Managing constant change: checklist for diagnosing a team

Managing constant change is our new reality. Ani Kocharyan, the leader of Change Experience Design at Growth Culture Group, shares the results of the international research and talks about what can become a driver for changes in a company.

As the classical approaches to change management say, the first stage of preparation for transformation is conducting business diagnosis before any decision implementation. The stage is extremely important since it helps to identify bottlenecks in a current business context and choose a change strategy. It takes from 1 to 3 months or even longer for most corporations. The second stage implies doing an analysis and planning which may also last from 1 to 3 months.

However, the actual pace of technology development requires higher speeds and flexibility from change management making companies obliged to reconsider their transformation approach. It is a common thing that plans for adopting new processes and technologies end up being crashed against the reality and the employee experience, so there is no time for planning anymore.

Change Experience Design methodology

Business transformation process is complex and it is quite easy to lose your vector and focus of attention. Change Experience Design is a method for building transformation experiences. According to this method, vector is a change strategy which comprises the insights about what works well and makes business sustainable and what needs change. Focus is a set of processes and conditions necessary for successful transformation. There are 5 focuses in the methodology which form overall employee experience:

• mindset
• skillset
• toolset
• teamset
• placement

Transformation driver checklist

This short checklist will help you to determine one of the five focuses which is most likely the dominant driver of transformation in your team and that you better rely on.

Answer the questions choosing one option only:

1. When implementing the new teamwork methodology your first actions were:

A. Gathering the team in order to clarify the messages and the advantages of the new methodology and the strategy of its implementation.

B. Organizing a teambuilding and setting up cross-functions within the methodology.

C. Elaborating checklists on the methodology.

2. Issues of development most often discussed in your team:

A. Leadership.

B. Personal efficiency and skills necessary for efficient work.

C. New methods and tools for interaction.

3. Which of the descriptions best suits your team?

A. Particular attention is directed to the emotional state of each team member.

B. We are constantly improving ourselves and sharing our expertise with other teams.

C. We are adepts of modern technologies and creative work methods.

4. What exhilarates your team most of all?

A. Everyday challenges and new opportunities.

B. The chance to learn colleagues’ expertise and experience.

C. The process itself and the work atmosphere.

5. What allows your team to deal with unexpected challenges successfully?

A. Clear vision of motives and goals.

B. Understanding the strong points of each team member and reasonable distribution of tasks and resources.

C. Access to large database and outside expertise.

After answering the questions, find out which option was chosen most often.

A — your team is successful thanks to high employee awareness. The mindset focus is best manifested.

B — you have the essential skills and effective teamwork which enables you to overcome problems. Teamset and skillset are you strengths.

C — your confidence in the transformation process is provided by frameworks, present-day technologies and interaction formats. Your most developed focuses are toolset and placement.

With the knowledge of your major competencies you will be able to make more targeted use of them and place a stake on them in a process of transformation. Moreover, it’s great to know your weak points too as you’ll get the image of the ways to mend them.

The checklist does not substitute a full diagnostic survey but is purposed to provide you with a general vision of the company’ state of affairs. In addition, with the help of empathy interviews with the employees you may undertake an internal study in order to show up exact gaps and bottlenecks. The questions from the checklist may form the basis of your survey. More questions for internal study based on Change Experience focuses you can find in step-by-step guide here.

About the research

The Change Experience Design research is based on the design thinking methodology and, precisely, on the employee journey map. The research focuses on transformation experiences of employees at different levels of a company. It resulted in creation of the Change Experience Design methodology — a method for building transformation experiences. The research started in 2019 and is being continuously filled with new interviews and insights. More than 20 companies, leaders of various industries form Russia, Germany and France, have participated in the research so far.