Here's how you can navigate a smooth transition during a culture change.

It is critical to understand that the 'reality' of the organization's culture is the perception of its stakeholders. There is no single model or framework that will result in a healthy work culture in any context. So begin your process by actively engaging stakeholder from all levels in discussions, both across and between employment levels to gain an understanding of perceptions and relationships which exist in your organization. Engage staff, clients, customers in discussion to gain an integrated picture of your instituion's culture from all aspects. Gather feedback on stakeholder willingness to accept change and stakeholder belief in the institution's ability to change. This will guide planning

Desde mi experiencia para poner en marcha un proceso de cambio organizacional, es importante visualizar lo que se quiere lograr o, cómo siempre lo digo, lo qué se sueña; estos puntos nos motivarán y afinarán nuestros esfuerzos. Una vez que tengamos establecidos "hacia dónde voy" nos centraremos en el "qué tengo" y así saber si puedo avanzar desde mi patrimonio actual (recursos físicos, emocionales y humanos) o qué debo incorporar/cambiar. Como decía Covey, "debemos empezar con un fin de mente" porque sino perderemos fácilmente el camino en el primer obstáculo. Soy de las personas que cree firmemente que contando con ese propósito claro vamos a poder inspirar a otros, que al final de todo, eso es lo que se quiere en un cambio de Cultura O.

One thing I've found to be helpful is setting a clear vision as a team. It takes time to work with a group and output a vision, but its certainly worth the effort. Through the debates over sematics, the words people choose and reject you gain a deeper insight into your team and their perceptions of the workplace. Even if you have to make minor changes to the vision developed, once it is clearly communicated why the change is necessary and what the purpose of the change is, stakeholders are more likely to buy-in. While you may have your own vision for the change its better to work with an inclusive vision which gets you to half of your goal, as opposed to a vision that you want, which no one will buy into or support.

Open communication requires acknowledgement of the good and the not so good about the change. If the messages only cover the upside, people will conclude that either the organization does not care about them or is simply unaware of the impact being created. Often examination of the preceived downside can shed light on overlooked constraints or other opportunities for improvement. Attention to such often results in a better solution often at a lower implemented cost.

Empowerment of teams to take action helps the team to own the success of the effort. Often front line people can see seemingly minor adjustments which create major performance and results improvements.

Oracle made the decision to eat its own dog food. As they worked to use their software, they encountered hurdles which they were able to correct in their products. The result was better performing products which could be installed at lower cost and simplified maintaince.