How to Effectively Implement Organizational Transformations in Siloed Environments
- Payal Nevatia-Garland
- Sep 17, 2024
- 3 min read
Organizations often pursue transformations, driven by pressing challenges that impact their operations and business, or for growth and adaptation to market conditions. Whether the transformation is focused on business models, operations, technology, data, or sales and marketing, the goal is always to make a critical change to its current state with lasting improvements.
However, driving such change is rarely straightforward and often difficult to execute. Transformation efforts may encounter resistance, particularly in siloed organizations where segregated functions lead to redundancy and inconsistent practices in managing operations, processes, data, and technologies. These factors can make successful transformation even more challenging.
Below are best practices, Do’s, and Don’ts for effective transformations in a siloed environment.
Drive into a Mindset Shift and a Fresh Approach. Changing mindsets and behaviors is crucial, as it brings fresh eyes to transformation solutions. Change requires new perspectives, and continuing with the same methodology, thought process, and behaviors that were the drivers for the transformation, can result in failure. A fresh approach encourages innovative ideas for an effective and lasting transformation. Consider training programs to shift behaviors.
Do not compromise quality for cost and quantity. Low-cost solutions may not cover the breadth and depth of the transformation needs. Invest in innovative technologies and in the right people. Further, more, does not always equate to success. Small, agile teams with seasoned resources can be more effective in time-sensitive transformations. Depending on the transformation needs, a team of 4 high-cost resources can yield better results than a team of 10 low-cost resources. Strategize accordingly.
Collaborate and be intentional about it. Intentional collaborations are critical across silos and connected departments that share processes, businesses, or data. Collaboration should occur on the transformation strategies and on execution. Share notes, share winning strategies, and work together to standardize repetitive processes. Define each collaborator’s role clearly. This approach will help move roadblocks during execution.
Do not hinder another department’s transformation. Each silo owns its unique subject matter expertise and knows its area deeply. While obtaining diverse views across functions and departments strengthens transformations, unique departments should have autonomy over their transformation efforts, with the necessary guidance and collaboration.
Identify commonalities across silos. It will result in consistent and standard transformation methodologies where applicable and prevent reinventing the wheel.
For instance, helpdesks are common to provide support during digital deployments. Rather than each department creating its own helpdesk process, a transformation initiative should focus on developing a standard help desk and support framework that can be leveraged across the entire organization.
Do not delay Change Management. Implement a structured approach to transition individuals, teams, and departments from the current state to the future state. Rather than leaving change management towards the end, it should be initiated early in the transformation process. Once the strategy, scope, impacted people and processes have been defined, change management efforts should commence. A proactive approach across all areas of the organization is crucial for successful adoption.
Create horizontal transformation teams and committees comprising of execution specialists, strategists, and subject matter experts from all impacted functions. While each silo may have its unique transformation plan, a horizontal view across departments will promote consistency, connectivity, and a start-to-end focus on transformation efforts.
Do not engage in shortcuts. Band-aids, tick-the-box exercises, and omitting key steps can result in more of the same issues that were the impetus for the transformation effort. Executing against the details and a commitment to avoiding shortcuts are crucial for the success of the transformation effort. If time is a critical factor, a finite scope can expedite execution and prevent the tendency to introduce shortcuts.
Build Diverse Teams and Roadmaps. Engage subject-matter experts, navigators, and execution experts with varied experiences and backgrounds to bring fresh perspectives to transformation efforts. Diversity of ideas and resources is critical for transformation. Subject matter experts are critical but may not be the best execution specialists. Further, a detailed roadmap describing the scope of the transformation, timelines, changes, impacted areas, and outputs at every stage, will serve as the foundation for detailed project plans.
Do not underestimate the role of Digitization and Technology. Technology is a fundamental driver and a critical solution for transformations. Embracing the right automation, digital tools, and strategies can significantly enhance the success of transformation efforts.
A deliberate and well-coordinated transformation plan, anchored in these principles, can drive successful outcomes. Transformations are pivotal and exciting milestones in an organization's journey, leading to a renewed sense of purpose and an uplift in its fabric and ethos.
Managing Partner, Canvas LLC
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