A Communication Plan can help you manage change.

/0 Comments/in /by

Dealing with Change?  Rethink Communication.  When unanticipated events occur, good or bad, very little else seems as important as communication.  Communication is vital to managing through these changes that happen to us, as we gather and disseminate information, create focus and organization out of chaos, align resources, and so much more.  Communication is also vital in all types of Plans such as Strategic Planning, Business Plans, and Contingency Plans.  At their core, these Plans are also about change, change that we are initiating, playing critical roles in preparation, engagement, and execution.  So, whether you are responding to unanticipated change or initiating changes of your own, there is a need to effectively communicate to all stakeholders.  When this is done well, things go more smoothly.  Shortchange the communication, and inevitably it will cost you engagement, time, and progress.

Plan the Communication  I once worked in the Planning Department of a large organization.  The Marketing Team was responsible for communicating all new initiatives and major organizational changes to the workforce.  I was impressed with how well this was done on a consistent basis, so one day at lunch, I asked a colleague in that Department how they did it.  They answered that they always used a Communication Plan and they showed me their template.  A Communication Plan provides you with an organized framework for thinking through who needs to know what, when and how they need to know it, and most importantly (and often overlooked), why you want them to know it and what you want them to do with that knowledge.

Role is the Key  This last part is key. We tend to think communications is all about the message and the medium (channels used to deliver the message).  But the best communication efforts have their origins “upstream” in careful thinking about the role you want each stakeholder group to assume in your change effort.  What you want each stakeholder to do in responding to the event or implementing the Plan?  Do they need to take on different responsibilities or advocate for the change?  Do they need to lend support in the form of resources, expertise or time?  Or do they just need to be informed?  The role you want each stakeholder to play in the process is best achieved through different kinds of messaging and channels.

Use a Template  Since that lunch conversation with my colleague in the Marketing Department, I have used a similar template in many projects and client engagements, always with great success.  If you are in a larger organization, check with the Marketing/Communications Manager or team; chances are they may already have a Communication Plan template that they would share with you.  You are also welcome to use mine.  Just drop me a quick e-mail (jeff@schilling-consulting.com) and I will send it to you.  I would also be glad to talk you though it if needed.

Not a Task but a Tool  Next time you are preparing an important communication related to the present or a future unanticipated event, or preparing to implement a Plan, try using a Communication Plan.  It can help you go way beyond sharing information.

If you need help with preparing a Communication Plan or any other aspect of Plan implementation, contact me at your convenience.

Jeff

Critical Work in Chaotic Times

/0 Comments/in /by

When major unanticipated events occur, they often force us to re-prioritize, if only for the time being.  For example, within the broad subject areas of data analysis, planning, and organizational performance, there may be some activities that are postponed until things become less chaotic.  However, unforeseen events may also heighten the importance of other activities, even within those same three broad subject areas mentioned above.  Here are some examples of the kinds of analysis, planning, and organizational performance work that may be more important than ever for your team or in your organization during, and immediately after, an unforeseen event.

  • Customer Feedback: How well did your team or organization meet the needs of your customers (external or internal) during the event? Have the improvising and innovation that often come with unforeseen events changed your customers’ expectations?  It may be more important than ever to listen to the Voice of the Customer through surveys, interviews (phone), or focus groups (virtual).
  • Organizational Dashboard Development: The improvising and innovation associated with unforeseen events often leads to process changes and new and different outcomes. It may be time to re-assess your organization’s Balanced Score Card or Dashboard(s).  Are different targets warranted?  Are there new metrics that should be added?
  • Research and Benchmarking: What are the success stories relevant to your portfolio and core processes that are emerging from the unforeseen event? What can you learn from how some organizations responded quickly and successfully, and how could you adapt what you learn to your own organization or team’s work?
  • Portfolio Analysis: Most organizations and teams have products and services at various stages of development and success. Understanding the composition of this “portfolio” before the unforeseen event, and projecting how it might look afterward, helps with assessing the true impact of the event and also with planning for organizational change that may be required afterward.
  • Business Plans and Feasibility Studies: The changes brought about by an unforeseen event, both external to the organization as well as internal, sometimes are the inspiration for a major change in a core process or even a new service or product idea. This is the best time to prepare a Business Plan, or at least develop the idea further with a more expeditious and less resource-intensive Feasibility Study.
  • Innovation: A common thread through many of these disciplines is the innovation that comes in response to an unforeseen event. The change in circumstances requires a fundamental shift in thinking and a different way of meeting rapidly evolving needs.  What is your organization or team’s level of innovation capability?  As it increases, you not only elevate your competitive advantage, but also your ability to respond optimally when the next unforeseen event occurs.
  • Change Readiness Assessments & Change Management: Responding to an unforeseen event, and adjusting to the new norm that often follows, require change in your organization. Some organizations and teams handle change better than others, partly because they are more prepared, having learned and practiced the concepts and tools related to change management.  Taking stock of your change management competency, and enhancing it with education and practice if warranted, will better position you for the next major unforeseen event.

If any of this work seems timely in your organization, you are not alone.  And, if you are short on people power to get any of this done due to re-prioritization or temporary staff reductions, I can help, and at a manageable cost.  Contact me at your convenience...and stay well.

Jeff

You need BOTH KINDS of Change to make a good Plan.

/0 Comments/in /by

It's all about Change.  Isn't it?  The word “change”, by itself, can trigger a variety of immediate emotions in people, and not all of them are pleasant. This seems to be the case more than ever in today’s world. And you have probably heard it said that “people don’t like change” or “it is hard for people to change.” That may be true in many cases, but there are also many inspiring stories of people that intentionally changed some aspect of their life with wonderful results. So it seems there are really two types of change: the ones that happen to us (or around us) and the ones we initiate ourselves.

Change in Organizations   If this concept of two types of change is ringing true in your personal life, it may also be familiar in your organization. There is no shortage of management literature devoted to the topic of change...how to anticipate it, understand it, embrace it, manage it, successfully execute it, and more! Change is relevant to many aspects of organizational life, and in one particular aspect, Strategic Planning, it can be a key to the best possible outcomes.

Change in Planning  The heart of a Strategic Plan is the Desired Future State...where we want to end up at the end of the Plan’s timeframe. This is usually expressed in the form of a Vision Statement or a set of Goals. In order to develop a Desired Future State that is both compelling and achievable, the Plan development process needs to begin with two kinds of assessments. The first is an assessment of the relevant industry or economic sector for your organization. There are great sources for learning about the current issues in your industry, and also the trends and best practices (i.e. changes) that are emerging in response to the issues. These issues, trends, and best practices can be summarized and comprise one of several forms of vision input for consideration by the team working to develop the new Strategic Plan.

From Reaction to Anticipation  The second kind of assessment examines the market place in which you compete or deliver services. This market may or may not be tied to a specific geography, but it is usually tied to a specific sector of consumers or individuals who need and benefit from the products or services you provide. The market for your service may even be internal to your organization if you provide support services for one or more other functional areas. The more you can define your market and learn about the current and evolving needs and expectations of people in that market, the better you will be able to craft a vision or goals that will deliver on those needs and expectations. With the right kind of research and input, you can even anticipate how the needs and expectations will most likely evolve over time. The highlights of all of this knowledge can similarly be assembled for review and consideration by the Planning Team.

Finding the Gaps  With the Desired Future State determined, a third assessment, an Organizational Assessment, is used to help understand where the organization or work group is today. This usually entails a review of key performance measures from dashboards or scorecards, as well as feedback from a host of different types of internal and external stakeholders. Other tools like a SWOT Analysis can also help to develop the Organizational Assessment. Once complete, the Planning Team can compare the Organizational Assessment (current state) to the Vision or Goals (desired future state) to identify the gaps between the two and begin identifying how best to address the gaps.

Making Change  This is where the other type of change, the kind we initiate, plays a critical role. There are a number of tools to help with this, but all the ideas that emerge are the seeds of changes that the organization must initiate to achieve the transition to the Desired Future State. Sometimes referred to as Strategies (themes) and Tactics (specific action items), this second type of change is actually the core of implementing the Strategic Plan.

Change for the Better  When your organization or team recognizes, and even anticipates, changes that can impact them (the changes around us), and uses that knowledge, in turn, to change what they do and how they do it (the changes they initiate), change becomes an ally (Industry and Market Assessments) and a tool (strategies, tactics). It is no longer something to fear and simply react to any way we can. It is a key part of how we create change for the better.

If you want to change the way your organization looks at change, and make the planning process something that makes people smile, contact me at your convenience.

Jeff

Jump Start Design Work with a Converse Cause and Effect Diagram

/0 Comments/in /by
Having trouble getting started on that Business Plan for your new service?  Have an idea for a major process change, but don’t know how to plan it?  Try using an Effect and Cause Diagram. Process improvement practitioners may think that’s a typo.  They’ll claim the correct name is the Cause and Effect Diagram. Actually, the part of me that works in process improvement loves using Cause and Effect Diagrams for their traditional applications of Root Cause Analysis and understanding why errors occur.  They make it easy to visualize the various reasons why an undesirable outcome happened (note that is past tense…happened).

But the other part of me is a planner, usually thinking about desired outcomes in the future. Years ago, that planner part of me started wondering if the Cause and Effect Diagram would also be useful in displaying necessary ingredients for achieving something desirable, like a new service or a fully implemented process improvement.  The basic premise and constructs of the diagram would still apply.  Show the outcome as the head of a skeleton, the bones of which describe the various requirements (causes) needed to achieve that outcome.  Highlight levels of detail and related requirements by where they are placed in the skeleton.

If you’ve worked with Cause and Effect Diagrams before, this may seem pretty simple, and in fact maybe it is a more common practice that I think.  If you have little or no experience creating Cause and Effect Diagrams, I encourage you to try it.  If you have registered as a member of my web site (free and no obligation), go to the Resources Page where you will find a downloadable PowerPoint file that includes a Template that you can use to build your own. The file also includes a little background on both traditional and converse cause and effect diagrams.  Not a member?  Why not sign up now?

The best part of using the diagram in this new way is the return on time invested. You can convene a small group of 2-4 stakeholders for an hour to complete the diagram together.  You’ll exit that meeting with a better understanding of what it will take to achieve your outcome.  Suddenly, writing that Business Plan or Implementation Plan may not seem so daunting.

Because the application is different, I’m inclined to give the tool a different name. Effect and Cause Diagram? No, that doesn’t really roll off the tongue.  I kind of like Converse Cause and Effect. But what’s in a name, anyway?

If you would like more help using cause and effect diagrams in the traditional way (like the process improver in me) or in a new way (like the planner in me), give me a call. I’m sure one of us can help.

Jeff

Use SOAR with SWOT to Accelerate Strategy Development

/0 Comments/in /by
In essence, strategic planning is about changing from a current state to a desired future state. The better you can understand and articulate both, the easier it is to identify the necessary changes (Strategies and Tactics) that will be needed to move from current state to future state. This is where information and analysis play such a vital role – they can deepen our knowledge of not only the way things are now, but also what they could be like. But at some point, the information and analysis relevant to both the current and future state must be mined for key findings. There are different techniques for doing this, but two in particular work very well. They have an added advantage in that they have short learning curves, making them ideal for use in the Committees, Task Forces, and Work Groups often charged with developing a particular strategy or plan. In fact, you may already be familiar with one of them.

Understanding the “Current State”: Many people are familiar with a SWOT Analysis. SWOT is an acronym that stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Participants brainstorm observations, share insights, or identify relevant findings under each of these headings, usually in the same sequence as the acronym. There are some other nuances that contribute to a good outcome, but essentially the SWOT Analysis provides a framework for assessing current state or where an organization is at the present time. It can easily serve as the foundation of an Organizational Assessment.

Envisioning the “Ideal Future State”: Even though a SWOT Analysis includes opportunities and threats, which could be seen as somewhat future-oriented, their purpose in SWOT is to surface growth potential and vulnerabilities in the organization at the present time. For this reason, the SWOT Analysis has limited value as a tool for developing a Desired Future State. That’s where another tool, less familiar to most but similar in design, can help. A SOAR Analysis focuses on four aspects, two of which are shared with a SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results. Again, there are nuances to completing a SOAR Analysis but essentially the participants identify the observations, insights and findings that help define the desired future state, or what success will be like.

Tapping the Power of Two: The two techniques can be, and often are, used separately. Many use SWOT Analysis alone to dissect a problem or challenge. SOAR Analysis can be an effective way to establish an Aim Statement or new Team Charter. However, because the essence of planning is clarifying both the current and future state, they can be used as two parts of the same planning process. And, when this is done, some additional efficiencies are gained. Having addressing the Strengths and Opportunities as part of a SOAR analysis in the vision / goals development, they can be simply imported into a SWOT Analysis, meaning almost half the work of the SWOT Analysis is already complete. And for the participants, the shared content of Strengths and Opportunities creates a logical, mental connection between current and future state.

Building “Bridges” with Solid Anchoring: The planning team can now proceed with identifying the “bridges” of change needed to move from current to future state. And, they can do so knowing that at either end of the bridges, they have solid anchoring in the form of an insightful current state at one end, and a well-conceived desired future state at the other.

If you want help using SWOT and SOAR Analysis in the development of your strategy or Strategic Plan, or if I can be of other assistance, just contact me at your convenience.

Jeff

Dig Deeper with Structured Interviews

/1 Comment/in /by
When we think of information, we often think of numbers, data, maybe even statistical methods that can help us assess the numbers. This kind of quantitative information is critical to leading and managing organizations and work units. But there is another kind of information, more qualitative in nature, which is also very valuable in research and development, decision making, and process improvement. It consists of the perceptions, insights, and context gained from direct conversation with individuals, and one of the most effective Listening Posts for collecting this information is Structured Interviews.

Looking Beyond the Numbers: Structured Interviews reveal this added layer of information by leveraging the dialogue that is possible between the interviewer and interviewee to pursue specific trains of thought, obtain detailed explanations or descriptions, and learn about context and considerations. They differ from Focus Groups, another excellent qualitative information Listening Post, in that the interviewer has more time and freedom to follow an individual train of thought and delve deeper into each specific interviewee’s perspective without others influencing their thinking.

Application Examples: Because they can yield context and understanding, Structured Interviews are used in a wide range of applications including survey design, process improvement, issue refinement, stakeholder analysis, and implementation planning, just to name a few. Here are some more specific examples of how I have used Structured Interviews for clients:

>   As part of an Organizational Assessment in the early stages of Strategic Plan development, I interviewed community stakeholders about the mission, reputation, and collaboration potential of my client.

>   As part of a “Readiness Assessment” prior to an organizational restructuring, I interviewed the employees of two merging Departments regarding current responsibilities and interests.

>   As part of a Benchmarking project, we used Structured Interviews to learn more about the best practices of another high performing organization for possible adaptation by the client organization.

Preparation is Key: Structured interviews work best when there has been thorough preparation, especially in two ways:

1.  Defining the Research Objectives: This includes a detailed description of what information would be helpful as well as how it will be used.

2.  Development of an Interview Guide: Key components include background statement, disclosures & confidentiality, key questions, anticipated / likely follow-up question opportunities, and closing.

Clear Research Objectives and a thorough Interview Guide will also drive the approach used to analyze and report the findings.

These two features comprise the “structured” part of Structured Interviews. The more the interviewer understands specifically what the client wants to learn and how the information will be applied, the better. This may lead you to believe that Structured Interviews are best performed by someone internal to the organization with detailed knowledge of the project or topic of interest. This may be true in some cases, but often, there are advantages of using an external interviewer. These include:

-    Less “bias” and more questions that may be otherwise overlooked based on incorrect “assumptions”.

-    Stronger interview skills and/or more interviewing experience.

-    A tendency for interviewees to be more open and candid with an independent party.

If you have a need to build a deeper understanding...to go beyond what numbers or standardized reports can provide, contact me at your convenience. We can discuss the possible use of Structured Interviews or any number of other Listening Posts that would best fit your needs.

 

Jeff

Preparation is a key to a great Strategic Plan

/0 Comments/in /by
Since many organizations have fiscal years that end somewhere between December and June, Fall through early Winter is a popular time of year for convening stakeholders to create or update a Strategic Plan. And, if you are considering engaging in Strategic Planning this Fall, now is the time to begin preparing. The preparation is critical and can take time. As a rule of thumb, I advise clients that as much as 60% of the work and time involved in developing a plan should be invested before the first formal meeting of the planning committee or team.

Information Fuels Strategy Thought needs to be given to the participants and the process they will follow. However, the bulk of this preparation needs to focus on information that will stimulate thinking, discussion, and insight about the desired future state of the organization and the changes needed to achieve it. The specific information varies by organization but should address three types of assessment:

  • Industry Assessment: Includes issues, trends, and innovations or best practices. Issues typically relate to critical problems or challenges confronting organizations in your industry. This may include new regulations / requirements and resource constraints. Some of the trends in your industry may be in response to one or more issues.
  • Market Assessment: Includes identification of the customer base and segments, community needs assessment, competitor analysis (if applicable), and relevant demographic characteristics and trends.
  • Organization Assessment: Includes customer satisfaction/loyalty, employee satisfaction/engagement, stakeholder research, and key performance measure results (dashboards, scorecards). Also includes the results of the current plan, if there is one.

Time will be required to determine desired data and sources, collect it, and to identify key findings. It needs to be presented as information, not just data, in an organized format. Keep in mind that some of the information gathering may not require a large amount of time, but may need to take place over time. Good examples of this are some of the listening posts such as surveys, focus groups, or structured interviews used to gather input from various key stakeholders.

Catalyst for Seeing What Could Be There is a relationship between the scope and depth of information considered and the quality of strategic insight gained, so more information is better, to a point. It is acknowledged that larger organizations may be able to assemble and analyze more information than smaller ones. However the amount of information pursued can be scaled to the size of the organization. Even modest budgets, spent well, can be very effective. In truth, the scope of information may be as, or even more important than, quantity and depth. Great strategy is fed by the synthesis of a variety of information, so having information in all three assessment areas contributes greatly to helping leadership think about the future of the organization and identify needed change.

Time Well Spent With all the demands on our time, some may wonder if this wouldn’t be a place to cut back in the process and the time required for Strategic Planning. Could we make up for less preparation by ensuring we include good creative thinkers? Get them to “think outside the box?” Develop a range of scenarios? Probably not. In my experience, nothing can substitute for preparation and analysis. In fact, the time spent preparing information in these three areas will help with other aspects of your planning process:

  • + The information will establish a common base of knowledge for all planning team members to draw on and then add to with their own perceptions and experiences.
  • + Key trends and developments that are essential to consider in the planning process can be highlighted right from the beginning.
  • + Stakeholders and planning committee members can spend less time with fundamental information and more time in layered analyses and in relating the different findings, formulating deeper insights.
  • + The variety of information from the different assessments can contribute to more balanced participation among team members. This is because different people respond to, and are energized by, different kinds of information (facts vs. perceptions, quantitative vs. qualitative, etc.)
  • + The convergence of all of this information at the same time enables the identification of important patterns and relationships among different sources of information.
  • + Information from divergent sources and perspectives helps participants see the “big picture” and avoid a desired future state that is too narrowly focused on a single issue or insight, or too heavily influenced by one persons’ expertise or responsibilities.

It’s summer! Time spent well now will set the table for highly productive planning sessions later this year. If I can be of any help with the preparation phase or any aspect of your strategic planning process, contact me at your convenience.

Jeff

The Fading Boom

/0 Comments/in /by
Listening to an early summer storm the other evening, I heard one of the longest sustained rolls of distant thunder I have ever heard. I am sure it lasted at least 20 seconds, and I was struck by how long it took to completely fade out. But it did. And before too long, there was another roll. This reminded me of another fading boom and one not far behind. I’m talking about the fading Baby Boom and the Millennial Generation that is rapidly becoming more influential.

Big in Size and Influence Information about the preferences, perceptions, purchasing power, and politics of the Baby Boom generation, born between 1942 and 1960, has been a staple of research and news reporting for over four decades. This is understandable in some ways, given the sheer size of this generation and their share of the total population. But this was also a generation archetype (Idealists) in a repeating cycle of four that was fundamentally different from the previous generation in some important ways1. This, combined with their large numbers, resulted in a legacy of change as they moved through the decades of their lives.

Where are they now? One of the reasons you are starting to hear less about the Baby Boom Generation is that they are exiting the workforce. This started in the mid 2000’s when the oldest Baby Boomers were reaching their mid-60s. By 2020, when the youngest Baby Boomers, born in 1960, are 60 years old, most in that generation will have left the workplace, and those still working will represent a small minority of the workforce. One way to visualize this late stage of the Baby Boom generation “ripple” through the age brackets of the population is with a population pyramid of Michigan. The one at right shows the relative size of each 5 year increment age group in 2016. Baby Boomers are in the horizontal bars near the top (oldest age increments) of the pyramid.

Millennials: The New “Prime Time” Generation The second generation to follow the Baby Boom, the Millennials (born 1982-2004), is another large generation. And like the Baby Boom, their archetype (Civic) is one that has tended to usher in a lot of change, for different reasons and in different ways, but change none-the-less. This is part of the reason why there is an increasing amount of news about the preferences, perceptions, purchasing power, and politics of this generation, even as the news about the Baby Boomers fades away.

So What? Whether you are a business, a non-profit organization, or a government agency, the differences among the generations are driving, and will drive, changes in both your customer base and your employee and volunteer pools. Social scientists, businesses, marketers, and political parties are finding out, or already know, about the differences between Baby Boomers and Millennials, as well as The Silent Generation (born 1925-1942), Generation X (born 1961 – 1981), and Generation Z (born 2005-??). What do you know about these generations? More importantly, how has, or could, that knowledge influence your strategies and practices? What could it mean to your marketing (messages, channels), your portfolio of services and products (key quality characteristics, preferences), and HR strategy (recruitment & retention, rewards & recognition)?

Where to Start? I have a short “Primer” Presentation on Generations: Their Impact on The Market and The Workplace. I can also provide you with data on the generational composition of your market or service area and your employees and volunteers. More importantly, I can help you use this information to fine tune your strategies and policies. Contact me to set up a free initial consultation about how understanding Generations can help your organization.

Jeff

1 As described by authors William Strauss and Neil Howe in their books Generations (1991) and The Fourth Turning (1997), and in their consultancy.

Improving Governance Structure and Performance

/0 Comments/in /by
We tend to think of process improvement as deeply entrenched in the day to day operations of a work group or organization. And with good reason. History has shown there is a lot of room for improvement at this most detailed level of work. Still, that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities at other levels as well. And in an organizational hierarchy model, that includes the highest level of all: Governance.

When a Little Improvement Goes a Long Way: You may have thought once or twice that things could be going better with your governing Board. And if you are thinking that way, chances are at least some of the Board members are feeling the same. Now realistically, most Boards I have known do a pretty credible job considering time constraints and the voluntary nature of their role. But that doesn’t mean they couldn’t do better, with better structure, process, and culture. And in some ways, the Board members cast the longest shadows in the organization. That is to say, with their focus and work at the highest policy level of the organization, their performance can ripple though all other levels. If things go well with the Board, it can contribute to better performance in the rest of the organization. And if not?
Read more