How did your business make its money yesterday?  How will your business make its money tomorrow?

Today’s ever changing economic and business environment has created the need for change.  The challenge is that many individuals throughout an organization will feel threatened professionally and financially.  This can create a stalemate that in turn causes a business to languish.  In order to make change happen effectively, leadership and their employees must work together in the development of solutions.

In order to gain support for change throughout an organization, the process of fact finding, problem solving and decision-making needs to include individuals at all levels of the organization. The process begins with identifying non-productive business and operational models.  By focusing on business models, the discussion can remain objective, compared with subjective nature of individual performance.  Once these models are corrected, a focused path forward can be developed.  This creates an impetus for change that can serve as a catalyst for an organization and its people.  

   

If there is one truth that I have learned during my years in consulting it is this, in order to have a viable long-term business, you need to have annuity revenue to sustain a business.  Once you have that annuity revenue, you need to stay on top of shifts in market demand and outdated business models. 

The United States Postal Service is an extreme example of these truths.  For the past 200 years, their sole focus has been to deliver mail throughout the US.  On October 18, 2011, they announced an increase of 45 cents for a postage stamp.  This attempt to protect their annuity revenue stream will in fact create a further deterioration in the use of the USPS.  This change, when combined with the increased use of electronic devices for various forms of immediate communication (email, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn), requires a change in their existing business model.  They have engaged a consultant to help them vet various ideas on how to create a new annuity revenue stream that can help sustain the organization and corresponding 280,000 jobs.

Impetus for change - Creating a new business model

Organizations

For organizations requiring change, an organized approach will bring them to the best long-term answer.  Creating the vision with the entire leadership ensures total buy-in.  The inclusion of work teams with a personal vested interest is another critical part of the process.  When these teams include members from various levels of the organization, the combined strategic and tactical inputs produce optimal results.  It can also serve as a practical, real-time, team building exercise that has the additional advantage of being an implementable outcome.

Individuals

One of the biggest challenges of change is with individuals.  There is a large percentage of the population that fears the unknown and ambiguity that change brings.  This affects individual performance which, in turn, impacts the short-term and longer-term results of the organization.  In order to create an “it will be ok” belief, most individuals need to have a clear picture of the future and how it benefits them individually.  They need a clear view of what their new role looks like, how it fits into the new organization, and how that makes them feel about themselves. 

A United Front

A facilitated process is the key to reaching the right answer.  In order for this to occur, leaders of the organization, and employees who work there, will need to be comfortable that they may hear ideas and thoughts that they had not considered.  It may make them uncomfortable, particularly if there is a potential negative impact on individuals.  It takes courage, conviction and a desire for impactful change to participate in a facilitated process.  The level of commitment and buy-in, will determine the level of success.