Managing Service Delivery Change

Kieran Lenihan21 Jan 2009

Why do Public Sector Organisations change?

Change Management

The Process of Developing a planned approach to change in an organisation, seeking to minimise disruptions to the normal flow of activity

Competitive Advantage

• If we are to achieve sustainable social and economic development, we need to sharpen our competitive advantage in a changing world economy. But we need more than just plans to achieve this objective. We need a national endeavour to translate words into action and, in turn, into reality on the ground.

Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern T.D. 10 October, 2006

Change and the Public Sector

I believe, however, that the Public Service has an excellent track record in managing uncertainty - and indeed complexity, but that the current challenges are greater and demanding of a greater change capacity in the public service.

Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern T.D. 10 October, 2006

Type of Change

• Reactive- responding to changes in external environment

• Proactive- initiating change in order to achieve a desired goal

• Continuous or Programme based

• Examples

Change Management Involves

• Making Changes in a systematic fashion• Area of professional practice comprised of

tools, techniques, skills, methods etc.• Draws from psychology, sociology, business

administration, economics, systems engineering and organisational behavior

• Change management = Problem Solving

At the same time…

…you need to keep the show on the road.

“..the notion that senior managers can simply begin process innovation anew starting from a blank sheet of paper is somewhat unrealistic, especially in public sector settings..”

Willcocks,Currie and Jackson (1997)

Change Skills Required

• Political Skills-need to be sensitive and to tread carefully

• Analytical Skills. Systems analysis and Financial Analysis.

• People Skills- Communication and people skills required. Knowing where people’s attitudes are coming from.

• System Skills• Business Skills-how the organisation works

and survives

What is the role of Management?

• Detect trends and Initiate Programmes

• Assess impact on employees, work processes and resource requirements

• Communicate in a complete, timely, transparent, unbiased way to all involved and affected

• Provide support to employees

• Involve employees wherever possible

Business Process Improvement

• BPI is the systematic approach to help an organisation make significant changes

- What are strategic goals?

- Who do we serve (stakeholders)?

- How can we meet customer requirements better?

Change Strategies

• Empirical-Rational

• Normative-Re-educative

• Power- Coercive

• Environmental-Adaptive

Approach dependent on level of resistance, target population, stakes, time frame, expertise, dependency

Resistance to Change

Transition Stages• Anxiety• Happiness• Fear• Threat• Guilt• Depression• Disillusionment• Hostility• Denial

Stages of Change

• Unfreeze• Change• Refreeze

Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model

• Increase urgency- make change relevant• Build guiding team-right people, skills and attitude• Get vision right-Focus on what you are trying to

achieve not how• Communicate-Involve and listen to people• Empower-Remove obstacles and reward progress• Create short term wins• Don’t let up-Determination, mark milestones,

progress reports• Make Changes Stick

Implement an Action Plan

• Plan• Do• Check • Act

Hold the gains

• Standardise

• Do

• Check

• Act

Things that happen when implementing change

• Takes longer than you thought• Unforeseen problems surface• Coordination of activities ineffective• Attention distracted to something else• Lack of skills available• Lack of training given• Uncontrollable external factors emerge• Lack of support for change• Expectations and goals not defined clearly

You will need to:

• Facilitate

• Educate

• Persuade

• … and occasionally coerce!

Change never comes easily

Determination, conviction and persistence required!

“But beneficial opportunism and pragmatic reform can and, in my view, regularly do result in valuable gains in productivity, service quality, transparency and fairness. Reform is a challenge worth meeting.”

Dermot McCarthy , NESC (2005)