Background

The Change Monitor is a spin-off from a research program at the University of Amsterdam. That program was launched in 1996, under the leadership of Prof. Jaap Boonstra. A central issue in the study is why most change processes in organizations fail, do not achieve the desired results, or are broken off prematurely. PhD students have studied potential obstacles to and success factors for change and the extent to which those occur in actual practice.

One of the insights from the research program has been that simple explanations for the failure of changes are usually insufficient. Problems can seldom be attributed solely to the structure or culture of an organization. Nor does it suffice to look for the reason solely in organizational characteristics. Problems quite often stem from the approach taken to the changes and the way the process is given form. Over the course of the change process, issues come to the surface that could not have been predicted in advance. That is why it is so important to monitor that process.

The survey that constitutes part of the Change Monitor is suited for monitoring an ongoing change. Simply measuring the current situation is not enough, however. Knowing which things are going well and which are not is interesting for research, but the important question in terms of your actual practice is what do you need to do once you know those things. By treating the results as something to be learned from, rather than merely as measurement data, you will be able to identify opportunities for improvement.

The Change Monitor has been used to help organizations since 1998. It is based on the survey-feedback method. Various applications have shown that discussing the results with everyone concerned leads to a relevant and meaningful interaction about the situation in an organization that is undergoing changes. In this type of interaction people learn from each other about how they experience the changes, which problems they see, and the opportunities for improvement. Involving the entire organization in that process strengthens the base of support and commitment. That is often imperative for successful change. In most changes, after all, the management and consultants play a central role. Still, a joint effort by people in the organization is required for the realization of those changes.