Change Management Project - What would you do with these cowboys?

[Andy Bassett]

Im not sure if this belongs on this site, but at least it will be a break from the usual ISO story.

Scenario

You are a consultant working on a fairly diverse Change Management Project involving a company with 250 people spread across 2 locations.

This company has many different problems, particularly at management level, and you elect to go ahead and do a climate survey to see what the employees feel.

The employees surprisingly say that...'the company has many different problems, particularly at management level..' . By far the worst score was Teamwork at Management level.

The employees are not unfairly waiting for a response from the management, and your initial discussions with the managers so far have revealed;
A. Manager A sympathises, but the problem sits with the other 2 managers.
B. Manager B cannot understand why Teamwork should be an issue at all. In his own words, if the others did what he told them there would be no problems and no need for teamwork (Honest, he said that).
C. Manager C derides the result (..they would say that wouldnt they..) and attempts to ignore it.

What would be your next step as the consultant involved?


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Andy B

[Spaceman Spiff]

I'd get out, graciously of course. If management isn't willing or is blind to it, then there will be no culture change.

[Randy]

Keep taking the money, make suggestions for improvement utilizing the survey as evidence of need....and have a good laugh every night when you go home.

Also make sure you maintain good documentation to cover your butt.

[Marc]

I ued to agree with Spaceman. Now I agree with Randy. If you leave someone else will get the money. I start each project with a project plan and update it weekly - to protect myself. I also give status reports with 'road blocks' listed.

[Marc]

As I reread - well, for my next move I'd get together with top management and present the 'problem' for discussion.

[Kevin Mader]

I suppose that this scenario isn't all that uncommon. In my limited experience, the situation worsens with the increased success of an organization.

Ethics aside, keep taking the paycheck in hopes that it might turn for the better. Worse case scenario: the laughs Randy points out, gained experience, and the bills paid.

Marc's comment on getting management together is a good idea, especially if you are trying to pull off this near miracle. It is the right thing to do, but will probably have limited positive impact. Lots of blame laying between managers A, B, and C and there is suggestion of the Caretaker's Syndrom as well. I am skeptical of the success a consultant will have.

Back to the group....

Kevin

[Randy]

Something like this can be fun. I've been playing the same game here for about 4 years with OSHA & EPA compliance, government contract management and the US Army (especially officers).

Come up with a good improvement plan to present and then do so. When the plan is rejected, give them the same plan again, but change the words around, break out a Thesaurus and get some other words, play buzz-word bingo with them. Invent words that you can hyphenate or string together. Let them see that you are really trying to do them a service and earn your pay.

Just always make sure that you are honest with your recommendations.

[Andy Bassett]

Thanks for all the comments.

In my heart i know you are all right, one of the things I notice about consulting as an independant is that it can be a little lonely.

I left full-time employment after 18 years with two blue chip companies mainly because i wanted more freedom to be able to develop companies properly and say what i want without fear of long-term reprisals.

If this is really my intention, then i should go back to the managers and harass them until they do something, or go back to a 9 til 5.

Actually what i notice is that a good consultant (internal or external) rarely supplies some magic expertise that nobody else in the company has. Instead he/she is relied upon to supply bags of motivation, a can-do attitude and a terrier like approach to difficult problems. Although this annoys the managers in the short-term they seem to respect you more in the long-term.

How i plan to deal with this is request a meeting to discuss a process problem involving the planning and launching of projects. I hope to be able to deal with the issues of 'management teamwork' without actually mentioning the word teamwork itself.

Ill let you know what happens

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Andy B