“It is always easier to talk about change than to make it.” — Alvin Toffler

Business Transformation is a process whereby the business needs to shed a set of practices and adopt new ones. This almost always involves the way employees work, the way the company is structured (organizationally), and the way information technologies are introduced, adopted, and used in the business workflow. As you can imagine, this can be a difficult process, frequently painful, and fraught with dangerous pitfalls.

Business Transformation can happen by choice, or not. There are many examples that come to mind with print publishing and the music industry on top. No matter how business transformation has been initiated (market forces or internally), we find that it succeed when it follows the following six stages:

Stage I: Recognition from the business leadership that there is a need to transform.
Stage II: Building consensus across stakeholders on the need for change.
Stage III: Identifying the end state of the company’s transformation
Stage IV: Planning in detail the new workflows in support of the change.
Stage V: Piloting the transformation in a controlled setting.
Stage VI: Rolling-out the transformation company-wide.
Change Management is the operational component of Business Transformation. It is through change management best practices that communications plans are formed, human resource issues resolved, workflows tested, buy-in accomplished, and successful change made into working reality.

In a sense, Business Transformation is initiated and managed at the executive suite, while Change Management lives in the day-to-day organizational trenches. And, although Change Management wouldn’t be necessary but for the need of Business Transformation, the two are different in scope and execution. Specifically, the Change Management team is responsible for:

  1. Articulating the goals of change in a clear and approachable way.
  2. Identifying the metrics whereby success will be measured against.
  3. Show the steps necessary to achieve the change.
  4. Monitor the change process and create a transparent feedback responding mechanism.

Just as with Strategic Consulting and Value Creation, no two Business Transformation assignments are alike. We have found that what sparks transformation ranges from an innovative idea to a market threat. In each case, keeping a steady hand on the wheel can help guide you to success. Our approach is simple: We are there to lend an experienced hand.

Please contact us today to discuss your specific requirements.