If you’re very close to your business, it’s easy to miss the key points in its development – you only notice looking back months or years later that something has changed. Here are the signs to look out for and how to adapt most effectively to the change. There are two key points in the development of organisations. The first is around the £1m – £5m turnover mark, when there are… read more →
It’s easy to let your business grow and develop without having to think too much about the direction it’s taking. But at some point it’s going to become an entity in itself – a ‘proper’ organisation, with a life of its own – and you need to start thinking about giving it some positive direction. Here’s what to look out for. So when does the change become noticeable? At this point… read more →
Change is inevitable – for individuals, businesses, communities and nations. Your only choice is how you work with it – it’s as simple as that. We look at how to make change work for you and your business. There are essentially two types of change: Attraction-based change – where you see a better future and pursue it. Crisis-based change – where some disaster befalls you and you have to change. Attraction-based… read more →
You can’t “do” culture change to your organisation. Culture arises from the beliefs and underlying assumptions held by the people in the organisation. Trying to change culture by decree or through training programmes won’t affect people’s beliefs. In today’s guest blog post, Jesse Lyn Stoner explains why. One way to change the culture is to fire a lot of people. That really shakes things up and gets change going –… read more →
Somehow running a business, or a team within a business of more than about 30 people, can appear to be extremely complex. Of course, we have the option to make it complex, but the secret of success is to keep it simple. The totally transferrable secrets of success are: Have a clear vision of what you seek to achieve that is compelling for all stakeholders. It is absolutely essential that… read more →
For the vast majority of people, collaboration is a matter of willingness, not ability. And unless there is a fundamental wish to collaborate, it won’t happen. When senior people in organisations tell their team leaders to work together, it will only happen if ‘they’ want it to. So how do you get people to collaborate? A first step is for the senior leaders of the organisation to set an example… read more →
In marketing our services to businesses large and small, I’ve noticed something interesting – there’s a widespread confusion of ‘organisation development’ with ‘HR’. Organisation development (OD) is the process of building an organisation as a whole. OD specialists like ourselves carefully design, plan and implement activities to grow the organisation, its employees and its stakeholders, and we work closely together with our primary client – usually the leader of the… read more →
“Every organisation is perfectly designed for the results it is getting”. Let’s start by understanding this rather frustrating truism. “Results” we can understand as all consequences including financial, social, environmental, technical and so on. Results that are both intended and unintended, economic and behavioural. “Designed” is perhaps more complicated, we may not think of our organisation as being designed at all. And yet whether deliberate or accidental all of our… read more →
“I’m sorry to say so but, sadly it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you” Dr Seuss – Oh the Places You’ll Go You can’t escape change. The march of time and gravity is relentless. What’s changed over the last five years in your work-place? Bosses change, colleagues move on, there are new faces in the team. Maybe you found a new job yourself. Now think about… read more →
You hear a lot about change management, and how to deal with it effectively. But what about the period between the old and the new – the neutral zone? It can be a difficult time, and it can go on for some while. The hatchet has fallen: people know what the new structure will be, but it hasn’t actually taken effect yet, and won’t do for a few months. So… read more →