Change Management, Process Improvement, New Directions - call
it what you wish, but avoid these common mistakes:
1. Fanfare - "Here we go again." "Another program to weather." "This too
shall pass!" Sound familiar?
All too often organizations announce big changes and new
programs with big events and fanfare, but then very little actually happens. The
initial energy and enthusiasm fades, specific changes are never identified let
alone implemented, results aren’t realized, managers don’t adjust, or maybe
something even better comes along leading to a new "launch" with new
fanfare.
The easy part is the announcement. And the fanfare is fun and
contagious. But if your staff isn’t capable of the details, the follow-through,
the implementation, then your program will die and the cynics will reign
supreme, ever bolder in their determination to out-last any new program.
Furthermore, while ostensibly trying to generate energy, the
fanfare simply signals big change and thus, raises anxiety. An impoverished
understanding of the program purpose, path or impact will leave most people
uneasy.
2. Controlled Messages - If it tastes like manipulation, smells like manipulation and
sounds like manipulation, it is manipulation! Respect your employees enough to
know they will recognize manipulation when they are the victims of it.
I’ve seen organizations so determined to control messages that
they plan every communication, ration information, create concentric rings of
need-to-know circles, and pretty much eliminate all honest, straightforward,
two-way communication. I can’t think of a better way to widen the Us vs. Them
gap within a company. Nor a better way to erode trust. Never mind the
productivity sacrificed to scheming and whispering on one side, guessing and
fuming on the other.
3. Closed Door Planning - Who are you kidding? Do you really think you can mastermind a
new way without involving the people who know the situation best? Trying to "Do
It To Them" is both arrogant and misguided.
4. Extensive Training - Extensive training is a cornerstone of many change programs.
But many people return to their old habits the minute they get back to their
desks despite the excitement exhibited during training. And if the training is
filled with new acronyms, complicated techniques, and secret decoder rings,
people will either give up or become distracted by the means at the expense of
the goal.
5. Big Hairy Audacious Change - More likely, Big Hairy Audacious Embarrassment. Part and parcel
of the others – the boisterous fanfare, dramatic unveiling of goal and plan, and
massive training – add huge expectations. Everything big. More "big" than
substance. Almost like announcing that you intend to win Wimbledon when you’ve
yet to hit your first tennis ball.
The purpose of change management is to make change successful.
The largest component of many change management programs often involves managing
people’s reactions. Unfortunately, as the above list suggests, many change
management efforts actually create anxiety, the exact opposite of their
intentions.
For a better chance of success, consider the flip side of each
mistake:
1. Save the fanfare for celebrations of genuine
success
Celebrate genuine success, even small steps, in order to build
momentum. Success increases energy, enthusiasm and the appetite for more
success. It’s contagious. Start small and others will line up to join the
improvement process.
2. Think in terms of increasing communication
rather than controlling it
First, be sincere. Maintaining trust is as important as ever.
People can handle a lot if they trust they are being treated honestly and
fairly.
Help people understand the current situation, why improvement
is important, and the reasons for focusing on a particular area. Be clear about
desired outcomes; be open to discussion about methods of achieving those
outcomes. Listen to concerns and try to understand how they see things so that
you can help them gain a greater understanding of the situation and
implications. Appeal to their self-interests by clarifying their contribution to
and dependence on company success. Tell employees what you know and admit what
you don’t know. Express the desire to work together to achieve the desired
outcomes.
3. Open the doors
Change is most alarming when it is done to you and the
destination is unknown. Be clear about the destination and then involve
employees in determining how to get there. Reveal the current state fully, float
alternatives or provide tools for developing alternatives, reiterate the goals,
particularly the reason they need to care, and let the improvement opportunities
speak for themselves.
Most of the time, you won’t make good choices without the help
of your employees. You certainly can’t succeed without the help of your
employees. Partnership is critical when trying to make substantial
improvements.
4. Use Just-In-Time Training
Provide tools and techniques as they are needed so that
employees are motivated to learn and have immediate opportunities to apply what
they have learned. Also, appeal to common principles and familiar thought
processes in order to leverage existing strengths. Cryptic techniques and jargon
intimidate. The most successful approaches are usually the simplest.
5. Leverage Success
You can and should leverage success every step of the way to
significant improvement.
- First of all, target specific, important, but manageable, areas that are
ripe for improvement.
- Develop a systematic, repeatable approach to improvement. One advantage of
starting small is that you have an opportunity to test drive an approach and
tweak it to match your company’s culture and skill level.
- Build interest and commitment through a series of small successes.
- 'Spread' the systematic approach to new projects, primarily to those eager
to participate in the success they have witnessed.
This leveraged approach lets your organization learn how to
change and helps to develop a culture that seeks opportunities to improve.
Change Management, in capital letters, seems to have become a
goal in and of itself, rather than a means for achieving other goals. People can
get so preoccupied with "Doing Change Management" that they have become
distracted from the real goals. Be clear about your reasons and your
destination. Then listen and you will know what to do.
