Change Audit
Purpose
This tool uses two aspects of the standard SWOT analysis to examine aspects of the organisational change culture. Having an awareness of culture issues and how change has been handled in the past can help with the decision-making process about how to approach change.
Process
Consider a number of change initiatives in your institution and for each one identify whether it is characterised by:
- threats or opportunities
- a short-term or long-term view
Position each on a 4-quadrant matrix as shown below.
- Is there a concentration of change initiatives in any one quadrant?
- Have the changes been successful or not so successfully implemented?
| Fire-fighting Areas in the fire-fighting quadrant are always reacting to change and threats at very short notice and don't feel in full control of circumstances and actions. |
|
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Culture of change can help make change happen Changes happen readily |
Externally driven Never run things long enough to fully embed them Change fatigue can set in High stress levels |
| Band-wagon In the band-wagon quadrant you are always driven by external factors and the latest initiative. |
|
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Responsive Changes happen readily Sense of 'Buzz' Entrepreneurial |
Externally-driven Never run things long enough to fully embed them Change fatigue can set in High stress levels Never have the opportunity to review whether what you do is effective |
| Super-tanker In the Super-tanker quadrant change is slow and driven by external factors rather than by a sense of drive and purpose from within the organisation. |
|
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Change can be managed Systems have time to react |
Change is slow Lack of responsiveness Unlikely to be able to respond to opportunities Fall behind competitors Enthusing staff about the need for change can be difficult |
| Space explorer In the space explorer quadrant change is slow and driven by opportunities from the internal and external environment. This may seem like the optimum quadrant but it has its drawbacks. |
|
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Change can be managed and embedded Systems have time to react Staff feel more in control |
Change is relatively slow and some opportunities may be missed Lack of responsiveness Is change taking us in the right direction - and quickly enough? Can we afford the investment? |
When considering a planned change in the light of this audit you might want to ask yourself the following questions.
- Which quadrant best describes the planned change as currently perceived?
- Is that the quadrant in which we really want to be operating?
- Do we need to make changes to the way the change initiative is perceived?
- What actions would support this?
- Who would be responsible for these actions?
Changing cultures
When reviewing your strategy to develop a desired culture change there are a number of actions that can be taken to change institutional culture. Some examples are given below.
To be more long-term:
- Set the style from the top.
- Reject some initiatives/opportunities - concentrate only on those changes
which are essential.
- Plan changes so that the chances of change-fatigue are more limited.
- Put structures in place to consider long-term planning.
To be more short-term:
- Develop a culture of change.
- Look for easy short-term gains.
- Set short-term goals - and monitor them.
- Advertise and reward changes and those involved.
To be more opportunistic:
- Have systems in place to reward innovation
- Have systems in place for environmental scanning - be aware of what's going on nationally and internationally.
To be more threat aware:
- Look at what your 'competitor' institutions are doing.
- Undertake benchmarking activities.
- Listen to the students and other stakeholders.
