Two groups are crucial to any change project: planners and implementers. The planners, typically more senior than the implementers, must answer some important questions before they hand over the initiative for implementation. When these questions are not dealt with adequately, the initiative can get off to a shaky start.
In this paper, I will give you those key questions and also advice for overcoming what I call the “iron curtain between planning and implementation.” Implementers have the more difficult task of the two groups. Until implementation begins, the change initiative is only an idea. The transition structure for implementation should definitely include a skilled change champion, but a steering committee, an executive sponsor and implementation teams are also associated with a successful change project. The tasks of implementation are numerous—communicating, scheduling, assigning responsibilities, thinking about details, dealing with resistance, assessing progress and so forth—and so getting the right people with the right skills focusing on the tasks of implementation is very important. Some of this work is easy, some hard and some tough.
This paper will highlight the tough work that you should not avoid. Plus, the skills and task lists will help you manage your transition structure wisely.
>> This paper is one chapter from Dr. Carol A. Beatty’s e-book, The Easy, Hard & Tough Work of Managing Change. The complete e-book is now available on our website at no charge: Download
