All councils large and small seemingly have a programme underway and whilst managing change is nothing new in local government - far from it - embracing change within a defined programme certainly is.

But do authorities really know what it is they wish to change, and are they aware that around 70% of programmes of change fail to deliver benefits first anticipated?

For some a transformational change programme may simply be a headline under which other, often disparate initiatives, are pulled together. For others it is simply seen as externalisation by another name, and for one or two, dare I say, it may simply be little more than a PR exercise to demonstrate that council is forward thinking, yet achieves little save for demoralising workforce and antagonising wider community.

However, for those many authorities that see a robust programme based around organisational and cultural change as being key to sustained service improvement, our experience working in public sector has shown that there some important ingredients to consider.

The framework for this is based on our 'old friend' performance management - what are we seeking to achieve - what are mechanisms for delivery - and measures of success - how do we communicate and get commitment and how to we make sure it actually happens. Key components include:

Setting Objectives Objectives - Be clear from outset what it is you are seeking to change and what benefits are likely to be, and ensure this is agreed and communicated. Clarity of vision can engender commitment and ensure focus throughout programme. Time spent at this stage will pay dividends later on.

Measurement of success - What are criteria by which success of change programme is to be judged and what are important milestones along way. As a company we have seen a growing interest in use of Balanced Scorecard. Such a tool assesses success from a number of complementary perspectives, avoiding risk of addressing issues in one dimension that may create problems in another.

Planning Way Forward Robust proposals for change - The options for change need to be assessed and best way forward decided. This needs to embrace all 'levers' for change - not just 'let's re-organise'. Re-organisation's which are just that - without changes in culture, ways of working (processes) and where appropriate, investment, inevitably fail. In this respect many authorities have not fully understood impact and importance of process change.

Do you find yourself amazed at how quickly months pass? Do you find yourself in a small panic over all you know you have to do and how little you feel you are actually accomplishing? Join crowd! We live in a busy world where our time, priorities and energy are constantly challenged. The reality is that there is simply not time for everything and we don't have enough energy to complete everything. Bummer, I know! If only God had created world with 8 days in a week or 30 hours in a day…. sounds good? Maybe, but really we would just quickly absorb that time too and be in same spot.

What do we do? There are 5 simple steps to create greater success by managing our time and getting things done in business and life that are important. 1.EVALUATE. What do I really want? Where am I headed? What am I doing now? 2.GET REAL. What is really important that will impact and support your long term goals best? What is not important? What is distracting me? What is not really supporting my long term goal? 3.PLAN. What do I need to do to accomplish my goal? What are KEY action steps? How will I do this? What schedule or strategy will keep me focused? 4.FOCUS. Who do you need to be and what structures do you need to have to accomplish this (mindset, attitude, accountability)? 5.MONITOR/EVALUATE. Am I doing little, unimportant things? Am I procrastinating? What is working/ what is not? How could I streamline what I am doing?

What happens with good intentions and goals… Plans begin as ideas in our head; we desire to have or do something. The key to success of idea is a plan. You know saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Sometime our ideas will make it to paper in form of a SMART goal and sometime not. If we do write a goal people sometimes we will create some action steps, but rarely do they take time to thoroughly think through what actions are actually needed at each stage to accomplish goal completely. Sometimes people will start planning and get overwhelmed at how much work it will actually take or get overwhelmed with process and give up. Often our goals remain our dreams because we fail to carve out time to make them reality. A management tip is to create a plan from start to finish. With this plan, decide if you have time, energy, resources and desire to bring it to completion. Next, estimate HOW LONG each task will actually take. It is common to underestimate how much time each step will take and therefore it never gets done. Remember, if you are going to add something to your schedule, you must also plan to say "No!" to something else to make time to accomplish your goal.

Step 1: EVALUATE… To create an effective plan, begin with a careful evaluation. Most people are constantly evaluating their present state without much problem. We are constantly assessing, "What do I really want right now?" We look at things around us and talk about what we would like to be different in our life. We talk about our goals, New Year's Resolutions, current intentions, etc. We often state them as fact and sincerely intend to accomplish those in our life. We see how they would make a positive difference and desire for them to happen. There is a small percentage of people who also evaluate questions, "Where am I headed?" and "What will it take for me to get there?" Evaluation is a tool that allows you to anchor where you are now, determine where you want to go and create markers along way to ensure you stay on course. Without a longer term vision, we tend to react to current situations, "I need to make more money, I need to lose weight, I need to get this business off ground, etc." This leads to wandering through life without focus or purpose. Evaluate present and then also evaluate future and what it would take to get there.