Leading Technology Transformation
The Challenge
One of our clients, a Chicago-based technology company with about 700 employees, needed to introduce a new organizational strategy, structure and operating model for their engineers, developers, designers and product managers. The new way of working would require new talent and skillsets, which meant that a number of employees would also need to be exited.
This challenge was one of creating inclusive change - an inclusive approach to change helps people to embrace something new and different.
The Engagement
We worked with the CTO and stakeholders from across the organization to set the strategy and plan for the change. This involved:
Development and execution of a segmented change management strategy
Identification and facilitation of a core team of change champions
Stakeholder management
Development of core narrative to build out communications
Communications review
Design and facilitation of manager and director context building experiences prior to the announcement of the change
Design and facilitation of all employee context building experiences in the months following the announcement
Facilitation of change champions post announcement
The Results
The organization effectively switched to their new way of working. Impacted team members felt like they were taken care of, and we supported the managers and of the new organization until they told us they had what they needed to move forward without their help. Our client said it was the healthiest and most inclusive change he had ever been a part of and that he felt well equipped to lead it with our guidance and support.
The sr4 Insight
We were successful in including as many people in the change as we possibly could. Managing change inclusively means narrowing the gap of context between the few and the many as much as possible, which can be difficult to do during changes that involve exiting team members because of the risk. In this case, we were able to establish enough trust between the CTO and their team of leaders and change champions to let them be a part of and the change ahead of the announcement that went out to impacted employees. They appreciated being involved and having the time to be thoughtful about what they would do, what they would say, and how they would bring their teams along, which set them up to be more inclusive leaders throughout the process.