When change outstrips your organization's capacity

Too Much Change? When change outstrips your organization's capacity.

Do you feel that there are many changes happening at the same time in your organization?

Do you have clarity on how many projects or initiatives are going around in the different areas?

Do you think your organization is having difficulty setting transformation priorities?

In many and varied organizations, there is a tendency to believe that the capabilities and resources to drive change and new ways of doing things are infinite and depend on the goodwill of individuals.

In this way, we can reinforce what:

Capacities and resources for change are not infinite; rather, they require investment, development and strengthening.
Change Management is a discipline that accompanies projects and change initiatives subject to costs and budget.

For the same reason, it is common sense that we live in a reality where natural, financial or even personal resources are finite.

In times of transformation and crisis, is when this reality becomes more relevant, generating wars between nations, the collapse of systems, as was the speculation of the years 2010 with the subprime crisis , or currently as it happens with the water shortage that our country Chile has been experiencing for several years.

Likewise, we see that organizational transformation processes and their leaders depend on budgets to mobilize initiatives, programs or projects that are meticulously studied, even going through review entities such as "budget committees" or the Boards of Directors themselves, which must ensure a good return on investment.

But what does all of the above have to do with Change Management?

If we think about those who lead change projects, we can be clear that many of these teams have experienced a lack of visibility and positioning of their initiatives. This is nothing new, the problem is when we find several initiatives running in parallel, and that brings as a consequence, competition for resources and people .

On occasions, I have been able to talk to different people who are leading an important project or process, and most of them usually say that "this is the most strategic and key project for the company, even the General Manager is a Sponsor".

What is the difficulty generated by this type of statement?

By declaring that all projects are equally important and strategic, we are not giving due prioritization to the organization's project portfolio. If everything is strategic, urgent and important, where do we move forward? To which issues do we allocate the necessary resources and people?

If the scenario just described sounds familiar, it is very likely that your organization is experiencing a phenomenon called "change saturation".

According to the Global Association of Change Management Professionals, change saturation occurs when the amount of change present in the organization exceeds the organization's capacity to adequately manage it.

For this reason, one of the greatest challenges for a change manager is to have an overview of all the initiatives that are occurring simultaneously within the organization, whether they fall within his or her area of responsibility or not.

Here it will be crucial to understand what each of these initiatives consist of and the impacts they generate for the company, both for the teams behind them and for those impacted. The reason? To get a better view of when these projects will eventually compete for resources and people.

As you will notice, this is possible to set up without sophisticated tools, just a "Heat Map" translated into a good double-entry table will allow a better understanding of the saturation levels.

You can download HERE our Toolkit with the Change Heat Map Tool.

Now, the work for the change manager does not end here, because with these results he/she will have to give visibility to the main stakeholders in order to make decisions, which may be:

Re-balancing: changing the time and effort allocations already defined for the project teams.
Re-planning: modifying activities to ensure better deployment.
Re-prioritization: placing one initiative over another, even if this means suspending or "freezing".

What happens when no action is taken?

Overtaxed equipment. resulting in stress or occupational illnesses.
Loss of focus for those impacted
Higher levels of resistance to change
Slow achievement of objectives and benefits of change
Reduced effectiveness of communications

Thus, it is crucial to have an outlook that helps orchestrate transformation processes to ensure the care of people within organizations.

As you have already noticed, saturation to change is a risk that must be continuously monitored, as it would be a mistake to underestimate the speed and rapidity of organizational movements. It would be a mistake to think that this phenomenon is static or that it cannot undergo change.

Those who have heard about BANI environments, will understand that the world goes through highly changing contexts (I suggest you read THIS ARTICLE written by my colleague Francesca Costa who explains this well), and therefore, it is wrong not to consider as the re-organization of priorities in organizations.

But what strategies can be followed to mitigate potential risks?

It is key for a change or transformation leader to be able to connect both people and projects through the following ways:

Inquire about the organization's main initiatives or key projects.
Cross-reference available information
Analyze possible commonalities and their impacts

Each of these strategies requires different actions and tactics that must be carefully managed.

That's how. as a team The Change Labteam, we understand that Change Saturation is an increasingly common and frequent phenomenon in the organizational environment, which does not imply that it should be normalized.

For this reason, we collaboratively seek the transfer of knowledge and the development of organizational capabilities in everything we do. We are convinced that we must contribute to help organizations manage their change and transformation processes more easily.

That is why we invite you to review the information of our International Certification in Change Managementaccredited by the Association of Change Management Professionals, which is about to start its next version.

You can also SCHEDULE a time to discuss and apply directly by meeting with the Program Facilitator.


About the Author
Gustavo Leoz is a Consultant in Transformation and Change Management at The Change Lab.
Director and Founding Member of ACMP Chile (Association of Change Management Professionals).
Organizational Psychologist UDP

Too Much Change? When change outstrips your organization's capacity.

Too Much Change? When change outstrips your organization's capacity.

Do you feel that there are many changes happening at the same time in your organization?

Do you have clarity on how many projects or initiatives are going around in the different areas?

Do you think your organization is having difficulty setting transformation priorities?

In many and varied organizations, there is a tendency to believe that the capabilities and resources to drive change and new ways of doing things are infinite and depend on the goodwill of individuals.

In this way, we can reinforce what:

Capacities and resources for change are not infinite; rather, they require investment, development and strengthening.

Change Management is a discipline that accompanies projects and change initiatives subject to costs and budget.

For the same reason, it is common sense that we live in a reality where natural, financial or even personal resources are finite.

But what does all of the above have to do with Change Management?

On occasions, I have been able to talk to different people who are leading an important project or process, and most of them usually say that "this is the most strategic and key project for the company, even the General Manager is a Sponsor".

What is the difficulty generated by this type of statement?

By declaring that all projects are equally important and strategic, we are not giving due prioritization to the organization's project portfolio. If everything is strategic, urgent and important, where do we move forward? To which issues do we allocate the necessary resources and people?

If the scenario just described sounds familiar, it is very likely that your organization is experiencing a phenomenon called "change saturation".

According to the Global Association of Change Management Professionals, change saturation occurs when the amount of change present in the organization exceeds the organization's capacity to adequately manage it.

For this reason, one of the greatest challenges for a change manager is to have an overview of all the initiatives that are occurring simultaneously within the organization, whether they fall within his or her area of responsibility or not.

Here it will be crucial to understand what each of these initiatives consist of and the impacts they generate for the company, both for the teams behind them and for those impacted. The reason? To get a better view of when these projects will eventually compete for resources and people.

As you will notice, this is possible to set up without sophisticated tools, just a "Heat Map" translated into a good double-entry table will allow a better understanding of the saturation levels.

You can download HERE our Toolkit with the Change Heat Map Tool.

Now, the work for the change manager does not end here, because with these results he/she will have to give visibility to the main stakeholders in order to make decisions, which may be:

Re-balancing: changing the time and effort allocations already defined for the project teams.

Re-planning: modifying activities to ensure better deployment.

Re-prioritization: placing one initiative over another, even if this means suspending or "freezing".

What happens when no action is taken?

Overtaxed equipment. resulting in stress or occupational illnesses.

Loss of focus for those impacted

Higher levels of resistance to change

Slow achievement of objectives and benefits of change

Reduced effectiveness of communications

Thus, it is crucial to have an outlook that helps orchestrate transformation processes to ensure the care of people within organizations.

As you have already noticed, saturation to change is a risk that must be continuously monitored, as it would be a mistake to underestimate the speed and rapidity of organizational movements. It would be a mistake to think that this phenomenon is static or that it cannot undergo change.

But what strategies can be followed to mitigate potential risks?

It is key for a change or transformation leader to be able to connect both people and projects through the following ways:

Inquire about the organization's main initiatives or key projects.

Cross-reference available information

Analyze possible commonalities and their impacts

Each of these strategies requires different actions and tactics that must be carefully managed.

That's how. as a team The Change Labteam, we understand that Change Saturation is an increasingly common and frequent phenomenon in the organizational environment, which does not imply that it should be normalized.

For this reason, we collaboratively seek the transfer of knowledge and the development of organizational capabilities in everything we do. We are convinced that we must contribute to help organizations manage their change and transformation processes more easily.

That is why we invite you to review the information of our International Certification in Change Managementaccredited by the Association of Change Management Professionals, which is about to start its next version.

You can also SCHEDULE a time to discuss and apply directly by meeting with the Program Facilitator.

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