"Those idiots in the Canberra office"
READ TIME - 5 MINUTES
Noah, the change lead for the national standardisation project, stands in the Brisbane office, facing a visibly frustrated Will, the Branch Head.
Between them, a laptop showing an email from Canberra that practically radiated impatience.
"...expect full compliance with the new standardised processes by end of Q4..." the message demanded.
Will gestures to a whiteboard covered in everything they’ve talked about in the past hour.
"Seriously, Noah. Our localised approach has boosted customer satisfaction by 15%. Those idiots in the Canberra Office just don't get it."
Noah nodded, mind racing.
How can he harmonise National's drive for consistency with Brisbane's proven local success?
In our world of organisational change, this kind of conflict between the national office and state or regional offices is something that comes up all.the.time.
Here’s some cool ideas that have worked for us if you’re dealing with this conflict now:
1. Create a "Change Lab":
Take a page from Google's playbook and create a dedicated space for innovation and problem-solving.
How to do it:
Set up a physical or virtual "Change Lab" where impacted team members from both National and State offices can explore and collaborate.
Use design thinking methodologies to reframe the standardisation challenge and capture insights.
Encourage feedback from impacted stakeholders and share insights with the project team so they can explore solutions that blend national standards with local innovations.
Pro tip: Take this further by suggesting that leaders implement Google's "20% time" concept, where they could encourage team members to spend 20% of their time exploring and engaging with the Change Lab for a week.
2. Implement "Reverse Mentoring":
This tip is inspired by companies like Procter & Gamble.
The intent is to build connection, empathy and understanding by flipping the traditional mentoring model on its head.
How to do it:
Pair executives who are involved in the change program from the National office with high-performing team members from State offices.
Have the State team members "mentor" the executives on local market nuances and successful practices.
Use these insights to inform and refine the transformation approach (and perhaps even influence the executive’s approach to leadership).
Pro tip: Create an in-house podcast series where these mentoring pairs talk about their learnings, making the knowledge accessible across the organisation.
3. Launch a "Standardisation Hackathon":
Borrow from the tech industry's love of hackathons to solve technical aspects of the conflict quickly and creatively.
How to do it:
Organise a 24- or 48-hour event with small mixed teams from National and State offices.
Challenge teams to develop solutions that achieve national consistency while preserving local effectiveness.
Invite senior leaders to judge the solutions, with the winning ideas fast-tracked for implementation.
Pro tip: Livestream parts of the hackathon to create buzz and get input from a wider audience across the organisation.
4. Develop a "Glocal Playbook":
Yes - “glocal” - that’s not a typo.
Inspired by how global brands like McDonald's balance global consistency with local flavours, encourage the change program’s leadership and project team to create a customised in-house framework for the organisation’s approach to standardisation.
How to do it:
Identify core processes that must be standardised nationally.
Create a "local innovation zone" within each process where State offices can adapt to their market needs.
Document successful local innovations and share them across the organisation, allowing other States/offices to adopt them if relevant.
5. Implement "Empathy Exchanges":
We got this idea from Airbnb's employee home-sharing program, where they create immersive experiences to build understanding.
How to do it:
Organise short-term "exchanges" where National office staff and the change project team work in State offices and vice versa.
Task participants with identifying both standardisation opportunities and local best practices.
Use the insights gathered to refine your change management approach.
Pro tip: Create an in-house vlog series where participants share their daily experiences and insights, helping to build cross-office empathy and understanding.
Remember, as change manager, your role is to facilitate awesome change adoption across the business.
Success isn't about National or State "winning," but about creating a solution that elevates and connects the entire organisation.
By exploring ways to create collaborative spaces, flip traditional hierarchies, and foster genuine understanding, you can turn this challenge into an opportunity for groundbreaking organisational evolution - AND dramatically improve employee engagement in the process.
Let us know how you go!
And in the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for our next edition of The Tuesday Change Champion. We’re covering: "The Middle Manager Dilemma: Empowering Key Players in Your Change Strategy" - Don't miss it!
Chat then,
Team EVER
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