When your organization talks about change, what framework do they use? Here are my top three favorite models we use at Runkle Consulting.
John Kotter’s Eight Steps is a widely used top-down change model developed by a long-time Harvard Business School professor. It emphasizes leadership driving large-scale organizational changes when you’re trying to institute a massive reorganization.
- Establish a sense of urgency.
- Form a guiding coalition.
- Develop a vision/strategy
- Communicate the vision.
- Remove obstacles and empower action.
- Plan and create short-term wins.
- Consolidate gains.
- Anchor changes in your culture.
Prosci’s ADKAR Model is a bottom-up model for creating change. It depends on convincing the employees who will most be impacted by the change. Without their buy-in and support, the process can’t move forward. ADKAR is less geared toward total organizational change than incremental improvements, so you’ll need to have clear goals in mind before you start.
- Awareness – Understand the need for change.
- Desire – Build support for the change, get others engaged.
- Knowledge – Implement new skills and behaviors.
- Ability – Implement the change, demonstrate performance gains.
- Reinforcement – Sustain change, build a new culture around that change.
McKinsey’s 7-S Model is designed for organizations that know they need a change but aren’t sure what that change is. This 7-S model is the way you see what parts of your organization are in alignment and which ones may be sources of friction or require rethinking. It’s the model behind the other two change models.
- Strategy is your plan for growing and staying ahead of the competition.
- Structure is how your org chart is arranged to execute on your strategy.
- Systems are the work processes and technical systems you rely on.
- Shared Values represent your company’s core values and culture.
- Style refers to your executive team’s leadership style.
- Staff covers your team members and functions.
- Skills are the capabilities that your staff possesses.
