Consolidation & Learning

This stage is about monitoring and reviewing how the change has gone and what further or additional work and support is required, for example, if staff in the new structure have the skills and support required to undertake their roles etc.

Reviewing Progress

When a restructure or change effort has concluded, a review may help you to
evaluate and understand:

• Whether the original objectives have been met
• Identify any lessons learnt for the future.

The scope and scale of the review will depend upon the nature and scale of the change exercise, and the time and resources dedicated to a review will be consistent with the original scope and the desired output.

Seeking Feedback

• You can begin to seek feedback from those involved when people remember the most – shortly after the restructure or change is complete and when most of the problems have been resolved. 
• However, to fully assess the impact you will need to wait long enough for the changes to properly take effect.
• This may mean waiting a few weeks or months to seek feedback and report on your findings.

When seeking feedback from others ensure they understand that the process is about capturing lessons learnt for the future and not about blame – emphasise the importance of being honest and open.

How to Review

• Define the scope of the review in advance, and clarify objectives.
• Review key documents; e.g. project documents, plans, etc.
• Consider whether independent reviewers would be helpful (e.g. someone not involved in the original restructure or change process) in providing an objective perspective.
• Use appropriate data (e.g. interviews, surveys).
• Report findings, present recommendations and publicise results.
• Include as many people as needed to share the good practice and lessons learnt for future projects.
• Share outcomes of a post-restructuring review with staff and Trade Unions.

What to Review

• Has the business need been met? What were the gaps, and how will they be closed?
• Is the project sponsor satisfied with the outcomes?
• How does the end result compare with the original plan, in terms of quality, timetable and budget?
• Has the restructure or change fully solved the problem it was seeking to address?
• What lessons were learnt during the restructure or change? How could these contribute to future restructuring/change processes?
• Determine how satisfied the key stakeholders are with the end results.
• Review staff wellbeing through a post-change wellbeing risk assessment to identify any actions required.
• Review equality impact to identify any actions required.
• What has been the impact on customer satisfaction?

Capture Learning

Capture any specific learning points and communicate:

• Look for positive and negatives in relation to lessons learnt.
• What went wrong, why, and how could they be avoided in future?
• What were the unknowns, and are there ways to look out for these in future exercises?
• Document practices and procedures that led to successes and make recommendations for applying them to similar exercises.
• Are staff adequately skilled and supported? Any development needs not originally identified? Are there opportunities for further development?
• Focus on the future; this isn’t about assigning blame for things that did not go so well, its about being objective and focusing on improvements.

ACAS suggests the following are examples of how managers could help staff to engage with the changes:

• Set up a working group to work on specific problem areas;
• Involve employees in reviewing on-going changes;
• Celebrate successes.

[Source: ACAS booklet: How to Manage Change, Jan 2010]

Agree further actions and share outcomes

• A thorough and timely post-restructuring (or post-change) review will help you to identify and feedback on the key lessons learned, and these can subsequently be applied to any future changes.
• Share outcomes of a post-restructuring review with staff and Trade Unions.