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"Transform is an approach designed by Management Associates to help organizations achieve a preferred future... The process creates a self-correcting system, enabling organizations to continue their own development and improvement without permanent reliance on outside assistance."
The accelerating rate of change today has businesses stretching to keep pace.
CEOs and managers of successful businesses are increasingly aware that their organizational culture must be forward-looking, continuously learning and improving, willing to question its current standard, and actively tapping the full potential of its talented workforce.
Organizational improvement can no longer be approached only by acquiring a set of new skills and techniques. In reality, profound change requires an organic transformation. New attitudes and perspectives are needed as well as organization-wide commitment and a supportive environment that will sustain the desired changes.
Transform is an approach designed by Management Associates to help organizations achieve a preferred future about which they care greatly. Transform establishes an on-going process of growth, learning, and maturation. The process creates a self-correcting system, enabling organizations to continue their own development and improvement without permanent reliance on outside assistance.
Transform is not a rigid program but a flexible process whose practical application is designed in collaboration with an organization's own management team and internal development resources. The elements of effective organizational development from which the Transform process is generally designed are:
CEOs and managers of successful businesses are increasingly aware that their organizational culture must be forward-looking, continuously learning and improving, willing to question its current standard, and actively tapping the full potential of its talented workforce.
Organizational improvement can no longer be approached only by acquiring a set of new skills and techniques. In reality, profound change requires an organic transformation. New attitudes and perspectives are needed as well as organization-wide commitment and a supportive environment that will sustain the desired changes.
Transform is an approach designed by Management Associates to help organizations achieve a preferred future about which they care greatly. Transform establishes an on-going process of growth, learning, and maturation. The process creates a self-correcting system, enabling organizations to continue their own development and improvement without permanent reliance on outside assistance.
Transform is not a rigid program but a flexible process whose practical application is designed in collaboration with an organization's own management team and internal development resources. The elements of effective organizational development from which the Transform process is generally designed are:
Executive Focus - Creating the vision
At the start of the Transform process the Executive Focus forges the unity and resolve of the top management team around a crystallized vision of the organization's future.
The Executive Focus is an intensive 1-2 day process that sets the stage for an organization to achieve its major targeted goals, recognizing that top management ultimately shapes and determines how the organization performs, including how effectively it manages change.
The first requirement for systematic, long-term development is that the top people within an organization have a clear sense of direction, knowing where they are going and what they want to achieve. This unity of purpose - an orientation to a future to which they are collectively committed - cannot be over stressed. Creating a vision-driven context infuses an organization with a motivating vigor and surrounds the difficult tasks of growth and change with meaning and relevance.
Outcomes of the Executive Focus are:
The Executive Focus is an intensive 1-2 day process that sets the stage for an organization to achieve its major targeted goals, recognizing that top management ultimately shapes and determines how the organization performs, including how effectively it manages change.
The first requirement for systematic, long-term development is that the top people within an organization have a clear sense of direction, knowing where they are going and what they want to achieve. This unity of purpose - an orientation to a future to which they are collectively committed - cannot be over stressed. Creating a vision-driven context infuses an organization with a motivating vigor and surrounds the difficult tasks of growth and change with meaning and relevance.
Outcomes of the Executive Focus are:
- A clarity of direction among the top executives relating to the organization's vision and the future growth of the organization
- A unified resolve among the group focused on achieving their vision
- A clear understanding of the impact of their management functioning on achieving the organizational vision
- A commitment to reshaping their own management roles and functioning as needed
- Clear plans, collectively developed, to achieve their objectives
Assessment - Identifying the starting point
Once the vision has been established, a brief organizational assessment can provide an objective portrait of the organization's current functioning in relation to its vision and goals. The assessment surfaces obvious strengths as well as any inhibiting factors that might, if not addressed, prevent the organization from achieving its desired vision. It is not a problem-oriented assessment but a future-oriented assessment whose objective is to facilitate change and growth.
The assessment data is collected by Management Associates' staff through informal meetings with a cross section of individuals and small focus groups of employees at every level of the company. The findings of the assessment are compiled, analyzed, and reported back to management.
This type of assessment is not meant to be a statistical analysis; it provides broad stroke information about the existing organizational culture. Because this initial assessment is based on conversations, it allows issues to emerge in a way that pre-selected survey questions do not. This format also provides detail and fleshing out of issues that allow a greater degree of understanding and planning for improvement.
Outcomes of the assessment process are:
The assessment data is collected by Management Associates' staff through informal meetings with a cross section of individuals and small focus groups of employees at every level of the company. The findings of the assessment are compiled, analyzed, and reported back to management.
This type of assessment is not meant to be a statistical analysis; it provides broad stroke information about the existing organizational culture. Because this initial assessment is based on conversations, it allows issues to emerge in a way that pre-selected survey questions do not. This format also provides detail and fleshing out of issues that allow a greater degree of understanding and planning for improvement.
Outcomes of the assessment process are:
- Clarity about the organization in relation to where it wants to be
- A kick-off to the engagement of the whole organization in the change process
- Strengths on which to build are identified
- Unseen roadblocks to success are also identified
Leadership development - Establishing shared knowledge
Once a shared vision is in place and the organization has an accurate picture of the existing culture in relation to its desired future, a leadership development process can be designed.
The content of the development process is based on the findings of the assessment, making the training elements more specific and applicable to the day to day realities of the organization. The content is designed to address the management group, both as individuals and as an evolving team. Management Associates also works to make sure the development process is seamlessly linked with any on-going training within the organization.
The leadership development process establishes a unified management knowledge base. Our experience shows that training is most effective when delivered to the entire management group together. The alignment of management's understanding and application of a common knowledge base will create an increasingly unified and focused organizational effort.
Although the content is specific to the organization, certain elements of the development process enhance its effectiveness:
The content of the development process is based on the findings of the assessment, making the training elements more specific and applicable to the day to day realities of the organization. The content is designed to address the management group, both as individuals and as an evolving team. Management Associates also works to make sure the development process is seamlessly linked with any on-going training within the organization.
The leadership development process establishes a unified management knowledge base. Our experience shows that training is most effective when delivered to the entire management group together. The alignment of management's understanding and application of a common knowledge base will create an increasingly unified and focused organizational effort.
Although the content is specific to the organization, certain elements of the development process enhance its effectiveness:
- The development effort must not only include new skills and behaviors but also needs to address, challenge, and reframe the values upon which those skills and behaviors are built.
- An initiative that consists of recurrent training experiences over a period of time will have the most lasting impact, avoiding the perception by participants of training as isolated, sporadic events rather than an on-going process.
- The time between sessions is devoted to pursuing training assignments and trying out new behaviors. In this way participants are actively engaged in a period of training and development lasting several months, not a few days.
- The development process needs to take place in a context of, and be driven by, the vision.
Survey - Measuring improvements
Recognizing that the ability to measure progress is essential to growth, Management Associates developed a powerful survey process that applies metrics to issues that are normally considered "soft" and therefore difficult to measure.
The strength of our particular survey process is that each survey's specific content is designed by the organization using it. As part of the development process, managers design the survey items themselves, with our assistance. As a result of this approach, the survey is not based on an external model of how things should be, but rather on the vision that the organization is pursuing. It generates energy because managers are involved in its design, understand its purpose, and have ownership in its use. In addition it provides baseline data for targeting on-going growth and development. The results:
The strength of our particular survey process is that each survey's specific content is designed by the organization using it. As part of the development process, managers design the survey items themselves, with our assistance. As a result of this approach, the survey is not based on an external model of how things should be, but rather on the vision that the organization is pursuing. It generates energy because managers are involved in its design, understand its purpose, and have ownership in its use. In addition it provides baseline data for targeting on-going growth and development. The results:
- Are detailed, specific, and easily understood
- Provide data that clearly identifies areas of positive, healthy performance as well as areas needing improvement
- Enable individual managers and supervisors to set leadership goals and make plans based on clear, measurable data
Action planning - Ensuring follow-up
No matter how great the desire to improve, people also need a plan for collaboratively implementing the changes and achieving new organizational performance. It is vital that people translate their collective vision, information, and knowledge into action.
Although action planning is an on-going part of the Transform process itself, at the completion of the survey it is especially important that management be engaged in a process of carefully analyzing the data and defining action plans. This planning process can take place in individual coaching sessions, interdepartmental meetings, or with the management group as a whole.
This action planning process:
Although action planning is an on-going part of the Transform process itself, at the completion of the survey it is especially important that management be engaged in a process of carefully analyzing the data and defining action plans. This planning process can take place in individual coaching sessions, interdepartmental meetings, or with the management group as a whole.
This action planning process:
- Creates a collective clarity and understanding regarding the next development steps to be taken
- Surrounds those steps with enthusiasm and support
- Contributes to the establishment of a self-sustaining, continuously improving management team
Whole system engagement - Sustaining the culture
Transform begins with management because this group must be aligned with the direction and values of the proposed changes, but eventually the challenge of change must be shared and shouldered by everybody within the system.
The methods of whole system engagement are varied. The specific form this stage takes is worked out in collaboration with the internal expertise and resources available.
Whole system engagement is the core of continuous improvement. Once the whole system is engaged in its own development, a self-sustaining process begins with 100% of the organization's people taking ownership and interest in the values and dynamics of the culture as well as in how the organization functions and performs.
The methods of whole system engagement are varied. The specific form this stage takes is worked out in collaboration with the internal expertise and resources available.
Whole system engagement is the core of continuous improvement. Once the whole system is engaged in its own development, a self-sustaining process begins with 100% of the organization's people taking ownership and interest in the values and dynamics of the culture as well as in how the organization functions and performs.
Investment
Investment in Transform is based on Management Associates' standard on-site fee of $2500 per day plus expenses.