We are all constantly bombarded about what we need to change to make our organizations more successful. Seldom does anyone offer guidance on how to achieve the needed change. Here are some thoughts to consider.
Change is never easy but it can be simple.
Whether you follow Prosci’s “ADKAR”, Kotter’s 8, McKinsey’s “7 S’s” or some amalgam of models in driving change, I believe the keys to lasting, organizational change require consideration of the engagement of: Leadership at the top, middle managers who must execute the changes and the employees impacted by the change.
o Leaders must be gathered together and aligned around the change. I do this through interviews and workshops. This requires some analysis on making a data driven analysis on the reasons driving the urgency of change and presenting the facts and opportunities in a compelling way.
§ Their agreement is hard won because passive aggression is sometimes a refined art at the conference-room table. It is important to discern what is merely tacit approval and what is actual commitment. You need commitment.
§ The vision you lead them to sharing must be concise, drive some urgency across the organization and be memorable. Messaging must be timely, transparent and consistent.
§ Leaders must be educated in change management to clearly understand their roles and the roles of people they choose/assign as: Sponsor, the Steering Committee, the Project Team, the Organization Design Team, the Communications Team and the impacted Staff.
§ Sharing with the Executive team and key senior staff the findings of all interviews and surveys is key in helping them to understand the dimensions of risk and key mitigation steps in the change.
o Middle Managers must understand the “Who, What, When, Where, Why and How” of the project.
§ Managers and their direct reports buy in to leaders BEFORE they buy in to the journey and the vision. That is why the leadership alignment, visioning and messaging are important in guiding top leaders to be visible, vocal and consistent in their public support of the project and in leading the change.
§ Managers must be able to “get” the vision, the urgency and their roles in order to manage the change within their individual areas. This requires being open and investing some time with them to listen and to explain. You aren’t going to have them vote on the change. Just understand the change. Urgency and the united coalition of leaders are critical here.
§ I interview a cross-section of managers and share with the larger group of all managers the findings from the leadership sessions, the manager interviews and the e-survey which goes to the audience of impacted stakeholders. This aids their understanding of the key dimensions of the changes needed, the steps to be taken and the support available to them.
§ As with the top leadership team, I train managers on managing change, conflict resolution/pre-negotiation, and having difficult conversations.
o Employees worry about their jobs, the changes in their work life and the work load of doing daily work and supporting a major change.
§ The e-survey in concert with a cross-sectional interview of the people impacted by the change allows an enhanced understanding of the client culture, their experience with change, their belief in management and their concerns. The findings from the analysis of all user interviews, the e-survey and the gleanings from leadership and managers’ sessions define the project risks and lead to the necessary mitigation planning.
§ The Organizational Design team needs to see the issues/concerns found in the stakeholder analysis process and be led to understand the mitigation efforts as well as the importance of their roles, of not rumor-mongering and of having a careful focus on the opportunities of change in structure.
§ As the program/project unfolds and the org. design takes shape training must be developed that focuses on role based, business outcomes. Training is critical to ultimate adoption and leveraging of the new processes.
o Engagement and Communications efforts must be significant in scope and frequency.
§ Every reasonable channel of communication that works within the organization culture must be used in a multi-channel approach.
§ I like to instill some fun in the turmoil of a major change. I believe in big kick-offs, early success celebration, catching and publicizing the “WOW” moments that occur when someone says, “you mean we finally will be able to…” or “you mean we won’t need to…anymore”.
§ Frequent updates, showing the evolving form and early successes of the change should be used. These “road shows” allow group learning in a non-threatening way, long before any training is scheduled.
§ Any transparency possible in sharing organizational changes in structure should be used as soon as: business operations and project timing allow.
§ Timing of training should be shared as far in advance as possible.
Change is never easy but it can be simple.
This is not meant as a project plan or a treatise on change but merely as a way for you to balance the mental popcorn ideas of what you want to change with some of the considerations that can help to achieve your vision.