Organizational Change Management (OCM)

Has your company adopted collaboration as part of its culture? If it has, you have a good start – great first step.

But experience on transformation projects had shown me that collaboration is more than agreeing to send a representative to group meetings. It is also more than having managers attending these meetings so decisions can be made. Collaboration is much more than simply talking or attending a meeting and ignoring what you don’t like.

Most of us have found ourselves in the situation where we are assigned to oversee a function or department new to us. Without knowing what we’ve inherited, the honeymoon period kicks off – those critical ninety or so days where we have to demonstrate that the hiring manager made the right decision. During this time, we meet with our direct reports, talk with customers, watch how things are getting done, and diligently investigate areas identified by our boss. But true progress is somewhat elusive – we just don’t really know where to dig in. Not knowing where to focus their energy, many new managers hammer down on the administrative side of the job. Unfortunately, they quickly lose the ability to see with fresh eyes the reality of the situation. They get sucked into the void of the status quo.