In this fourth installment of our ongoing report on the channel’s movement away from transactional models, we will take a closer look at the challenges of transformation.
Transformation in any business can be trying, but it is especially so for small and medium businesses like those making up the channel. Change management professionals observe that SMB owners find it difficult to think beyond day-to-day operational issues and develop strategy. To make matters worse, they often are lacking in management process, long-term vision and leadership skills, so they are unprepared to take on a transformation project even if they have identified the need. Professional advice can be a way to help shore up these gaps and develop a road map for growth.
One such professional, Robert H. Miles, president of Corporate Transformation Resources LLC, has identified six inhibitors to business transformation in general. These are detailed at length in his article, “Accelerating Corporate Transformations," in the January 2010 edition of the Harvard Business Review. They include:
- Cautious Management Culture – to have credibility the owner and, if applicable, executive team must have an active role in the transformation.
- Business as Usual Management Process – to accelerate transformation, businesses need a dedicated overlay process that is targeted and not mired in meetings.
- Initiative Gridlock – to move forward, transformation goals must be cohesive companywide and not a series of unrelated departmental improvements.
- Recalcitrant Executives – to smooth the transition, deal with naysayers on the management team and, if applicable, your own anxiety over transformational change.
- Disengaged Employees - to ensure transformation is successful, engage all levels of employees at the outset and establish accountability for transformation initiatives from top to bottom.
- Loss of Focus During Execution – to complete the transformation, you must follow through with regular progress reports and avoid going on “autopilot."
