Working with clients who wish to change the culture within their organisations is a great honour and also a major learning curve. My aim with this lens is to share what I've learnt in the last decade or so, hoping that it might help you and interest you.

Culture in this sense, means ' the way we do things around here'. It includes obvious things like the way people dress and speak, perhaps the type of professional backgrounds they have. It also includes less tangible aspects such as how people behave, what hours they keep, what the unwritten rules are, what really goes on when xyz isn't watching ... and so on

How congruent is your organisation? Staff quickly get demotivated when the Mission Statement/ Company Values are not brought to life consistently by the actions of the executives and managers of a company. When there's a big gap between what people say they are going to do, and what they actually do - guess what? Demotivation and disillusion.

Yet, looking at it from the managers point of view, it can be a mammoth task to get people to look afresh instead of replaying the stories they already believe. If a company has not lived up to its promises in the past, it has a hard task getting the trust back.

In my experience this really comes down to the people in charge and their integrity. When staff know that their manager will do their best for them, will represent them fairly and seek to gain recognition for the work of the whole team - then they regain their trust and motivation.

When the executives and managers of a company decide they wish to make a significant change within a company, there is a lot they can do to ensure their change programme is successful.

The first step is communication and involvement - change can be very threatening for people. Their fears can be allayed significantly when they understand the drivers for change and what involvement they can have. This involvement is vital for it gives people a sense of control. There may only be very limited parameters within which they can have choices, yet it is better to allow them small choices than none at all.

I've covered the whole process in detail, including a comprehensive personalised Change Management Profile in my Business Change Success E-course. Click here to find out about a special offer on this course.

As a seasoned project manager, of course I'm going to say that the second step is to plan out the change to a good level of detail. (a good level of detail is whatever level allows you to manage it effectively). This needs to cover the full lifecycle - from definition of requirements through to project closure, and must include the methodology you will use to manage the project.

Some good questions:

How will we know when we've finished?
What does success look like?
What tells me the culture has changed?
WHat's driving the need for change?
How will I keep the project on track? (project controls)
Who are my stakeholders?
What is their level of interest and influence?
How do I best communicate with each of them?
With what frequency?
How do I ensure the changes get embedded for the long term?
What are the risks? (detailed risk management plan)

The benefits of change are many, and it is vital to be clear on the drivers that are important to your organisation. One aspect that has been coming up more often recently is that companies wish to create a culture that is more open and that encourages innovation.

As a judge of the National Business Awards I was recently invited to a debate at the House of Commons on Innovation. One of the questions I asked the panel was what they would recommend business leaders do to encourage innovation in their organisations. If you'd like to find out more about this, please click through to the full article.Innovation - What's in it for me?

I hope this lens is helpful, and I'd love to get your feedback.

If you're managing change in your organisation, please consider my Business Change Success E-course - it will lead you through all the steps to ensure your change is successfully embedded quickly and painlessly. If you'd like one-to-one help, I also offer telephone coaching for change managers.