Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast

Where are you now, and where do you want to be? Plan, idealize, break down each process. Strategize. Make a business report, have it approved. But wait, all of this will be worthless if you cannot inspire your team to carry out your vision.

Schedule a Meeting

Perhaps you met with the management from each division and explained the plan. You presented it, trained them on it, and asked them to carry it out within their teams. From our experience, initiatives often fail when the “boots on the ground” employees are not properly brought on board to initiate a change. These are the employees that will be dealing directly with the source of the change. Make sure that the whole team is engaged, and not just the leaders.

Define your Message

Change looks a lot like hard work for employees that have busy days, packed with deadlines. Part of your organizational change may even be necessary due to employees that don’t have time for the details and the daily upkeep. What you are asking them for may require more time out of their day and so they need to know that this will result in a positive outcome. They need to know how this initiative will save them time and money. Show your team the bigger picture, explain why the company has initiated a different process.

Some hand-holding Required

Does your training consist of a one-hour meeting? A 30-page training manual? A PowerPoint attached via email? If you answered yes, then you may not have a conclusive enough training process. Often employees learn best by doing, and so a more interactive approach may be necessary. Especially if they have developed a habit of doing the task in their own way. Often companies find that a onetime training approach is not enough. You will need to follow up and make sure that the changes in processes are being monitored. Have check-points in place so that work can be monitored.

It Takes a Village

Data within your company funnels in from all facilities, and many hands have a part in the input and upkeep of your records. The notion, that “culture eats strategy,” is especially true when it comes to data quality initiatives. If you want to internally standardize your data entry, improve your data quality, or even comply with data related standards then make sure to download our free resources below: