No one said organizational change is easy

Today, demands on the IT department are greater than ever.

IT services are a core part of the business, and many organizations are working to overcome the silo thinking of ‘IT’ and ‘the business’. IT is responding, and new ways of working and thinking are evolving. It can be tough for IT professionals to keep up, but you will have probably heard of DevOps, Agile, Lean, Kanban, continuous delivery and many more buzzwords.

Changing the way we work in IT can help us to support the business. Done badly, change can also create confusion, reduce motivation and affect the level of service we can deliver.

Where do we start?

eConsultant® Stuart Rance summed up one of the cultural problems in IT when he said that IT departments often try to install new behaviours in the same way that we install software. We forget that organizational change takes time, is difficult, and can sometimes make things worse before they get better. Instead of focusing on a buzzword like ‘DevOps’ or ‘Agile’, we need to focus on outcomes. What are we trying to achieve?

Top tips for organizational change

Here are some tips to help you get started in your organization.

Let your goals drive you
Find out about your business strategy. Where is the organization going? What do you need to do to support that?

Get management backing
Big changes need support from the top. Sell the business case to management, and you’ll have access to resources and your message will be reinforced. Keep an eye on management behaviour as well – are changes really taking place or are you just getting lip service?

Build a groundswell
Management backing is important, but don’t forget everyone else! Use every tool available to you to sell your message to the whole organization, so that no one is left behind. If people don’t understand, they will resist

Consider getting some outside support
If you’re not sure where to start, services like the Scopism eConsultancy packages can help you get some focus. From 60 minute support though to change enabler, our team of worldwide experts can help you cut through the noise

And if you forget why you started, here are some words from Maya Angelou to remind you to stick to your plan “What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.”

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