SWOT Your People

I think Organizational Change Management (OCM) is the biggest challenge for Digital Transformation projects. As I like to say: “PLM is People”. One of the challenges is knowing the best strategy for the OCM journey. What is the landscape we are traversing, who are our allies, and what can be challenging. When defining strategy, I like to use a SWOT analysis to get started. It gives me an opportunity to look at the big picture and assess what needs to be improved. Then I wondered, what if I SWOT my people?

Basis for OCM plan

This may sound like a crazy idea – and it could be, considering I just made it up today - but I think I may be on to something. Many times, OCM devolves into the obvious training, communications, newsletters, and a status meeting, and never gets much beyond there. To have a more purposeful OCM activity, we should assess why we are doing it and what we hope to change.

What is SWOT

For those of you that are confused by SWOT, let me elaborate. SWOT simply stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT). This is a way to look at your current situation and see key aspects of where you are and where you are going. Looking at where you are, you assess your Strengths and Weaknesses – what do you do well and what do you struggle with. This is inwardly focused. Looking at where you are going, you assess Opportunities and Threats – what good things you could take advantage of and what bad things can hurt you. This is externally focused.

You need to know these things

As we assess our people and their role in the Digital Transformation journey, we can see that these SWOT elements will be important things to know as we move forward. In fact, if we do not know these things, we will probably have to discover them the hard way as we progress in the journey.

Who are we

Our people are what they are. They may be old or young or a mix. They may be technical or non-technical. They may be educated or uneducated. Depending on our circumstances, these can be either Strengths or Weaknesses, or they may have no impact at all. We need to look at how they will affect our Digital Transformation.

Not one size fits all

Of course, our people are not a homogenous mass. We may need to perform several SWOT analysis exercises focused on key stakeholders. Factory workers, engineers, middle management, executives, maintenance workers, or truckers – they may all have different journeys to get the company where it needs to go.

Strengths

The key to defining Strengths is that they should be enablers for us to move forward. What things do we do well that are essential to a successful Digital Transformation. For example: We may have a deep knowledge of our products, be fiercely loyal to the company, or be tightly networked through company sports teams. All these attributes will help us move forward.

Weaknesses

Our Weaknesses are things that get in the way as we move forward. What things do we do poorly that are essential to a successful Digital Transformation. For example: We may be globally distributed without a common culture, or we may lack technical skills, or we may be in a very rigid hierarchical organization that resists evolution. All these attributes will hold us back from moving forward.

Opportunities

Then we look at Opportunities. These are external things that can positively impact our Transformation. For example: The State may be offering retraining grants for transformations, you just hired an executive that successfully completed a big transformation at his old company, or your training department has expanded and is looking for new opportunities to help develop the workforce.

Threats

And last, we look at Threats. We look at the external realities that can negatively impact on our Transformation. For example: A new employer in the area may be working to hire away our best people, we may have started an acquisition that people fear could impact jobs, or a recent reorganization has people confused as to what their job responsibilities are. All these things threaten people’s willingness to participate in Transformation.

Don’t worry about the format

The SWOT document is less important than the thought process that goes into it. Don’t worry about producing the best and most beautiful SWOT. ?Just use it as a tool to really understand the landscape of people issues that will be impacting your Transformation.

How to start

I have found that the best way to get this started is to compile a SWOT on my own before starting a larger exercise. This allows me to get my thoughts together to better navigate the process.

Gather a small advisory team

Next, I would get a small group together that represents the key stakeholders and brainstorm the SWOT with them. You should probably count on needing multiple sessions so they can have some time to reflect between sessions. (Most people struggle with SWOT analysis. Be sure to post the working definitions of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats to keep them on track.)

Share with the organization

Lastly, socialize the SWOT with a larger audience of stakeholders and influencers and get their feedback. Incorporate their thoughts into the document. This should then be a pretty complete document of where the organization stands.

Be realistic

I would caution you to try to be as realistic and accurate as possible. There will be people who want to sugar coat everything and say there are no issues. There will be other people that want to vent and say that everything is horrible, and we are doomed. Find the reality between these extremes and try to make what is documented a basis for future action.

OK, our SWOT is done

The SWOT lays out the environment we need to cope with and the tools we may be able to leverage to get our Transformation off the ground. Our Strengths are strong foundations we can build on and weapons we can use to solve problems. Our Weaknesses are potential hazards that indicate areas where we need to invest to improve our chances of success. Our Opportunities are raw value that can be incorporated into the effort to make it all worthwhile. Our Threats are a call to action. In some cases, for the employees, and in some cases for the OCM team.

The OCM plan

The SWOT analysis does not give you the OCM plan, but it does lay out the terrain that you must navigate to be successful. Your plan will come from understanding the results of the SWOT analysis and using good judgement to find ways to build on your strengths, overcome your weaknesses, seize opportunities, and fend off threats.

Provides a strong foundation

You may even learn why you have the training, communications, newsletters, and a status meeting. Or you may learn that these things are useless in your environment, and you need something completely different. That is the power of doing the SWOT analysis and using it to guide your OCM strategy.

SWOT ensures full coverage

Your OCM strategy should address all the Weaknesses and Threats you discovered. Do not leave any land mines behind to trip you up later. Your OCM strategy should leverage all the Strengths and Opportunities you discovered. Do not leave any useful tools in your toolbox unused. The SWOT analysis helps make sure all aspects of the landscape you need to traverse on your Transformation journey are covered.

Summary

SWOT-ing your people is a strange concept, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. It provides a factual basis for developing the OCM plan that has been agreed to by key stakeholders and influencers. When someone objects to the OCM plan, you can take them back to the agreed-upon landscape and show why these actions are necessary. That is very powerful compared to the usual hand waving that is used to justify OCM plans.

Conclusion

How do you do OCM planning? Have you ever tried to SWOT your people? Am I on the wrong track or do you think I have something here? Please let us know in the comments.

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Digital Guideposts is written by Mark Pendergast – retired Data Junkie, Deep Thinker and Innovator. He worked with product data for over 30 years of his 41-year career in Automotive Components Manufacturing. His background includes work in Engineering, Operations and Information Technology. He is also an Electrical and Computer Engineer (BS-ECE) and a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP). In his spare time, he mentors a High School FIRST Robotics Team, reads and plays on his computer.