Leading Transformational Change

1. Leading Transformational Change

2. Introduction Business today means that more staff now spend more time working on specific projects rather than their ‘day job’; or being co-opted into virtual, ad hoc or ‘Pop-Up’ organisations or project teams. Coupled with the fact that Government is aiming to deliver its strategy for UK PLC by implementing major Programmes of work – particularly in the infrastructure sector, this presents a huge challenge for organisations to quickly create efficient teams to deliver real Transformational Change in often uncharted territory.  The organisational teams created for major programmes such as Crossrail, HS2 and Thames Tideway are prime examples of this situation, and these teams require Leaders of the highest calibre. Definition The business definition of ‘Transformational Change’ is:- A shift in the business culture of an organization resulting from a change in the underlying strategy and processes that the organization has used in the past. A transformational change is designed to be organization-wide and is enacted over a period of time. In the ‘Pop-Up’ organisations and teams stated above, the Transformational Change referred to is either a step change from virtually nothing to an expected mature organisation capable of delivering many billions of pounds of works and services; or the amalgamation and integration of a significant number staff and resources from existing mature and recognised businesses - bringing with them their own ways of working, processes and culture. Therefore, major Programmes that are ultimately delivered by these ‘Pop-Up Organisations’ - such as Crossrail, HS2 and Thames Tideway – experience the biggest transformational change of all – from individual parent organisations to the new entity, all whilst having to carry out the ‘day job’ – delivering a major high profile project! These high profile Programmes (or major projects) present significant challenges for their Leaders, not just from the responsibility of delivering the expected outcomes and outputs, but also from leading these often diverse and often individually focussed teams.

3. A Transformational Change Guide for Leaders • Therefore, Programme (and Project) leaders can look to the attributes and approaches of leading Transformational Change, to help lead their teams. Below is a six step approach for leading Transformational Change, which is also appropriate to leading a major Programme or Project. • Clarity For All Stakeholders – a clear vision which is directly linked to the overall strategy and objectives of the sponsoring authority. The ability for a Leader to always grasp the ‘Big Picture’ is crucial. Often different stakeholders require different methods of conveying the vision, and Leaders should explore different ways of articulating the way forward. This could include the use of ‘rich-pictures’ and even professional ‘story-telling’ to articulate a particular ‘journey’ for a specific stakeholder group. What is most important, is that all stakeholders understand the real benefits of the Programme and how they will be realised and how they are measured. • Clear, Simple Governance – Successful Programmes benefit from a clear and simple governance regime. An efficient and effective governance regime will manifest itself in the form of clearly defined roles, commonly understood responsibilities, a simple organisation structure and a quick decision making process. The delivery of the venues and infrastructure for the London 2012 Summer Games is regarded by many as a leading example of an appropriate Governance regime. Lessons learnt from London 2012 are well documented and are being used as a benchmark for the delivery of current major Programmes and a basis of developing Programme Leadership. • Get the Environment Right – Transformational Change and major Programmes (and Projects), both require high performing teams to deliver the expected outcomes and outputs. High performing teams need the appropriate ‘environment’ to perform efficiently and effectively. Setting the right environment for these teams involves a wide range of factors, such as:- • Allowing team members to challenge the status quo and encourage them to look at ways of innovating what they are being asked to do. This can be achieved by ensuring all the stakeholders and particularly team members, understand what innovation actually means to the Programme. • Ensure the team fully understand the risk enviroment, what risk looks like on this Programme, and just as importantly, what opportunities could be identified and realised. High performing teams adopt a ‘controlled approach’ to risk. • Leaders must also ensure that their team has the appropriate infrastructure to deliver their tasks in the most efficient way possible. This will mean appropriate systems, establishing realistic timelines and setting appropriate workloads.

4. A Holistic Scope for the Programme – Leaders need to be focussed on not just the technical or organisational aspects of the scope of their programme but also the cultural and behavioural aspects. The challenge for leaders is to understand and manage all the dynamics affecting the transformational change effort both ‘hard’ technical aspects and the more ‘softer’ behavioural elements. Work with the Culture, to change the Culture – achieving Transformation Change, be it with an organisation or through a major Programme (or Project), requires that change is more than just structures, process and systems (the ‘hard’ elements), but that it addresses behaviour, both individually and collectively. Not only culture and team performance, but also the development of leadership capabilities and talent management (the ‘soft’ elements). Transformational change often fails because leaders do not address the organisations culture. This manifests itself in not realising the expected benefits of the Programme because people do not embrace new ways of working. Whilst often appearing intangible and hard to grasp for many leaders, all aspects of change are influenced by the organisations culture. In order to shift the shared assumptions, beliefs and values (“the way we do things around here”), Leaders must ensure that the Transformational Change creates a new culture that supports and delivers what the business strategy requires for success. Engage and Communicate - Leaders need to adequately engage and communicate with stakeholders, both internally (such as staff and team members) and externally (those impacted by the Transformational Programme but outside the team). Engagement is particularly important early in the change process, as the greatest opportunity to influence and enhance value is at the beginning of any project or programme. Most leaders become aware of the need to improve communication during the Programme. All leaders grossly underestimate the amount of time and resources required for adequate communication. Many large programme teams now incorporate communications and engagement positions within their teams, often as part of the senior leadership group. • Attributes of a Leader of Transformational Change • Understand the ‘Big Picture’ and Vision for the organisation at all times • To be seen as an Ideal Role Model – someone who is seen as one who ‘walks the talk’ • To understand how to create a ‘High Performing Team’ • Have an ability to inspire and motivate • A desire to challenge their team to be innovative in what they do • Demonstrate genuine understanding and empathy of their teams needs and ambitions

5. Summary Organisations cannot just put people on a Programme and hope that all goes well. Transformational Programmes require High Performing Teams and high performing teams require Transformational Leaders. These Leaders must address both the ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ aspects of their very often high profile Programme, and must be equipped with the appropriate skills, competencies and behaviours to address these issues.