Becoming the Future Organization

To successfully create a future organization that can fit for the future employee and manager requires a new and fresh point of view to facilitate the change. The goal is to create a process so the your company is able adapt to the future of work, regardless of how many years out that future might be. This article sums-up a simple and six-step plan to guide your company and prepares it to this transition to the future.

Step 1: Challenge Assumptions.

Inside our companies, we usually take things without really questioning why things are done the way they are or thinking if there exist better ways of performing something. Anyone inside your organization has the opportunity to challenge, question something or to explore alternate ways of getting something done. This process has two components:

• Ask questions though discussions, meetings or surveys but always in an open way.
• Listen to employees, managers and stakeholders to identify wins and challenges.

Step 2: Create a Team.

The team that will shape the future of work at your organization is crucial for success. You have to configure it paying attention to: a recognized leadership, enough resources, power to experiment, communication with executives that knows the company.

Step 3: Define.

• Work: What does it mean to work at your company?
• Employee: What does the future employee look?
• Manager: How is the manager of the future different from the manager of the past?
• Organization: What does it mean to work at your organization?

Step 4: Communicate.

Make it public, share your vision of the future in an easy and relatable way, creating an adaptable and empowered organization. Break down your vision and changes and spread your new principles though every keynote, meeting, product or workplace.

Step 5: Experiment and Empower.

• Identify the teams inside your company that appear to be still working with sticks and stones, these teams need your bigger support.
• Remove the obstacles by performing smaller changes to groups or departments. Each segment will have its own obstacles that need to be solved.
• Give permission to your employees so they can exhibit the behaviours and actions that support your vision of the future of work.

Step 6: Broad Base Change.

Whatever the changes are that your organization seeks to implement, this is where that gets done. Use these steps to define a plan and start your journey to the future.

References: Morgan, J. (2014). The future of work: Attract new talent, build better leaders, and create a competitive organization. John Wiley & Sons. Chapter 11: The Six-step Process for Adapting to the futureof work (Pag. 203-213)