When change management and technical experts work together effectively, the result is successful organisation change. Still, there might be times when a change expert would want to get the input of a subject matter expert, only to meet some objection. It’s not uncommon for the change expert to hear a question like this: “Why do we need the subject matter expert, we have you?” When in this kind of setting, what the change expert needs to do is to make a clear contrast between their own expertise, which is change, and the expertise of the subject matter expert. And if this means explaining in detail what the role and contribution of the subject matter expert is with regards to the project, so be it.
The subject matter’s expertise is dealing with the minutia of the company and the business. They are usually highly experienced in the business, have excellent credentials, and bring an outstanding intuition about the business to the table. This can be crucial expertise to have during organisation change. A subject matter expert can vet a change initiative for the technical details involved with the proposed change. This cross examination is actually their most important and critical task.
Sometimes, with the overeagerness of the change experts, they will develop an organisation change proposal without bothering to let a subject matter expert examine the technical details first. The change team takes this proposal to the senior management member that is sponsoring the project. This senior management member probably isn’t going to ask if the proposal has been vetted for technical issues. It’s quite possible that they will just assume that the change team has already done their job and had the project checked by a subject matter expert. The proposal gets approved. The process for organisation change moves along only to fail in the end because of a technical detail that wasn’t taken into account.
To lessen the chance of this outcome, bring in a subject matter expert to vet the proposal. They are experts with the technical stuff and they know the business by heart, so they’ll be able to examine the proposal thoroughly for technical problems. And because they’re familiar with technology too, they will also be able to offer practical solutions to the most complex technical issues.
For more information, please see our website: Organisation Change
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