Culture is hard to define in a clear, tangible way, and people often try to put cultures into a box, such as a tough guy, passive, fast-moving, and risk-averse. While there is some truth in this, it does not represent the complexity of the different elements of a culture.
From a personal point of view, I've always defined culture as "a combination of shared beliefs and values established by leadership over a long period to determine how the organisation does things." "Things" covers items such as running operations, treating customers and suppliers, managing staff, approaching risk, making decisions, and so on.
In effect, it is the personality organisation, and like the personalities of individuals, some people are helpful, some are rude, some are cooperative, some are thoughtful, some are risk-averse, and so on.
Also, to add some more complexity, different organisations will have different subcultures. For example, if a firm has multiple offices across locations, functions, and time zones or an organisation has various acquisitions and mergers, then each of these areas will have its subcultures, which can sometimes conflict with the other cultures within the organisation, causing problems and stress.
Therefore, when somebody is trying to implement a change with an organisation, it is important to understand the organisation's culture (and, if appropriate, sub-cultures) to ensure how 'stuff gets done', increasing the likelihood of implementing the change successfully.
Working against an organisation's culture is challenging, and this can be evidenced by the large number of projects that have ignored the culture and/or tried to work against it.
Therefore, how do you assess an organisation's structure?
As culture is such a complex area, and then it is hard to measure and even harder to understand. However, I tend to look at culture in three main areas – namely:
How well is this understood across the organisation, and do staff members believe in it? For certain firms (typically large firms), it is not uncommon for staff to not fully understand their organisation's strategy, which means they do not understand either (a) how they fit into the organisation and (b) why a particular change is required. Therefore, the change manager may need to ensure that these staff members are tactfully educated.
All organisations have some element silos like different functions, locations, acquisitions, etc. But silos can cause issues such as different processes, different ways of working, personality issues and so on. If so, then the change manager will need to address this by, for example, ensuring members of each 'silo' are included in the change project teams.
How well is the operating model understood? How complex is it? Is it spread over time zones? Is it spread over different locations? Do suppliers provide elements? Are the key subject matter experts? And so on. It is important to understand this so the change manager can ensure the relevant people are involved. This could result in a large project team, but it is essential to have all the correct people involved.
How 'heavy' or 'light' are the organisation's processes or controls? If the processes are 'heavy', then it can slow progress, so the change manager must be proactive in following them (because the change manager will not be able to change them). Alternatively, if the processes are 'light', then they may not be sufficient to control the change. Therefore, it may be necessary for the change manager to add to their processes to ensure there are sufficient controls in place around the change.
How much money or budget is the firm willing to spend on the change? Some firms lack money, so they cannot spend much. Other firms have money and are willing to spend reasonably openly. Some firms have money, but the budget approval processes can be complex. Therefore, the change manager needs to understand (a) how much money is available because it will dictate the timeline and quality of the change and (b) what the budgetary approval processes are to ensure the change manager proactively manages them.
Do people trust each other? Or is there a culture of looking after oneself? A lack of trust is a good indicator of politics, game-playing, and a general lack of togetherness, which will require management.
It is important to understand powerbases to help with solution design, solution build, and decision-making. Are the power bases around position, technical knowledge, process controls or corporate politics? Regardless, these need to be understood and involved in the project.
How well does the organisation work together? - i.e. do they work well together, is there tension between areas, or is there outright hostility? Regardless, these interactions need to be understood, and the change manager may need to act as a broker between different groups.
How supportive is the management of their staff? Remember, for a change to be implemented successfully, visible management is essential. Therefore, if management is distant, then the change manager will need to encourage them to become more involved.
It is important to understand how decisions are made. For example, are junior members of staff allowed to make decisions on their own, or is it a case of decisions 'going up the chain' for senior management to make? Slow or a lack of decision-making is a key cause of change failure. If so, then the change manager will need to implement processes to address this.
Some organisations are very low risk, which often means they are slow in making decisions. Likewise, some organisations have a high-risk attitude, but they can look free-wheeling. The change manager needs to understand this to either slow down or speed up the decision-making.
Is there a culture of blaming people for mistakes, which creates fear and slows progress? If so, the change manager will need to work harder with individuals to give them the support they need.
It is always a good idea to understand the client base and the client management process of the organisation where the change is being made. If the change requires some impact (good or bad) on customers, then it is important to follow the customer-facing protocols. Also, it is always interesting to see how the organisation treats their customers. While all firms nearly always say they put their customers first, this is not always the case. Poor customer service can be a sign of internal politics and not looking externally. This is a warning sign that the change manager needs to manage.
How well does the organisation manage its suppliers, and are there any issues with the customers? For example, service issues, cultural mismatches, suppliers being very dominant, or problems with multiple suppliers not working well together. The change manager needs to manage any issues or problems with the suppliers.
How regulated is the industry that the organisation is working within? If the industry is highly regulated, then the firm is often very nervous and risk-averse when making changes. The change manager will need to be aware of this so it can be managed. Also, in highly regulated industries, any approvals will take a while, and therefore, this also needs to be factored in.
How well is the firm doing relative to the competition? If a firm is struggling, then this will often create nervousness, which results in internal politics, delayed decision-making, despondency and low morale. Likewise, if the firm is doing well, then it could result in overconfidence and a high sense of self-belief. Regardless of which, a change manager needs to be aware of and mitigate this.
While this blog article has only scratched the surface of understanding organisational culture, it is important to stress that to implement successful change, change managers must understand the culture to allow them to work 'within it' as opposed to constantly struggling to work 'against it'.
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