A restructure is not the same as a strategy. But, you can apply open strategy principles to any type of project, transformation or change.
Use an open strategy process to turbocharge your restructure.
It never fails to amaze me quite how often leaders restructure their organization. Fast growing businesses particularly need new roles, new talent, new focus areas. A reorganisation is sometimes (not always) the best solution to get the right structure to deliver the next phase of growth.
Last week I encouraged you to be explicit about your “non-negotiables”, and invite your team to participate in the “negotiables” when implementing strategy. This gets you out of the “dark room” to a more open strategy process. If you’d like to know more, you can look up my previous blogs here.
Yes, I know a restructure is not the same as a strategy, but open strategy principles apply to any type of project, transformation or change, including a restructure. So let me talk you through a recent mentoring gig I did for a CEO of a medium sized business. (Rest assured, I always disguise my examples and am very fussy about your privacy if I work with you.)
The problem:
The company had made some recent acquisitions. The CEO now needed to test their ideas on the best way forward to restructure with 3 goals:
- continued strong global growth
- integration of acquisitions
- move from Australian-centric to US-focused leadership.
The solution:
We had 2 mentoring sessions to work through different structure options. Then 2 more sessions to plan the implementation.
Dark room style would be for the CEO to announce it to the leadership team, and then to staff. This would be quick to announce, but slow to implement in reality as it required new ways of working.
The CEO opted for the more open and engaging process. I guided them to establish the “non negotiables” of the structure, and then to work through the “negotiables” with each part of the business iteratively.
The result:
- receptive staff who appreciated being involved
- no staff lost during the change process
- several useful refinements made to the structure
- people came to understand new ways of working
- rapid implementation
- minimal disruption to customers.You too can apply open strategy principles to your next change.
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Written by Lisa Carlin for FutureBuilders: https://www.futurebuildersgroup.com/how-to-successfully-implement-a-restructure/
About Lisa Carlin
As a strategy execution specialist and scaleup mentor, Lisa works with ambitious digital leaders to turbocharge their transformation and business planning. Lisa’s clients have an independent sounding board and expert advice so they have absolute confidence they WILL ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS. Lisa is Co-Founder and Director of FutureBuilders Group of organisational development specialists, and volunteers as Chair of the University of Cape Town Australia Trust. Her early career was with Accenture (South Africa) and McKinsey (USA).