How to steer change

What your change steering committee should be doing

When you are clear at the direction of your change or transformation initiative it is time to “do the change management”. Often the question comes up who then oversees the change and it progress. Here are 3 questions helpful:

1. Do you have a steering committee?
2. Is it empowered?
3. What is it actually doing?

1. Do you have a steering committee?

One helpful element – next to a change manager, a change team or workstream or however you call it - is a change steering committee. Also, there it is not so important how you call it: steering committee, focus group or EAT. More important are questions #2 und 3!

2. Is it empowered?

You can judge quite good whether your change steering committee is empowered if it can/is allowed to:

• Create competent decision-making channels and organs
• Establish communication relationships with the decision-makers of the existing organization (e.g. board) and initiate necessary decisions
• Equip the project organization with money, time, people, administrative support, etc.

Congratulations if you can also answer this questions with a straight “yes”. You are or have an empowered change steering group – and I have not seen so many;). But what to do when you meet? Let`s turn to question #3.

3. What is it actually doing?

Many steering committees don`t take time to sort out in the beginning what their (collective) job really is. What you get is a mix of project controlling, content and good intent. Political games, misalignment and not being on the same page comes often for free;).

While there are three jobs to be done in a change process (Steering, Changing, Managing) a steering committee should focus on the first one. 

Steering the change

This is the main responsibility of the steering committee. But if you sit on such a committee steering is not meant in a managerial or project controlling way. It falls in 4 categories:

• Creating consciousness: This is a diagnostic process consisting of analyzing and sensing. Tasks can be categorizing problems, designing surveys, share observations, collecting and analyzing facts, analyzes and interpretations, data feedback, self-diagnose
• Informed options: This is about (collectively) designing the future state. It is about develop visions, mission statements and goals; Value statements, model ideas for the future; Guidelines and strategies how this could be reached
• Handle emotions: Here the steering group looks at the psycho-social dimension of the change and the organization. It must reflect how old relationships can be released and new ones build. It is also about clarify and resolve conflicts; getting used to it and getting over things; Motives, attitudes and expectations
• Enablement: one element of the process of organizational learning. On the one hand it is about the reflection of teaching, training and train knowledge and ability. But it is also about organizing learning through doing, setting up experimental situations and pilot projects.

So, as you see, tremendous powerful conversations need to take place. Carefully decide what of these jobs you are delegating to your project team and where you have to "get your hands dirty". The Change Manager or change team can support these dialogs while focusing more on the doing (“Changing”) and logistics (“Managing”):

What are your experience with steering change or what is your role definition of change steering groups - and how do you bring it to life;)? I am interested to know...

Hi, I am Bernd - a HR Innovator and passionate about developing people, teams and organizations. I am expert in leadership development and large scale change. You can find out more about me: www.emergent-change.com or follow me on Twitter

Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash