, for example.
Stage 6: Evaluating Options Against Measures
This is the stage where decisions are made by comparing the detailed options with the objectives to ascertain which will have the greatest effect. Senior suggests using an evaluation matrix to do this.
Source: Barbara Senior & Stephen Swailes, Organizational Change (Pearson Education, 2010) p 302.
However, before beginning the process, you should double check each option to ensure your modeling of it is accurate and does not contain any kind of bias or unjustifiable assumptions – for example, unrealistic sales forecasts or wage costs. It may be useful to ask a third party colleague to cast an objective eye over your models at this stage.
Using a matrix like this will enable you to clearly compare and contrast the outcomes for each option against your stated objectives and should allow you to make an informed decision about which options to pursue. It may be that a number of options provide successful returns and should therefore be undertaken together, where possible, to achieve the desired results.
Source: Barbara Senior & Stephen Swailes, Organizational Change (Pearson Education, 2010) p 302.
Implementation Phase
In this phase, the chosen options are put into place and followed up to ensure they ‘stick’ as the new norm within the organization.
Stage 7: Implementation
The ‘harder’ the nature of the issues being addressed, the simpler the implementation of change should be. Issues further along the continuum towards ‘softness’ may be more difficult to implement and the degree to which affected employees were engaged in the earlier stages could have a strong bearing on the success of this stage. Senior identifies three possible methods for successful implementation:
- Piloting: testing the options on a small scale has the advantage of identifying and addressing problems early, but it takes longer than the other methods, which could be a problem in a fast-moving situation.
- Parallel running: operating two systems side by side is most common in IT, but can be applied to other situations. This allows the new system to be tested without abandoning the existing one.
- Big bang: changing everything at once maximizes the speed of implementation, but can cause the greatest amount of resistance as well as maximizing the impact of any problems. This approach must therefore be planned in detail.
Stage 8: Consolidation
Senior identifies this often-neglected stage as the most important. Once change has been implemented, it is essential to reinforce it and support the people involved, until the change becomes the norm. Further changes may even be necessary as unforeseen consequences arise, causing conflict between the new system and the working environment. Don’t make the mistake of assuming implemented change will stick without consolidation.
Summary
For definable and measurable ‘difficulties’, Barbara Senior recommends this logical, step-by-step approach to problem-solving and change. Building in the flexibility to backtrack as necessary and involving the people who will be affected by the change as early as possible should give the process the greatest chance of sustained success.
References[1] Barbara Senior & Stephen Swailes, Organizational Change (Pearson Education, 2010).
