An important part of change communication includes a description of how things are today so that you will be able to point out where the impacts are for the future. When you’re trying to figure out current state for services, people, process, and technology, here are some questions to ask and document the answers to.Services
- Who are all of my customers -- are they internal to the organization, or are they external?
- For each of my customers, from their perspective; what do I do for them, what goods do they want to buy from me, how do I make their lives better?
- What kind of commitment have I made to my customers regarding level of service I’ll provide to them -- are there any variations by customer, or by pricing structure?
People
- Who are the people that I employ that provide the services -- are they all internal to the organization or do I use contract resources, or a mix?
- What are the skills that my people have -- do they all have the same skills, or do I have a mix of skills needed by different people?
- Do they need training, or are they all fully qualified for what I am expecting them to do?
- Do they need to be certified in order to do their jobs?
Process
- What do my current processes look like? Take the time to really analyze and understand the transition points in your processes, along with any alternate paths that the process can take. Gather information about processes that may be back office functions, along with customer interaction, manufacturing lines, product support, etc.
- Who participates in the processes and what does each person do?
- What service or outcome does each process produce?
Technology
- What does my current technology look like to support my processes in order to deliver services? Technology can include manufacturing equipment, tools, or software, for example.
- Is my technology adequate for the job?
- Are there any processes that I am doing completely manually, where there is technology available in the market that would support the process?
There are certainly more questions to be asked for each of these areas, but this gives you a start. As you do your current state assessment, I’m sure you’ll think of more!