The ultimate roadmap to change maturity in your organisation

Enterprise Change Management practices and teams are starting to pop up now even more than ever. But what is the typical roadmap to change management having a presence in an organisation and what would the ultimate roadmap to building change maturity into an organisation? Unfortunately maturity is sometimes created by accident and the journey initiated with a poorly implemented change. 

The 'Accidental' journey

The first roadmap I want to share is one which is more the 'accidental journey'. One where it started as a 'we need to fix it' scenario, then grows into something more.

The catalyst for bringing a Change Manager into an organisation, or someone who knows about change is usually because there has been some major change taking place in an organisation and it has failed. Here are some scenarios I have experienced. There is a new IT system which no-one is using, there is a big transformation on the horizon and the program needs someone to scope out and deliver the 'people side' items, or a piece of work is getting no momentum at all and they need someone to facilitate clarity and get it moving. Do any of these scenarios seem familiar?

It is more often the case that only one change manager is brought in to help out - initially. And then if that Change Manager is worth what they are being paid and adding value to the program through delivering change support, further investment is forthcoming. For medium to larger size organisations growth may be faster with the change resourcing expanding to match the workload. Due to speed these are often contractors (contingent) or consultants. Then over time, the cycle goes that there is a cost analysis done on the investment in change resources and typically after 1-2 years the question is asked why the roles aren't permanent as there will always be a need for them. 

So permanent roles are established, and then for large organisations a Change Management Office or Practice may start to be established to support the growing workforce. At the point of establishing roles, a roadmap to Change maturity should commence development and be socialised with key stakeholders if there is any chance of 'this is the way we do things around here' is to be achieved.

Now this is more the move from unconscious to conscious evolution of Change in an organisation. Of course the better way is to be intentional and create the roadmap and buy in from day one.

The ultimate Enterprise Change Management Maturity Roadmap 

The less 'windy' roadmap for building Enterprise Change Management maturity is one where there is intention behind building change capacity and capability from the outset. Where there is resource support and executive commitment, change maturity can be developed and successful. However at all times it needs to be proving to be adding value. Following are the five key areas to focus on, knowing that the path is never linear or perfect, however without any roadmap you will surely achieve, well, not much! 

Many Change specialists get caught in a political debate as to what model is best to apply (Prosci/Kotter/McKinsey), but the model should match both the audience and organisation culture. The truth is that the best model is one which is tailored to the organisation and not a 'purist' approach.

The most critical step is to gain Executive sponsorship so you have the time to be able to establish and develop maturity over time. Typically you will need 12-18 months, as the path is never linear and uninterrupted.

If you are looking to establish change maturity over the long term then it helps to know where your organisation is now. Contact us and discuss what tools we have available to support your change management maturity journey.