Achieving meaningful organizational change requires that you understand context across multiple problems. It can include identifying internal and external factors, appreciating broader historical significance or momentum, and important consideration of the “people” and “systems” involved. To start the process, you must first scope out the gaps between current and expected results, so that interconnected problems can be identified. These are some examples of misalignment that can negatively impact context.
Departmental Misalignment: Where Is The Gap In Communication?
One of usual suspects for performance deficiency in many companies is misalignment between internal divisions. Some organizations attempt to resolve this issue through standardized communication systems or practices across silos. Others implement a matrix organization structure to try to keep everyone as agile and accountable as possible. Still others see periodic or continuing education training as the solution for their teams.
However, what happens when everyone is operating at peak efficiency, following all of the policies and procedures that have been carefully implemented, but there still remains a gap in results? For example, the lack of timely responsiveness between departments within an organization may account for, say, 70% of the company’s issues with closing sales. Resolving communication expectations and addressing methodologies will likely be far less wasteful than building a robust training on effective sales techniques. That’s because the problem is largely contextual. It is systemic and requires additional approaches beyond functional training.
When performance professionals talk about how they understand ‘context’ they mean the system, which is “…the sum total of parts, working independently and together, to achieve common results.” (Kaufman, 2000, page 142). So, if a company misunderstands its system, such as how departments, processes, and even employees work together, then the organization will likely miss a major part of the problem. As a result, implementation of the wrong solutions may mean no progress is made in addressing the primary issues.
Leadership Buy-In: To What Degree Do Leaders Support This Initiative?
A few years ago, a leader in an international manufacturing and distribution company approached Change by Design about an urgent problem. They had recently received a negative International Organization for Standardization (ISO) audit finding about customer service responsiveness, which was a major issue for their business. Maintaining ISO accreditation was crucial to providing confidence to customers and regulators on the performance of their products, so we dug into the findings.
The audit had identified a gap in performance related to customer feedback and dissemination of that feedback for determining deficient patterns. Response rate was also an issue in the ISO audit.
Based on our research, we designed a new customer satisfaction model that supported Net Promoter Score (NPS) and implemented it through a monthly survey for individual orders, and a yearly survey for the top buyers. Both surveys provided incentives related to customer completion. This approach helped to increase response rates, and also helped produce timely, useful feedback.
It became clear after two years of survey responses that the main challenge for this organization was related to its product repair department. Promised deadlines were frequently missed and delays were rampant. Qualitative recommendations were made to the customer service department and regional sales managers on actions they should take to help alleviate customer concerns until the root issue could be resolved. Some low-budget training was also explored, to help fill in related knowledge deficiencies.
However, the organization maintained a top-down culture, where action was dictated from above and teams were limited in how they could effectively address regional deficiencies. There was buy-in at the regional leadership level for this system, because it would secure a positive ISO audit result and dramatically improve the organization’s bottom line. But that was where the buy-in stopped.
Global corporate decision makers were not willing to truly change their culture to resolve the underlying issue in the repair department. Nor could key leaders accept the long-term value of fixing the problem within one of its processes that affected the organization in other negative ways. Instead of addressing the repair department issues directly, they decided to stall and find other ways around the problem. It was a classic “band-aid” solution.
Best Practices: What Do Other Successful Businesses Do?
Gaps in communication or lack of leadership buy-in are two internal barriers that prevent change. External barriers, like market conditions, updates in regulations, competition, and other unforeseen events can also prevent change and must be considered to understand context. Ultimately, the best approach a company can take to address deficiencies is starting internally, then work outward.
Sometimes it helps to talk with similar leaders in your industry who do not compete directly. Networking in business associations is one place to learn about industry best practices and glean valuable insights to bring back inside the company. But remember: good ideas are only useful for those who are willing to use them. Because even good leaders might not be ready to make changes for the good of their organizations.
The good news is that the Stages of Change model detailed in Changing for Good (1994) teaches one approach to help people or organizations who are not yet ready to change. Some of the points to keep in mind that it discusses include:
true change in an organization doesn’t happen overnight;
change can occur with the right strategy, understanding, commitment and perseverance;.
It’s also important to know that often an organization can’t see on its own the true nature of the problem it is experiencing; sometimes it takes an outside entity with an independent, seasoned perspective to drive effective change.
With all that in mind, consider how your organization accepts new ideas and integrates them into its operations. If feedback is provided from an external or internal source, how is that information documented, shared, vetted, considered, and then operationalized? But most importantly, does the business truly want to address contextual problems that are causing gaps in performance?
The System: How To Correctly Understand Context For Effective Change
These are three steps you can take to help understand context so that solutions for effective change may be implemented:
Identify the true decision makers to determine the strength of their will to make the desired changes, and educate them on what it will take to ensure lasting change. Next, motivate their true, ongoing engagement. Help decision-makers gain a sense of the tangible and intangible consequences of non-alignment with the system revisions that will help to settle any ambivalence they might have. In addition, help them understand that a persistent, determined effort will be necessary to permanently change the direction of the organization.
Sufficiently understand the system’s dynamics by examining how the departments, processes, and workforce operate independently and together to achieve the current result. Tailor your recommended solutions to address all features of the system’s challenge(s) – in whatever part of the organization they are found, or even in the workforce – so that lasting, effective change can actually occur.
Align the expectations of direct reports and top decision makers so that the right actions address these problem dynamics, processes, and behaviors. Remember that people don’t know what they don’t know, and it is important to work with them at their point of readiness to change. You want to avoid damaging assumptions that have developed internally.
Believe it or not, 80% of people are NOT ready to make a given change. The good news is that there are concrete processes you can apply at any of the five stages of change to move them forward to the next stage, and eventually to action. Your overall success hinges on clearly, and sufficiently understanding context. It is only with that understanding that your solutions will have a fighting chance at succeeding.
Written by Sue Ebbers, Ph.D. and published in 2021. Article was last updated on November 7, 2023.
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