1. Key Steps in the Culture Change Process
What
So What
Now What
Step I
Assessment
(collecting survey data)
Goal: To fully explore the current culture. To surface overall strengths and weaknesses and identify possible sub-cultures/areas of opportunity
Step II
Creating Understanding
Goal: To create a common understanding of the data and the associated beliefs & assumptions driving the current cultural strengths and weaknesses
Step III
Choosing to Shift the Culture?
Goal: To establish true alignment around the need for culture change AND to focus efforts on areas of maximum impact
Step IV
Action Planning
Goal: To generate ideas for moving the culture forward; prioritizing and developing specific action plans
Step V
Implementation & Evaluation
Goal: To execute against the action plans and measure progress – with a constant link back to organizational or group performance
This process outlines the key steps in the Culture Change and Development process. It is useful to have a basic road map of key steps in the process and the purpose associated with those steps laid out clearly for everyone in the organization.
The process begins (Step I) with the assessment of the current culture, which is done using the culture survey and may be supplemented by qualitative data gathered through focus groups and/or interviews. Step II is where the data is shared and discussed with the intention of creating a ‘common understanding’ of the culture.
Step III is a critical step. This is where the implications of the current culture are discussed and an explicit decision is made regarding the need to change. After that decision is made the attention turns to usually 2 or 3 areas that are believed to offer the best leverage for the organization as they seek to achieve their business objectives. After the decision is made to move forward and the areas of priority are identified, specific action plans are developed (Step IV). In Step V the focus is on execution and monitoring progress.