The Three Sides of The Change Box

August 8, 2008 8:20 am RSS Feed Icon Change Management

Picture a change as a huge box the change box, with three sides: the fundament, the depth and the breadth and...not to forget whats inside the box: the content.

The depth of the change has already been discussed by the change checklist define the impact. The depth is indeed about the impact. You want to know what is involved and what the consequences are in terms of process, function and infrastructural requirements (before you start destructing and reconstructing). If you know this you can determine whether it is a real change, or merely an improvement (but with a very high impact).

The breadth of a change is about people and scope: Who are involved in the change? As this is about organizations you want to know to what extent the change is isolated or whether you will effect the whole organization.

To focus on the breadth of the scope You could start with a top-down approach:

First you could address the issues on the corporate level:
  • Insight in the related areas of the enterprise that will be impacted by the change
  • Impact on the corporate style
  • Are there other change initiatives?
  • What about the capacity to level the change?
Then on a group or departmental level you should question issues like:
  • Who are the stakeholders (this is in fact also a question on a corporate level)?
  • What about synergy or conflicts between goals of both (the group and the change)?
  • What energy is needed for the affected groups?
The individual level is where you need most of the energy. This is about questions like:
  • What is this about?
  • What\'s in it for me?
  • What do they expect from me?
  • What are my strength?
  • ...etc

This list is exemplary only to give an idea about the various topics.

Now that you have dealt with two sides of the change box (the change checklist about the impact and this about the breadth of a change) you can address another essential change element. The change fundament!

2006 Hans Bool

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days.

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