{"id":9525,"date":"2021-08-24T07:38:59","date_gmt":"2021-08-24T12:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=9525"},"modified":"2021-11-24T10:51:14","modified_gmt":"2021-11-24T15:51:14","slug":"4-processes-of-sustainable-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/4-processes-of-sustainable-change\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Processes of Sustainable Change"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-9565\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/change1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/change1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/change1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/change1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/change1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Initiatives aimed at improving performance are often launched with great uproar, costing an organization significant investments.\u00a0 Such initiatives necessitate extensive changes in the <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/marketplace\/organizational-culture-transformation-approach-1274\">Organizational Culture<\/a> and the way the enterprise systems and processes function.<\/p>\n<p>However, most initiatives fall short of realizing success.\u00a0 Decades of scholarly research on <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/marketplace\/a-comprehensive-guide-to-change-management-979\">Change Management<\/a> reveals that the issues that contribute the most to the failure of strategic initiatives are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Incompetence in sustaining <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/marketplace\/business-process-improvement-bpi-7-601\">process improvement<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Lack of trust on senior leadership.<\/li>\n<li>Failure to embrace new ways of doing business.<\/li>\n<li>Performance relapse.<\/li>\n<li>Inability of the initiative to produce any positive financial returns.<\/li>\n<li>Skepticism towards the desired behaviors and return of impractical employee behaviors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Researchers have carried out scores of studies to isolate the drivers of lasting change. \u00a0Research published in MIT SMR in 2005 discusses how leadership can design and execute Transformation initiatives that bring lasting changes in the organization.<strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>The study entailed in-depth analysis of the strategic <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/marketplace\/customer-service-essentials-975\">Customer Service<\/a> Enhancement (CSE) initiative undertaken by a large clothing retailer, having franchises in multiple geographic locations.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with leaders, in-store operations and support function managers.\u00a0 Detailed notes of the interviews were shared amongst the researchers alongside an exhaustive literature review.\u00a0 A case study of the initiative was prepared using independent research to have an unprejudiced viewpoint, free from any bias. \u00a0Feedback from the organization\u2019s management was gathered and incorporated throughout the study to seek clarifications or corrections.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/marketplace\/analytics--data-analysis-guidelines-4319\">Data analysis<\/a> was carried out employing a coding scheme developed using Atlas.ti tool.\u00a0 Comparative analysis was conducted and similarities and differences in conclusions were discussed.<\/p>\n<p>The study brought to light <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/4-processes-of-sustainable-change-5826\">4 key processes necessary for change to stick<\/a> in an organization. \u00a0\u00a0These key processes assist in laying the foundation for successful institutionalization of change initiatives by creating a company-wide culture that encourages enduring change:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Chartering <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Learning<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Mobilizing <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Realigning <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/4-processes-of-sustainable-change-5826\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-9563\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/4-processes-of-Sustainable-Change.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1002\" height=\"752\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/4-processes-of-Sustainable-Change.png 1002w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/4-processes-of-Sustainable-Change-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/4-processes-of-Sustainable-Change-768x576.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1002px) 100vw, 1002px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s delve deeper into the first 2 processes.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Chartering<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Chartering is a process through which an enterprise classifies the purpose, scope, and the way people interact with each other on a strategic initiative.\u00a0 Clear delineation of project boundaries, resources, responsibilities, and reporting lines are the elements integral for the success of a change initiative.<\/p>\n<p>The Chartering process entails 2 critical components:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Boundary Setting<\/li>\n<li>Team Design<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Boundary Setting involves the key steps a team takes for accurate definition of change initiative\u2019s scope.<\/p>\n<p>The project team should clearly outline the problem(s) that the project is, and isn\u2019t, going to tackle.\u00a0 Ideally, while designing and executing a change initiative, the focus of the engagement should be on confronting the most crucial problem area. \u00a0The leadership should ensure not to confuse the core team by eyeing too many priorities to deal with through the strategic initiative.<\/p>\n<p>The Team Design element of Chartering involves ascertaining the roles, accountabilities, and guiding principles for team\u2019s collaboration.\u00a0 Team design entails creating ground rules for team members to interact, devising mechanisms to manage conflicts.\u00a0 The leadership needs to not only maintain diversity of the project team\u2019s expertise, but also ensure they complement each other, and inculcate a standardized approach to decision making in project teams.\u00a0 There needs to be fostered a culture of positive discourse and testing ideas amongst the team members.\u00a0 Incorporating these guidelines helps spark thinking, learning, and decision making.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Learning<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Learning aids in anticipating and dealing with hurdles during implementation of Transformation initiatives. \u00a0Learning enables the managers to improve the quality of the new processes. \u00a0it is a process through which managers develop, test, and refine ideas before full-scale implementation. \u00a0The process entails 2 critical components:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Discovery<\/li>\n<li>Experimentation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"aside\">For more information on Learning and Development and how to elevate your organization into a <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/business-toolkit\/learning-organization\">Learning Organization<\/a>, check out the frameworks and tools on Flevy here:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/business-toolkit\/learning-organization\">https:\/\/flevy.com\/business-toolkit\/learning-organization<\/a><\/div>\n<p>The discovery element involves gathering data to identify the objectives of the change initiative and outlining ways to achieve those objectives. \u00a0Before rolling out a complete implementation of a change initiative, testing and refining the individual elements of the initiative immensely assists in the success of the initiative.\u00a0 Gathering adequate information relevant to the initiative, setting up baseline metrics to measure performance, and identifying issues hampering customer satisfactions are the key aspects of this phase. \u00a0The team should learn from the failures of prior initiatives, introduce change in a systemic fashion rather than piecemeal, and encourage people to change rationally as well as emotionally.<\/p>\n<p>Interested in learning more about the other processes critical for change to stick?\u00a0 You can download an\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/4-processes-of-sustainable-change-5826\">editable PowerPoint on 4 Processes of Sustainable Change\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0on the Flevy documents marketplace.<\/p>\n<h2>Did You Find Value in This Framework?<\/h2>\n<p>You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/pro\/library\">FlevyPro Library<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/pro\">FlevyPro<\/a>\u00a0is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what some have to say:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cMy FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today\u2019s market.\u00a0 They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions.\u00a0 I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Bill Branson, Founder at Strategic Business Architects<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cAs a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power.\u00a0 For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cFlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients.\u00a0 In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over!\u00a0 The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight \u2013 it\u2019s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Initiatives aimed at improving performance are often launched with great uproar, costing an organization significant investments.\u00a0 Such initiatives necessitate extensive changes in the Organizational Culture and the way the enterprise systems and processes function. However, most initiatives fall short of realizing success.\u00a0 Decades of scholarly research on Change Management reveals that the issues that contribute&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/4-processes-of-sustainable-change\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">4 Processes of Sustainable Change<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":9565,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[228,2632,2305,1945,2633,1499,2634,217,2635,2631,2636,824],"class_list":["post-9525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-organization","tag-change-management","tag-chartering","tag-data","tag-data-analysis","tag-institutionalization","tag-learning","tag-mobilizing","tag-performance-improvement","tag-realigning","tag-sustainable-change","tag-team-design","tag-transformation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9525"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9574,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9525\/revisions\/9574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}