Being an agile organisation nowadays can mean one of two things. The Project methodology you are using is 'Agile', OR your organisation is able to respond to change FAST. In this article we are focusing on the latter - the connection between enterprise change maturity and the ability to respond to change.

The Oxford definition is the 'ability to move quickly and easily'. This term has become very popular in organisations due the constant time pressure that they were under to deliver. Building change agility is an outcome of building change capability. Here are some key correlations between Change agility and enterprise change maturity and examples of where these have come to life:

1) Having cross disciplined teams delivering change on a regular basis makes the difference when urgency is needed. There was no better example of this than how well any organisation responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.  During COVID I watched team members who had worked together on a flexible working...

In this Episode we discuss where a Change function should sit in any operating model and why.

We discuss change management maturity and answer one of the most frequently asked questions - where should the change function sit in an organisation?

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Episode highlights
1.20  One of the most asked questions
2.22  The change roadmap which can at first be by accident or as a result of program failure
3.16  Next step to establish and commit to change as a function
3.56  There is change in the program context as well as in the organisational context
4:40  Learning and capability development around change management and change leadership
6.46  Where the function should sit and what other functions should also be in the area
8.22  Important that People and Culture teams embrace the capability and then work well with their change partners in the other areas
9.50  Change practice...

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...

Waiting to be invited is a sign of Respect

I was once told a story about the what a 'Welcome to Country' means to the traditional owners of Australia, our First Nations people. That when travelling the lands of Australia they would wait on the border of the other tribes lands and light a fire so that the smoke would raise into the air and signal their presence. They would then wait until someone from the neighbouring tribe would arrive and welcome them onto their country. What a profound sign of respect. 

This story had many layers of lessons for me. One lesson, is that it is far more powerful to respectfully wait and be invited, rather than barge in or 'force' any change. Now that's not to say that in my career in the early days I didn't drive a lot of change. I certainly like progress and have a knack for driving action. However as the years of lessons have built up, I have certainly changed my approach and have learned patience. 

Pace in line with business...