Fast Track Change Process
Put your Change Project on the Fast Track
166 Hubbard Street
Concord, MA 01742
(978) 371-3134
(978) 287-5431 fax
You've probably been
faced with this situation before, maybe many times: Improved business
performance means making some important changes in the way your organization
functions. Maybe these changes are required by a new strategy or business
plan implemented, or you need to redesign a work process or make changes
in structures and systems. But getting the right people lined up so that
a change will really work -- and getting the change to happen quickly
-- can be a daunting task, especially if people need to work together
across boundaries.
You can assign the job to a task-force of employees who will keep meeting
so many hours a week until their recommendations are finished. But you
know that this can take forever. Or, you could hire a consulting firm
to come in, tell you a lot of things your people already know about
is wrong, make good recommendations, and then leave you with a hefty bill
and a big implementation problem. What's a manager to do?
How can you get the results you need in the
time you need them?
The Fast-Track Change Process has emerged as an alternative to the usual
methods of trying to bring about organizational change. It is fast, focused,
and highly participative, generating strong commitment to change among
employees at all levels. Growing out of the "Work-Out" process that
played a central role in General Electric's turn-around, the Fast-Track
approach has worked wonders in small businesses, mid-sized companies,
and Fortune 500 corporations alike.
Inspired by GE's success, IBM has been using this approach throughout
its organization for several years now. The results in inventory reduction,
cycle-time reduction, cost savings, and revenue growth have been phenomenal.
With single projects yielding net returns in the millions of dollars,
it's no wonder that IBM continues to carry out dozens of these projects
every year.
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, one of New England's leading plans, has also
been using Fast-Track with great success. In one project five cross-functional
teams working together at an intensive process redesign event reduced
the company's product development cycle time from almost a year to 18
weeks! This change, which resulted in increased revenues, reduced costs,
and higher customer and staff satisfaction, was implemented within 90
days. The health plan's CFO said the project had "clearly saved the company
millions of dollars."
How does Fast-Track work?
The Fast-Track approach provides a well-facilitated change process that
can be customized to your specific needs. Your people provide the content
expertise needed to analyze and solve the critical issues. How does it
work? There are three basic steps:
1. Planning: Project sponsors set project objectives and clarify any constraints
on recommendations up-front. Then a Planning Team designs a 2-4 day redesign
or problem-solving event and selects the right people to be there.
2. Business Meeting: During this intensive event, 1-5 teams develop specific
recommendations for change. On the last half-day, they present their proposed
action plans to project sponsors, who make yes-or-no decisions on the
spot. (This carefully-prepared for meeting is part of the genius of the
Fast-Track approach).
3. Implementation: Within a designated period, usually 90 days, all approved
changes are made, coordinated by a Core Implementation Team that meets
once a week. Sponsors play a key role in removing any organizational roadblocks
that crop up, and they meet every 30 days with Core Implementation Team
to review progress, joining a celebratory event at the end of the 90 days.
When do you use Fast-Track?
Fast-Track works well for a wide range of issues, especially: (1) process
redesign and (2) important business issues that may require a combination
of changes in structures, systems, plans, and processes. Because the approach
is flexible, the process or issue can be large or small. But it needs
to be something that is critical for improved business performance and
that needs to happen quickly.
The Fast-Track Facilitation Team
In facilitating the Fast-Track Change Process for clients, we partner
with Bill Joiner of New Context Consulting and a network of other experienced
Fast-Track consultants. Bill brings to our work together 25 years of experience
as a consultant and group facilitator.
"We got literally one year of work done in 4 days, with immediate feedback
and buy-in." -- Team Member
"I learned that rapid change is actually possible! The pre-work to specify
the scope, desired outcomes, and challenges really focused the effort.
Also, the decision-making coaching for the Sponsors. We should use this
tool frequently." -- Project Sponsor
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