It's all about Change.  Isn't it?  The word “change”, by itself, can trigger a variety of immediate emotions in people, and not all of them are pleasant. This seems to be the case more than ever in today’s world. And you have probably heard it said that “people don’t like change” or “it is hard for people to change.” That may be true in many cases, but there are also many inspiring stories of people that intentionally changed some aspect of their life with wonderful results. So it seems there are really two types of change: the ones that happen to us (or around us) and the ones we initiate ourselves.

Change in Organizations   If this concept of two types of change is ringing true in your personal life, it may also be familiar in your organization. There is no shortage of management literature devoted to the topic of change...how to anticipate it, understand it, embrace it, manage it, successfully execute it, and more! Change is relevant to many aspects of organizational life, and in one particular aspect, Strategic Planning, it can be a key to the best possible outcomes.

Change in Planning  The heart of a Strategic Plan is the Desired Future State...where we want to end up at the end of the Plan’s timeframe. This is usually expressed in the form of a Vision Statement or a set of Goals. In order to develop a Desired Future State that is both compelling and achievable, the Plan development process needs to begin with two kinds of assessments. The first is an assessment of the relevant industry or economic sector for your organization. There are great sources for learning about the current issues in your industry, and also the trends and best practices (i.e. changes) that are emerging in response to the issues. These issues, trends, and best practices can be summarized and comprise one of several forms of vision input for consideration by the team working to develop the new Strategic Plan.

From Reaction to Anticipation  The second kind of assessment examines the market place in which you compete or deliver services. This market may or may not be tied to a specific geography, but it is usually tied to a specific sector of consumers or individuals who need and benefit from the products or services you provide. The market for your service may even be internal to your organization if you provide support services for one or more other functional areas. The more you can define your market and learn about the current and evolving needs and expectations of people in that market, the better you will be able to craft a vision or goals that will deliver on those needs and expectations. With the right kind of research and input, you can even anticipate how the needs and expectations will most likely evolve over time. The highlights of all of this knowledge can similarly be assembled for review and consideration by the Planning Team.

Finding the Gaps  With the Desired Future State determined, a third assessment, an Organizational Assessment, is used to help understand where the organization or work group is today. This usually entails a review of key performance measures from dashboards or scorecards, as well as feedback from a host of different types of internal and external stakeholders. Other tools like a SWOT Analysis can also help to develop the Organizational Assessment. Once complete, the Planning Team can compare the Organizational Assessment (current state) to the Vision or Goals (desired future state) to identify the gaps between the two and begin identifying how best to address the gaps.

Making Change  This is where the other type of change, the kind we initiate, plays a critical role. There are a number of tools to help with this, but all the ideas that emerge are the seeds of changes that the organization must initiate to achieve the transition to the Desired Future State. Sometimes referred to as Strategies (themes) and Tactics (specific action items), this second type of change is actually the core of implementing the Strategic Plan.

Change for the Better  When your organization or team recognizes, and even anticipates, changes that can impact them (the changes around us), and uses that knowledge, in turn, to change what they do and how they do it (the changes they initiate), change becomes an ally (Industry and Market Assessments) and a tool (strategies, tactics). It is no longer something to fear and simply react to any way we can. It is a key part of how we create change for the better.

If you want to change the way your organization looks at change, and make the planning process something that makes people smile, contact me at your convenience.

Jeff

But the other part of me is a planner, usually thinking about desired outcomes in the future. Years ago, that planner part of me started wondering if the Cause and Effect Diagram would also be useful in displaying necessary ingredients for achieving something desirable, like a new service or a fully implemented process improvement.  The basic premise and constructs of the diagram would still apply.  Show the outcome as the head of a skeleton, the bones of which describe the various requirements (causes) needed to achieve that outcome.  Highlight levels of detail and related requirements by where they are placed in the skeleton.

If you’ve worked with Cause and Effect Diagrams before, this may seem pretty simple, and in fact maybe it is a more common practice that I think.  If you have little or no experience creating Cause and Effect Diagrams, I encourage you to try it.  If you have registered as a member of my web site (free and no obligation), go to the Resources Page where you will find a downloadable PowerPoint file that includes a Template that you can use to build your own. The file also includes a little background on both traditional and converse cause and effect diagrams.  Not a member?  Why not sign up now?

The best part of using the diagram in this new way is the return on time invested. You can convene a small group of 2-4 stakeholders for an hour to complete the diagram together.  You’ll exit that meeting with a better understanding of what it will take to achieve your outcome.  Suddenly, writing that Business Plan or Implementation Plan may not seem so daunting.

Because the application is different, I’m inclined to give the tool a different name. Effect and Cause Diagram? No, that doesn’t really roll off the tongue.  I kind of like Converse Cause and Effect. But what’s in a name, anyway?

If you would like more help using cause and effect diagrams in the traditional way (like the process improver in me) or in a new way (like the planner in me), give me a call. I’m sure one of us can help.

Jeff

Looking Beyond the Numbers: Structured Interviews reveal this added layer of information by leveraging the dialogue that is possible between the interviewer and interviewee to pursue specific trains of thought, obtain detailed explanations or descriptions, and learn about context and considerations. They differ from Focus Groups, another excellent qualitative information Listening Post, in that the interviewer has more time and freedom to follow an individual train of thought and delve deeper into each specific interviewee’s perspective without others influencing their thinking.

Application Examples: Because they can yield context and understanding, Structured Interviews are used in a wide range of applications including survey design, process improvement, issue refinement, stakeholder analysis, and implementation planning, just to name a few. Here are some more specific examples of how I have used Structured Interviews for clients:

>   As part of an Organizational Assessment in the early stages of Strategic Plan development, I interviewed community stakeholders about the mission, reputation, and collaboration potential of my client.

>   As part of a “Readiness Assessment” prior to an organizational restructuring, I interviewed the employees of two merging Departments regarding current responsibilities and interests.

>   As part of a Benchmarking project, we used Structured Interviews to learn more about the best practices of another high performing organization for possible adaptation by the client organization.

Preparation is Key: Structured interviews work best when there has been thorough preparation, especially in two ways:

1.  Defining the Research Objectives: This includes a detailed description of what information would be helpful as well as how it will be used.

2.  Development of an Interview Guide: Key components include background statement, disclosures & confidentiality, key questions, anticipated / likely follow-up question opportunities, and closing.

Clear Research Objectives and a thorough Interview Guide will also drive the approach used to analyze and report the findings.

These two features comprise the “structured” part of Structured Interviews. The more the interviewer understands specifically what the client wants to learn and how the information will be applied, the better. This may lead you to believe that Structured Interviews are best performed by someone internal to the organization with detailed knowledge of the project or topic of interest. This may be true in some cases, but often, there are advantages of using an external interviewer. These include:

-    Less “bias” and more questions that may be otherwise overlooked based on incorrect “assumptions”.

-    Stronger interview skills and/or more interviewing experience.

-    A tendency for interviewees to be more open and candid with an independent party.

If you have a need to build a deeper understanding...to go beyond what numbers or standardized reports can provide, contact me at your convenience. We can discuss the possible use of Structured Interviews or any number of other Listening Posts that would best fit your needs.

Jeff

Big in Size and Influence Information about the preferences, perceptions, purchasing power, and politics of the Baby Boom generation, born between 1942 and 1960, has been a staple of research and news reporting for over four decades. This is understandable in some ways, given the sheer size of this generation and their share of the total population. But this was also a generation archetype (Idealists) in a repeating cycle of four that was fundamentally different from the previous generation in some important ways¹. This, combined with their large numbers, resulted in a legacy of change as they moved through the decades of their lives.

Where are they now? One of the reasons you are starting to hear less about the Baby Boom Generation is that they are exiting the workforce. This started in the mid 2000’s when the oldest Baby Boomers were reaching their mid-60s. By 2020, when the youngest Baby Boomers, born in 1960, are 60 years old, most in that generation will have left the workplace, and those still working will represent a small minority of the workforce. One way to visualize this late stage of the Baby Boom generation “ripple” through the age brackets of the population is with a population pyramid of Michigan. The one at right shows the relative size of each 5 year increment age group in 2016. Baby Boomers are in the horizontal bars near the top (oldest age increments) of the pyramid.

Millennials: The New “Prime Time” Generation The second generation to follow the Baby Boom, the Millennials (born 1982-2004), is another large generation. And like the Baby Boom, their archetype (Civic) is one that has tended to usher in a lot of change, for different reasons and in different ways, but change none-the-less. This is part of the reason why there is an increasing amount of news about the preferences, perceptions, purchasing power, and politics of this generation, even as the news about the Baby Boomers fades away.

So What? Whether you are a business, a non-profit organization, or a government agency, the differences among the generations are driving, and will drive, changes in both your customer base and your employee and volunteer pools. Social scientists, businesses, marketers, and political parties are finding out, or already know, about the differences between Baby Boomers and Millennials, as well as The Silent Generation (born 1925-1942), Generation X (born 1961 – 1981), and Generation Z (born 2005-??). What do you know about these generations? More importantly, how has, or could, that knowledge influence your strategies and practices? What could it mean to your marketing (messages, channels), your portfolio of services and products (key quality characteristics, preferences), and HR strategy (recruitment & retention, rewards & recognition)?

Where to Start? I have a short “Primer” Presentation on Generations: Their Impact on The Market and The Workplace. I can also provide you with data on the generational composition of your market or service area and your employees and volunteers. More importantly, I can help you use this information to fine tune your strategies and policies. Contact me to set up a free initial consultation about how understanding Generations can help your organization.

Jeff

¹ As described by authors William Strauss and Neil Howe in their books Generations (1991) and The Fourth Turning (1997), and in their consultancy.

The Right Tool: A Focus Group is a unique and powerful Listening Post. There are many other Listening Posts (ways to hear from customers), such as surveys, interviews, comment cards, and advisory panels. Each has strengths and weaknesses and so each works best in different situations. Some are designed for qualitative research while others work well for quantitative research. Focus Groups are designed for obtaining qualitative information and are unique in the nature and depth of information they can provide. By working with a small group of people (as opposed to interviewing just one at a time), it is possible to facilitate a dialogue among participants where they react to and build on each other comments. This leads to a deeper level of insight and more detailed articulation of thoughts and ideas on a given topic. You can read more about Focus Groups and other Listening Posts on my web site.

The Right Questions: The key element of a Focus Group is the prepared set of questions that will be asked by the Moderator. The research goal behind most Focus Groups is to obtain customer knowledge about a current service or product, and they can be helpful at all stages of a service or product life cycle. In the design stage, they can help you learn more about key customer requirements and drivers of satisfaction. During product refinement, they can provide feedback about the appeal of a prototype or specific design features. As you approach service introduction or product launch, they can be invaluable in the design and finalization of marketing strategies and campaigns, focusing on key messaging and perceptions regarding both mediums and message. With existing services and products, they are often used to gain a deeper understanding of what customers like the most, what disappoints them, and what else they would like to see, and why. In short, the research objectives drive the nature of the questions.

This opens up another possibility that I have started to see incorporated into the research objectives, and therefore the line of questioning, in more and more Focus Groups. That is, to find out what customers may want next. Asking customers several open-ended questions about what other products or services would be of interest, and how the sponsoring organization could be of more help to them, is not without challenges. It can take time to get the group into a productive conversation and not all ideas may prove that helpful. However, a good dialogue invariably leads to the identification at least several possibilities, sometimes to the surprise and delight of the participants themselves as they begin to clarify and articulate a true want or need that they may not have thought much about until that moment.

The Right Answer: This kind of information can be the beginning, not the end, of new service or product development. It would be important to add other kinds of research and information to the Focus Group findings, all part of the innovation and product/service development process. However, beginning that process with customer knowledge, obtained directly from customers, is always a good place to start. Keeping a continued focus on these early customer thoughts and then adding research and development will lead to a service or product that is designed to meet an emerging customer need.

Customer needs, wants, and expectations are changing rapidly, fueled by the emergence of e-commerce, the growing influence of millennials, mass customization, and other megatrends. For example, think about how the e-commerce innovator and giant, Amazon, is influencing expectations around price and availability. (For an appetizer on this subject, check out this short article recommended to me by my good friend and marketing whiz, Deidra McClelland). Rather than trying to keep up with customer interests, maybe it’s time to get ahead of them. If you would like to leverage Focus Groups to learn about what your customers will want next, or to fulfill other research objectives, contact me at your convenience.

Jeff