1. Define future state

What is the driving need for change? 

We need to understand this before we do anything else.  Organisational change initiatives can take many forms – from the implementation of new technology with its associated process and behavioural changes, through to broad, University-wide transformations.  Behind each change will be a set of objectives designed to improve our performance.

Key drivers for change at a University level are identified by VCEG and described in our sovereign strategies.  Our major change initiatives will be developed to deliver these strategic goals.  However, there will also be College, Department and even team-level changes that need to be implemented to respond to external opportunities or threats or simply to improve our day-to-day operational effectiveness.

This step in the change framework is about identifying and documenting the key drivers for your particular change initiative

Tip: Drivers for change can be:

Internal

• To enhance or develop new capabilities
• To address weaknesses or concerns
• To strengthen University KPIs

External

• Legal requirements
• Competitor-led
• Student-led
• Innovation – to take advantage of new technology or research

A well formed change vision provides a clear description of where you want to be and can act as a rallying point when, as often happens, the initiative runs up against obstacles and distractions.

It is a picture of a better future and will describe new services, improvements and innovative ways of working.

The vision provides the foundation for the future state definition, change strategy and change plan as – with a clear destination in sight – you can begin to measure the gap and signpost the way.  It also allows change leaders to begin communicate the desired future state and helps staff get involved in co-creating the change.

A good change vision is

• Imaginable: allows people to envision the future state of the organisation
• Desirable: appeals to different stakeholders in a meaningful way (‘what’s in it for me?’)
• Feasible: should be achievable and realistic
• Flexible: to allow for a number of options to be assessed to achieve it
• Communicable: easily described in a short pitch that outlines the headline vision, purpose and path

The vision should:

• Is written in the future state.  It is not an objective, strategy, intention or mission which could all begin with the word ‘To …’ instead it is a snapshot of the organisation of the future.
• Be easily understood by a wide range of stakeholders and does not use jargon
• Describes a compelling future that engages the heart as well as the head
• Sets out the context and drivers for change
• Describes the qualities and characteristics of the organisation that will lead to success in the future environment
• Is aspirational and motivating whilst also being achievable and realistic
• Is outcome focused and clear but not tied to a particular solution – allowing debate about the best option for making the change happen

The vision should be high-level and not too detailed at this point.  The detail will be developed in the Change Strategy and Plan.

Tip: The vision can be described as a 'postcard from the future'

The next step is to build the next level of detail with the Future State Definition (template) which describes the people and organisational capabilities that are required to support the change.

The future state definition provides a more detailed description of the capabilities required to achieve the change than the vision statement.   It looks at:

• The desired future state (’to be’) which builds on the vision to describe, at a high level,  the Processes; Organisational structures, skills & behaviours; Technology and other infrastructure (including buildings); and Information necessary to achieve the vision
• An analysis of the current state (as is’) to ensure you have captured current ways of working and any strengths to build on and weaknesses to address. This involves understanding as much as possible about the current processes, workflows, roles, responsibilities and relationships to ensure that changes in order to achieve the future vision are fully informed and risk-managed.  You should ensure that you change only what needs to be changed and don’t end up with unintended consequences and disruptions to the business
• A gap analysis between the ’as is’ and the ‘to be’ to help identify the key actions required, the impacts of those changes and the major steps on the journey.

Tip: This step is best undertaken as a workshop (or series of workshops) with staff and stakeholders to get a good understanding of current processes and a breadth of ideas about potential solutions to achieve the desired vision. 

Tip: SWOT & PESTLE analyses are good tools to support this workshop:

• Identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the University, College, Department or team (as appropriate)
• Consider the Political, Economic, Technological, Socio-cultural, Environmental and Legal factors that could be a threat or provide an opportunity

The questions posed in the Future State Interview Guide are a useful checklist to use with stakeholder to get their view of what could / should change and why

Here we review the gap analysis created in the previous step and evaluate (at a high-level) what actions are needed to address the gaps.

The actions to address the gaps may cover many different aspects of the organisation – processes, structures, relationships and behaviours. 

There may also be many different options for achieving the required changes that have different costs, risks and impacts. The actions should be appraised to look at effort versus impact and sort ‘quick wins’ from the longer-term activities.  Look for behaviour, process and technology changes that are relatively easy to implement and use these to build momentum quickly. 

The criteria you use to estimate the value or contribution of each action to the achievement of the desired future state will form the basis of your benefits analysis work as part of the Business Case. 

It is important to consider how you will measure success, ie what are the key metrics that will demonstrate that your change initiative has been successful and delivered the desired outcomes and benefits?  This will be further developed in the ' Meaningful Change Measurement’ theme (link to Benefits Realisation process).

Tip: Refer to the SDU Benefit guidance (link) for help in identifying and describing benefits

Tip: The  Prioritisation Tool will help identify quick wins and longer-term priorities

You now have sufficient information to complete the  Future State Definition and Roadmap