Arts organisations are accustomed to innovation and entrepreneurship, two ingredients central to change. However, many organisations prove vulnerable to transition. Graeme Jennings looks at how problems can arise and offers some tips on handling change.
In the commercial sector ?change or die? is a motto for many. Sometimes, shifts in operational factors outside a company?s control trigger a change response ? technology, legislation, vicissitudes of consumer demand, etc. Sophisticated change management systems have been developed to help the process of change. But commercial organisations are primarily driven to change for one reason and use one measure for its success ? profit. In the commercial world, shareholders are the ultimate judges of successful change management.
Different but the same
In the arts sector, organisational change cannot be solely measured by profit. Change management is therefore a more complex mix of aims, influencing factors and measures of success. However, some useful lessons can be applied. Change primarily affects the people working in an organisation so the change management process is largely dependent upon acceptance and sponsorship of change by its artists, senior staff and directors. Organic change in the arts might never need special consideration or management. But often transformation is stimulated by outside factors. The more common ones encountered are:
- Shifts in market/audiences/fashion/ demand
- Major shifts in vision or objectives, often prompted by incoming creative directors
- Poor current organisational performance ? perhaps after a funding review
- Development and/or growth ? often stimulated by new movements or policy priorities or by potential ?competition?
- Funding changes ? up and down ? involving expansion or downsizing
- Succession or major changes in staff, direction or governance ? smaller entities can be very vulnerable to this
- Expansion of operations, expertise base or management responsibilities ? bad transformation management can often occur with large capital developments
- Policy and priority shifts by national governing bodies
- Transforming the organisation?s constitution ? for example, setting up a trading company/revising the charitable objects
- Forming new partnerships or acquiring new stakeholders
- Poor ?brand? perception and changes of image.
Arts organisations are rarely affected by rationalisations, mergers, or asset realisation, all of which can be reasons for change management in commercial companies. But national arts agencies can be. The changes to the arts funding system undertaken by Arts Council England in 2002, for example, needed careful management. The majority of arts organisations are small enterprises and neither need, nor have the resources, to follow a comprehensive change management process. For larger enterprises (and for radical changes in smaller ones) some form of management procedure will be beneficial ? as English National Opera, for example, spelt out in its recent ?Strategy for Change?. If an organisation has doubts about its ability to carry through the types of change outlined above, it should adopt an agreed procedure or employ a change management consultant. Remember, change management is not a business solution in itself ? it will not churn out the answer to your challenges. It is the process adopted to facilitate the change and get best results.
Outside help
Strictly speaking, small changes can be handled by the organisation alone. Sometimes the responsibility is given to a trustee/governor/director who has the skill and time to see it through. Wider change management can benefit from outside intervention offering experience, expertise in the process, objectivity and, occasionally, facilitation (should change not be welcomed by all). Support, after all, can be helpful because while change may be many things, it is rarely restful!
Graeme Jennings is a director of Business of Culture Ltd. e: graeme@businessofculture.com; t: 020 7224 5680; w: http://www.businessofculture.com
An approach to managing change
1. Define what the change objective is, the reasons for it and how you will evaluate whether it has been successfully achieved. Remember, change need not be wholesale ? it may be a critical component of an organisation (e.g. income generation, IT, box office) that needs revision.
2. Assess the organisational readiness to change. Think of this as a review or audit of the current organisation.
3. Plan the process: who will lead it; what is the timetable; what resources are needed; and, what are the desired outcomes. This does not need to be complicated but it does need ?buy in? from staff and stakeholders.
4. Communicate the process and communicate again: build awareness of aims, listen and respond. ?The right message to the right person at the right time? is key.
5. Get support and sponsorship but expect resistance. Support needs to be gained from a wide constituency but the process must be sponsored by senior executives, board and significant partners, particularly if a middle-rank employee is leading it. Resistance to change is natural. Benefits and necessity must be explained and unreasonable resistance identified, understood and managed.
6. Plans should be made for all the knowledge transfer, training and status adjustments envisaged in the change. The main resource of the creative sector is its people, and so planning must be made for their adaptation to changed working practices.
7. Plan for feedback, allowing for listening, getting feedback on progress and responding with corrective action as required. This way the process is owned by a wider section of the organisation and useful criticism is picked up.
8. Exploit and celebrate success to the full.