General management is all about solving problems and resolving issues—all being accomplished with only limited knowledge. In order for you to help get problems solved, you need to help others frame the problem correctly and to help guide them to the solution.
Structuring the problem begins by first coming up with a SMART problem definition. Then from there creating an issue tree with all the possible answers to the question.
Once you have created your issue tree, start testing assumptions, gather data, and cut off branches that don’t apply anymore. This helps you get to the root cause and start getting to real solutions.
It is important to have your goal that you are solving the problem with front and center. Focus on a goal that has the highest benefit with the lowest cost.
As a consultant you need to provide good recommendations. Below is a basic flow when making recommendations to clients.
Change is emotional. Find ways to nudge change in the right direction. For example, rather than having you cut back on your food, just start using smaller plates.
In order to motivate people to change, you must help them to see and feel the importance of the change.
Change follows an unfreezing of how things have always been, opening up the opportunity for change. Change requires ending the past, leading to a period in a neutral zone, and then settling in the new beginning.
A good example of this is when someone gets married. Exchanging marital vows kicks off the new beginning and requires that the couple end the past of being single and what they were comfortable with in that previous life. This causes them to be in the neutral zone for a time. Believing that the future will be better will enable them to embrace the new beginning, relinquishing the past, and truly changing.
When introducing people to the process of change, help them understand the purpose, picture, plan, and their part. Be patient and remember that although the plans may make sense to you, they may not be there yet or have all the information.
Large organizational change needs to be strategic, calculated, and precise. It can’t be a shotgun model; it has to be more like precise rifle shots.
Warning: Gross. Picture this. You are at dinner with your family and there is a dead dog on the center of the table, but no one talks about it. That is a dysfunctional family. Do you have a dysfunctional organization? What isn’t being talked about?
Remember, this needs to be precise. Sharpshooter precise. Ready, aim, fire. Timing, sequencing, and credibility are everything. Plan out your communication strategy and get the right people on board.
A change management strategy works by influencing the right people in the org.
