KEY POINTS:
The difficult process of leading organisational change often fails for one of two reasons.
Some efforts fall by the wayside because leaders are unaware that there are reliable guidelines one can follow.
Others falter when those involved learn what a high level of commitment is required.
Positive examples of leading change well are difficult to come by. This is why I have followed the changes at the Auckland War Memorial Museum with interest.
I spoke to museum director Vanda Vitali about these efforts. As with any change initiative, one must first ask whether there is a need to change.
Dr Vitali says the organisation had already been changed by a long and extensive expansion project. The completion of this project created a need to regroup in order to effectively deliver new programmes desired by the museum board and the public.
The institution was transformed as a result of the building project. What was not transformed was the organisational structure and work habits.
How, then, does one initiate structural change? According to Dr Vitali, restructuring is an educational process because people and institutions need to grow and evolve together.
This evolution will, of course, entail difficulties because the notion of institutions is linked to the notion of permanency and progress is linked to the notion of change.
How, then, does one begin? The first phase is listening. Dr Vitali spent three months speaking to employees in large and small groups, studying other NZ museums and talking to other stakeholders, the board, the taumata (Maori advisory group) and donors.
She stresses the importance of engaging in this process with an open mind. When these talks began, restructuring was not yet a goal. As a result of these talks, employees produced a list of their key outputs, which were assembled into a chart so complex and shapeless staff have come to call it "the amoeba".
This fragmentation is quite normal for an institution which had recently engaged in a major expansion project. Only after gathering extensive opinions and data did management design a new structure more in keeping with present and future organisational needs.
Dr Vitali stresses the need for two inseparable principles to guide a change process: transparency and dialogue. Transparency means explaining the process in full to everyone and telling people the goals all along the transition.
Dialogue means engaging in discussion about the complexity of delivering museum services, about differing priorities and tasks. A museum has a mandate to study and preserve heritage, to exhibit and educate, to engage in necessary commercial activities and to inspire civic pride and engagement.
Integrating these often conflicting roles requires constant dialogue. Transparency and dialogue also imply respect, both as a basic entitlement and as a contributor to effective change management. An increase in the quality of discourse increases the quality of decisions and final outcomes.
What about the human cost of change? Dr Vitali underscores that the smallest human cost is a very large cost. One must leave no stone unturned to assist people in negotiating the process successfully.
This begins with dialogue and transparency. It is supplemented by training people to understand restructured jobs, by salary consideration for people whose jobs are made smaller, by human resource support and a diligent attempt to fit people's talents and skills into the emerging job structure of the redesigned institution.
Thomas Edison once famously described genius as "1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration". Dr Vitali agrees that this is also a good description of the organisational change process, suggesting too that restructuring has to be a co-ordination of the mind and the hand.
Nobody can achieve a new product without changing the process by which you arrive at it. New things don't come just out of ideas. They come out of ideas and practice.
So, what skills are demanded of the change leader? Dr Vitali says the first priority is to remember that change is a human process. An organisation is not a collection of departments, but of people. Next, one should invest considerable time investigating and engaging in dialogue with an open mind.
Once a change plan is formed, stability is crucial; the institution must remain committed to the process. Finally, the change leader must be patient. This is not an event, but a long process which emerges slowly and with effort.
The experience of the museum offers a case study in the key principles of organisational change management. It shows that, unlike project management, with which most are more familiar, the technical function of creating a plan for the new organisation is a relatively small part of the overall effort.
Determining the problem, communicating the goals, building stakeholder buy-in and managing resistance all require a different skill set centred on interpersonal effectiveness.
While success demands a degree of technical competency, it is more dependent on commitment, vision, dialogue and hard work. This is a lesson from which we all may profit.
Roy Stager Jacques, MBA, PhD, is an associate professor at Massey University. His expertise is in the areas of managing knowledge-intensive work and leading organisational change.
