Change Blueprint

Change Framework & ToolkitsMeaningful change measurement19. Business Readiness

19. Business Readiness

What is it?

The business readiness process comprises key activities to ascertain whether the organisation is ready to transition to the ‘future state’, provide insight into where support is most required and ultimately inform Go / No Go decision-making in advance of the schedules transition date.

It involves assessing the readiness of various stakeholders during critical phases using change readiness surveys, progress tracking and issue management.  Business Readiness and Change Measurement complement each other.

Why do it?

Complete this process in order to:

  • Understand the requirements regarding the change initiative – processes, infrastructure, restructuring etc
  • Assess the readiness of the organisation to undertake the change to new ways of working
  • Identify any business readiness issues in advance and resolve them at the appropriate time to minimise transition risks
  • Identify tasks and resources and prepare people for the change transition
  • Obtain sign-off for rolling out the changes and minimising the risks of unanticipated behaviours

When to do it?

Deliver Phase

Inputs

Change Impact Assessment
Change Strategy
Change Management Plan
Stakeholder Analysis
Change Measurement Approach

Outputs

Business Readiness Scorecard

How to do it?

19.1 Define readiness criteria and approach

Business readiness ensures that all aspects of the change initiative are in place for implementation before any ‘cut-over’ to new ways of working happens.  This ensures that impacted staff, stakeholders and the wider business are ready for the changes and helps make the Deliver phase of the initiative a success.
 
The readiness criteria cover:
  • Change initiative readiness which considers whether everything is in place to deliver the outcomes and benefits described in the business case
  • Change leadership readiness which checks that the change leaders are clear about the messages and their role in removing barriers to change
  • Change solution readiness which focuses on whether the capabilities are in place to deliver the change, ie are the tools, skills, processes in place?
  • Change commitment readiness which aims to ensure that the changes ‘stick’ within the organisation.  Checking that stakeholders are ready for the change, that the communications are effective and that you have identified some ‘quick wins’ to build momentum for the change

Business readiness ensures that all aspects of the change initiative are in place for implementation before any The criteria which allow you to check off readiness against each of the four areas above will be specific to the change initiative – you can use a similar set of questions to the Change Measurement Assessment questions as a starting point.  The change solution readiness questions will focus on the key aspects of project deployment and may include issues relating to:

  • Physical environment – new building, rearranged offices etc
  • Business processes and procedures – changes to policies, ways of carrying out business activities
  • Technical infrastructure & applications – IT systems, hardware, support and related activity
  • Organisation – training, structures, new ways of working etc

19.2 Business readiness approach

‌Having defined your readiness criteria you now need to identify how you will assess business readiness.  This can be through interviews or workshops and surveys can be used to supplement face-to-face activity but must not replace it.  It is important to cover both change solution readiness, ie the tangible aspects of the change that need to be in place (training, infrastructure, recruitment into new posts, etc) and the people-based aspects of readiness, that is:
  • Is the organisation change ready?
    • Are the communication messages clear?
    • Does the wider organisation understand the changes?
    • Have wider ‘knock-on’ effects of a local change been considered?
    • Are there mitigations in place to ensure business continuity?
  • Is the leadership change ready?
    • Are the change leaders ’walking the talk’ with regards to new behaviours and ways of working?
    • Are there sufficient time, money and resources available to make the change happen?
  • Are employees change ready?
    • Have people been informed about what is happening and when?
    • Do people understand the future state and the reasons behind the change?
    • Are people ready and motivated to support the change?
  • Are key stakeholders change ready?
    • Has the change vision been clearly communicated?
    • Do the stakeholders understand the value of the change?
    • Has any resistance been handled properly?

Once you have your criteria and approach to assessing readiness you can document these in the ‌

19.3 Track readiness and identify areas for support

‌Use the Business Readiness Scorecard to provide an overall view of success/progress of the change initiative.  You will have:
  • Defined the set of key metrics that will track the Business Readiness on the four dimensions
  • Determine success criteria (green, amber, red system)
Now you can monitor the differences in assessment results at each stage of the initiative or at relevant key milestones to identify issues and areas that need additional support 
 
Repeat the process until the readiness assessment gives the “green light” on the key dimensions.
 
During deployment, issues will inevitably arise. These readiness and deployment issues must be escalated through both the Change Governance and any identified business governance arrangement (eg, College Management Groups)
 
A mitigation plan must be put in place for each item, and at that time, it is decided whether or not the new capability can be deployed. If it is decided that the deployment cannot take place, either because the business is not ready or another reason, there are several possible courses of action.
  • Full shut down: although unusual, the sponsors can decide to terminate the project entirely. Usually, however, given the investment the organisation has made, an alternative solution is usually more appropriate.
  • Delayed go-live: this is the more probable course of action, especially if the deployment is suffering from general difficulties across several functional areas, or in a specific business critical area. A new go-live date will have to be determined, and the business readiness approach will need to be updated to reflect the new plan.
  • Partial go-live: if there is functionality that can be isolated without inhibiting the rest of the release, the decision may be to delay the deployment of just that functionality, while continuing to deploy the larger part of the release. Again, the Business Readiness Approach will need to be modified to reflect the timeline and deployment schedule.

19.4 Confirm transition arrangements and sign-off readiness

Before rolling-out the change, you need to confirm that the necessary support is in place to enable the transition:
  • Site Readiness
    • Communication activities (ie, have all the relevant communications occurred? Do people understand why this is happening?)
    • Training infrastructure (ie, are trainers available? Is the training environment ready?)
    • Technical infrastructure (ie, is the technology current at the local site?)
    • Technical support (ie, is there capable local support?)
    • Security requirements (ie, are there any specific requirements?)
    • Staffing issues (ie, have HR issues been addressed? Are the unions “on-side”?)
  • Resources
    • Does the organisation have the right staff for the desired (transformed) state? If not, is the gap being resolved?
    • What are the requirements around the number and type of resources? Are the requirements being met? Do we have sufficient resources to roll out the changes?
    • Have the stakeholders been sufficiently trained or enabled?
    • Is there any conflict in resources across programs? Is the conflict being resolved?
    • Does the organisation have the right structure both for rolling-out and sustaining the change? What is the structure?
  • Timing
    • What is the sequence for rolling out changes? Has the necessary preparation been completed based on this sequence?
    • Can employees deal with the pace of the change?
    • Is there a right balance between on-going requirements for running the business and the needs associated with the change initiative?
This is the final step before rolling-out the change. Prepare a checklist of Go/No-Go Criteria to be reviewed and agreed upon by all parties including leadership and change sponsor.
 
This step focuses on defining the key activities that must be carried out in the business and ensuring that they are completed on time.
 
 
GO/NO GO CRITERIA COMPLETE NOT COMPLETE

Go live communications complete

    

Employees trained and aware of their role

    

Roles finalised

    

Employees ready for change

    

Leadership ready for change

    

Cutover planned and executed

    

Business procedures updated

    

Short term support plan in place

    

Long term support plan in place