Acceptance Process for Change

How does your customers' corporate culture accept new ideas for development and implementation? Many organizations embrace new ideas and have standard processes by which new ideas are spawned and tested. Republic Financial Corporation CEO, Jim Possehl, stresses their process of "Team Storming" to foster and evaluate new ideas. "Managers take their stripes off. Anyone can be critical of anyone else - everyone is treated equally. It is all about the ideas we have to improve our business." The Team Storming process is for real - employees at all levels of the company are encouraged to generate and support new concepts for improving Republic's services and image in the marketplace. Possehl uses the process as a great "organizational equalizer"; line employees openly question ideas surfaced by senior management with the same vigor as the managers question new ideas from their employees. "It makes for a very dynamic and trusting workplace," states Possehl.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, some companies only consider ideas that have come through certain channels within the company such as marketing or other areas with a specific mission to drive change within the company. These organizations usually require screening processes to have been executed, such as market evaluations or comparative data analysis, before changes are considered.

As a project manager, researching what the acceptance process is for your customer's organization can be instrumental to ensuring your project proceeds smoothly. In the first example stated here, no project would progress very far without the requirements and final solution having been through a "team storming" exercise involving a wide variety of employees and managers. Conversely, no project would be successful in the second scenario without obtaining the support of the organizational areas that normally sponsor change.

Acceptance of risks

Organizations vary widely in the degree of risk aversion that is inherent in their culture. This can be a product of the individuals at the top of the organizational pyramid, or could be a product of the industry itself. High-technology industries are more likely to engage in risk (as demonstrated by the recent fallout in the "dot.com" world) than a more traditional industry like insurance. In addition, aversion to risk can vary widely based on the type of risk being considered. In a very competitive area where major industry players are "leap-frogging" each other such as chip development, risk elements that prolong the time required to complete a project would be avoided at almost all cost. Conversely, a businessperson that is working in an area where price is the highest competitive factor will have difficulty accepting risks that affect project cost.

What is being discussed here is not only balancing the triple constraints (time, resources and scope), but also prioritizing them and understanding the magnitude of flexibility that exists within the triple constraints. Each organizational culture and the environment in which they operate will determine the flexibility allowed, and in turn will determine how much and what type of risk they will accept. Finding this through interviews, the examination of past projects and using carefully placed questions with key stakeholders can help the project manager navigate the areas where the organization will accept risk when planning and executing your projects.

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