"One key reason why implementation fails is that practicing executives, managers and supervisors do not have... a good understanding of the multiple factors that must be addressed, often simultaneously, to make implementation work." [Fevzi Okumus]
Change management is a messy business fraught with complexity and many things that can, and usually do, go wrong. This is reflected in the 70% failure rate of all change initiatives.
Underlying the many things that can and do go wrong, are a number of related factors:
# The over-emphasis on process rather than people
# The failure to take full account of the impact of change on those people who are most impacted by it
# The lack of process to directly address the human aspects of change
# A lack of clarity and lack of communication
# The lack of a language and contextual framework to articulate and manage the necessary processes of change
# Failure to address the energy and emotions associated with change
# Failure to understand the difference between "new capabilities" and "realised benefits" [and why it matters]
# Failure to understand and apply the "business as usual" test to establish whether it is "incremental change" or a "step change" [and failing to understand why this matters]
To navigate these pitfalls and achieve a successful change initiative requires attention to 3 key domains, namely:
(1) Leadership that directly addresses the transitions and emotional dimension of those impacted by the change, and provides inspirational motivation.
(2) A change model and methodology that covers "the multiple factors that must be addressed"
(3) Action management that shows and assists people with the specifics of exactly what is required of them.
Here is a brief Practitioners' Masterclass highlighting key themes within these 3 domains.
Leadership
Change initiatives need to be led and managed. The major failure of leadership in most change initiatives is that there isn't any!
What is required is leadership that recognises the importance of the emotional dimension, and specifically that understands the 2 levels of change impact:
(1) Organisational change - new processes, procedures and structures
(2) Personal transition - emotional and psychological
Most change initiatives employ methods that ignore the emotional dimension of the personal transition. Ignoring the transition is a major cause of change resistance and change failure. Leading your people through this transition is as important as managing the organisational change
Leadership that is capable of addressing these factors requires high levels of emotional intelligence - which is frequently not evident in senior executives.
So, for any business leaders reading this I will say this: "Your level of emotional awareness - and the extent to which you embrace and harness the emotional dimension of your organisation - is directly linked to change success and ongoing organisational performance."
Culture
Culture can be defined simply as how people behave within a group context.
Organisational culture is the single biggest determinant of how an individual will behave within an organisational environment. Culture will over-ride education, intelligence and common sense
So, you cannot make a successful step change [and realise the benefits] without changing your organisational culture
To change the culture you need:
(1) To identify it and understand it
(2) A framework and language to communicate it
(3) Tools and processes to change it
Change models and methods
"A good understanding of the multiple factors that must be addressed" is arrived at with a change model and methodology that bridges the gap between the high level "big-picture" strategic vision and a successful implementation at the front-line. There are a number of change models that are popular and frequently used, notably John Kotter's "8 Step Change Model" and the Prosci "ADKAR Change Model". These, and other models, have great merit and provide a structured focus to the management of a change initiative.
The difficulty with these and most established change models is that, quite understandably, they tend to cover one major aspect or dimension of the totality of what is involved. That does not invalidate any specific model and supporting methodology, but it does leave gaps.
The main specific criticism that can be made of most of these models is that they are tactical and project focused; they are not strategic and they are not sufficiently holistic and broad in scope to fully address the human factors that are the commonest causes of failure.
There is currently not a change model that sits between the leadership dimension and the strategic review process, and the lower level of project and task-level management and implementation.
Programme level implementation
For this reason, I have adapted some of the core concepts and processes of programme management added a preliminary cultural analysis combined with a pre-programme review and planning process utilising my EEMAP process©, and I offer these to you in the form of a simple, programme-based model, designed to fill the strategy-project gap.
In summary, my programme-based model is designed:
# To facilitate the key thought processes that are necessary for a successful change initiative
# To support the leadership processes outlined by Kotter, Bridges Transition Model and to provide a framework and context for the project / task level ADKAR model
It has 5 main objectives:
(1) To bridge the gap between vision and implementation
(2) To ensure that the "cultural analysis" and "pre-programme review and planning process" do take place
(3) Clarity about how and why things will be different after the change
(4) To identify, assess and mitigate the impacts of the change on all those who will be affected by it
(5) Ensure that the envisaged organisational benefits are realised
Task level implementation
A common mistake that many managers make is to assume that because they have told people what they want to happen then it will happen. It won't!
Although people will hear what you say when you outline your vision and strategy, and will probably agree with you, at the individual level, most of them are not able to translate it into productive purposeful action.
People are very different in the ways they process information, interpret life, and in the ways they are motivated. This is not because they are stupid, and does not necessarily mean that they are resistant to your vision and strategy, but it does often mean that the jump from vision and strategy to practical implementation is too big for them to make - without support.
This means that managing change, at the task level, requires hands-on detailed management [micro management on occasions] in the specifics of what to do and how to do it. This is especially necessary during the early stages.
As change leader, it really is your responsibility not to make assumptions, and to "grind out" and communicate those actionable steps.
So often, this just doesn't happen. Leaders don't lead and managers don't manage. It is assumed that: "they've been told what to do and they'll go away and do it". Wrong! It is assumed that there isn't time and it isn't necessary to take the time to translate the ideas communicate those actionable steps. Wrong again!
It is up to you to define and communicate those actionable steps, and to manage your people through the process of implementing and integrating those steps as the new modus operandi.
Showing posts with label Masterclass. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Masterclass. Show all posts
Change Management - Strategies For Managing Change - A Practitioners Quick Guide
Before proceeding with a proposed change initiative, you need to be very clear about this:
# The organisational need for the change
# The specifics of what will change
# The benefits of the change
# The impacts of the change
Here is a Practitioners Quick Guide to a change initiative. It is based on these simple, fundamental questions:
(1) Blueprint for change - why am I doing this and how is it going to be different when I've made the change?
The more detail and clarity you have about this, the greater the chance you have of being able to communicate it to your staff and customers - and the higher the probability that you will actually achieve it! In terms of how your changed organisation will be different, you need to know precisely:
# How it will be different?
# Where it will be different?
# Why it will be different?
# When it will be different?
(2) Benefits of change- how is it going to benefit the organisation and how will I know it has benefited the organisation?
For each anticipated benefit you need to know the following:
# Description - what precisely is it?
# Source - What new capabilities will make it possible?
# Observation - what differences should be noticeable before and after?
# Attribution - where in the future business operations does it arise?
# Measurement - how will it be measured?
# Dependencies - on other projects, tasks, risks and issues?
# Timescales - when is it expected to occur and over what period of time will realisation of the benefit take place?
# Management - who is responsible for ensuring that the organisational change delivers the benefit
(3) Impacts of change - who is it going to affect, how will it affect them and how will they react?
Recognise the difference between organisational change and the individual transition - the emotional dimensions that accompanies those changes:
# Transition is not the same as change
# Change is what happens to you - externally
# Transition is what you experience - internally
3 simple questions to start the process
# What is changing?
# What will actually be different because of the change?
# Who is going to lose what?
(4) Communicating change - what can I do to help them accept the change and to get them "on side"?
The single biggest barrier to effective workplace communication in a change management situation is quite simply the disconnection between the change leader and those who are or will be impacted by the change.
The key FACTUAL questions that your communication strategy needs to address:
# What are the objectives?
# What are the key messages?
# Who are you trying to reach?
# What information will be communicated?
# When will information be disseminated, and what are the relevant timings?
# How much information will be provided, and to what level of detail?
# What mechanisms will be used to disseminate information?
# How will feedback be encouraged?
# What will be done as a result of feedback?
The key EMOTIONAL questions that your communication strategy needs to address:
# What is changing?
# Clearly express the change leader's understanding and intention
# What will actually be different because of the change?
# Who is going to lose what?
(5) Risks of change - what risks and issues do i have to face and how can i mitigate those risks?
The preparation for and documentation of the Blueprint for change will have identified most of the issues that you are likely to face. You now need to take this a stage further and examines risk in terms of the:
# Potential
# Likelihood
# Timing
# Impact
Risk is assessed across various levels:
# Strategic level
# Programme level
# Project level
# Operational or "business as usual" level
The risk assessment process should involve all key stakeholders who are impacted by the change. The risks are logged in a risk log and regularly reviewed.
(6) Steps to change - what steps do I have to take to make the changes and get the benefit?
This is the area where most people are strongest and focus most of their attention: "What steps do I have to take to make the changes and the get the benefit of this change?"
Key elements include:
# Your first big decision is the "Business as Usual" test - is it Incremental Change or a Step Change? If it's a step change, then you need some form of structured methodology and people to fulfil the leadership and management roles.
# A project management led approach is not enough. You need the wider perspective of a programme-based approach to manage the links, overlaps and dependencies between tasks and projects, and to apply the principles outlined in this guide.
# As you plan the change initiative, you need an overall schedule of all of the initiatives and projects that are going to deliver the new capabilities that will realise the benefits.
# This needs to be supported by the collation of all project documentation e.g. business case, description, dependencies, risks, deliverables, dates etc.
# The over-riding purpose of the programme plan is to ensure that nothing jeopardises the delivery of the capabilities and realisation of the benefits
(7) Leading and managing change - how am I going to lead and manage all this so that it happens and I succeed?
Most change methods ignore the emotional dimension of the personal transition. Ignoring the transition is a major cause of change resistance and change failure. Leading your people through this transition is as important as managing the organisational change
Many directors and senior managers have the emotional detachment and objectivity to make clear, sound strategic decisions yet seem to lack the "counter-balancing" self-awareness and emotional intelligence to realise the impact of their decisions. This omission frequently [and unnecessarily] delays or jeopardises the implementation of their strategic vision and the realisation of the organisational benefits
The primary causes of failure in change initiatives are all people related, and to do with emotions. So change leadership requires some very special qualities in the person[s] leading the change. This is more to do with "being" than "doing". What you do, and how you do it will be largely determined by how you are as a person.
# Are you inspired in your heart and mind, and do you show it?
# Are you connected to yourself, the world and the people around you? [I don't mean as a concept but as felt or sensed reality]?
# Do you have a vision and communicate it with passion and purpose?
# Do you allow your emotion to speak to others in a way that transcends their mind, and speaks to their heart?
# Do you pay personal attention to others in a way that engages them and generates their trust and commitment?
# Do you genuinely care about others, what they want, and how you can help them meet their objectives as well as yours?
# The organisational need for the change
# The specifics of what will change
# The benefits of the change
# The impacts of the change
Here is a Practitioners Quick Guide to a change initiative. It is based on these simple, fundamental questions:
(1) Blueprint for change - why am I doing this and how is it going to be different when I've made the change?
The more detail and clarity you have about this, the greater the chance you have of being able to communicate it to your staff and customers - and the higher the probability that you will actually achieve it! In terms of how your changed organisation will be different, you need to know precisely:
# How it will be different?
# Where it will be different?
# Why it will be different?
# When it will be different?
(2) Benefits of change- how is it going to benefit the organisation and how will I know it has benefited the organisation?
For each anticipated benefit you need to know the following:
# Description - what precisely is it?
# Source - What new capabilities will make it possible?
# Observation - what differences should be noticeable before and after?
# Attribution - where in the future business operations does it arise?
# Measurement - how will it be measured?
# Dependencies - on other projects, tasks, risks and issues?
# Timescales - when is it expected to occur and over what period of time will realisation of the benefit take place?
# Management - who is responsible for ensuring that the organisational change delivers the benefit
(3) Impacts of change - who is it going to affect, how will it affect them and how will they react?
Recognise the difference between organisational change and the individual transition - the emotional dimensions that accompanies those changes:
# Transition is not the same as change
# Change is what happens to you - externally
# Transition is what you experience - internally
3 simple questions to start the process
# What is changing?
# What will actually be different because of the change?
# Who is going to lose what?
(4) Communicating change - what can I do to help them accept the change and to get them "on side"?
The single biggest barrier to effective workplace communication in a change management situation is quite simply the disconnection between the change leader and those who are or will be impacted by the change.
The key FACTUAL questions that your communication strategy needs to address:
# What are the objectives?
# What are the key messages?
# Who are you trying to reach?
# What information will be communicated?
# When will information be disseminated, and what are the relevant timings?
# How much information will be provided, and to what level of detail?
# What mechanisms will be used to disseminate information?
# How will feedback be encouraged?
# What will be done as a result of feedback?
The key EMOTIONAL questions that your communication strategy needs to address:
# What is changing?
# Clearly express the change leader's understanding and intention
# What will actually be different because of the change?
# Who is going to lose what?
(5) Risks of change - what risks and issues do i have to face and how can i mitigate those risks?
The preparation for and documentation of the Blueprint for change will have identified most of the issues that you are likely to face. You now need to take this a stage further and examines risk in terms of the:
# Potential
# Likelihood
# Timing
# Impact
Risk is assessed across various levels:
# Strategic level
# Programme level
# Project level
# Operational or "business as usual" level
The risk assessment process should involve all key stakeholders who are impacted by the change. The risks are logged in a risk log and regularly reviewed.
(6) Steps to change - what steps do I have to take to make the changes and get the benefit?
This is the area where most people are strongest and focus most of their attention: "What steps do I have to take to make the changes and the get the benefit of this change?"
Key elements include:
# Your first big decision is the "Business as Usual" test - is it Incremental Change or a Step Change? If it's a step change, then you need some form of structured methodology and people to fulfil the leadership and management roles.
# A project management led approach is not enough. You need the wider perspective of a programme-based approach to manage the links, overlaps and dependencies between tasks and projects, and to apply the principles outlined in this guide.
# As you plan the change initiative, you need an overall schedule of all of the initiatives and projects that are going to deliver the new capabilities that will realise the benefits.
# This needs to be supported by the collation of all project documentation e.g. business case, description, dependencies, risks, deliverables, dates etc.
# The over-riding purpose of the programme plan is to ensure that nothing jeopardises the delivery of the capabilities and realisation of the benefits
(7) Leading and managing change - how am I going to lead and manage all this so that it happens and I succeed?
Most change methods ignore the emotional dimension of the personal transition. Ignoring the transition is a major cause of change resistance and change failure. Leading your people through this transition is as important as managing the organisational change
Many directors and senior managers have the emotional detachment and objectivity to make clear, sound strategic decisions yet seem to lack the "counter-balancing" self-awareness and emotional intelligence to realise the impact of their decisions. This omission frequently [and unnecessarily] delays or jeopardises the implementation of their strategic vision and the realisation of the organisational benefits
The primary causes of failure in change initiatives are all people related, and to do with emotions. So change leadership requires some very special qualities in the person[s] leading the change. This is more to do with "being" than "doing". What you do, and how you do it will be largely determined by how you are as a person.
# Are you inspired in your heart and mind, and do you show it?
# Are you connected to yourself, the world and the people around you? [I don't mean as a concept but as felt or sensed reality]?
# Do you have a vision and communicate it with passion and purpose?
# Do you allow your emotion to speak to others in a way that transcends their mind, and speaks to their heart?
# Do you pay personal attention to others in a way that engages them and generates their trust and commitment?
# Do you genuinely care about others, what they want, and how you can help them meet their objectives as well as yours?
Practitioners Masterclass - Leading Your People Through Change, Putting it All Together
The full title for this article is "Practitioners Masterclass - Leading your people through change, putting it all together and managing the whole messy business".
That last bit is important because change is a messy business. For the vast majority of us, "change as something-to-be-resisted and avoided" is the "default setting". Much of what we do as human beings is motivated by this inbuilt need to keep things as they are - to preserve the boundaries around "my life" - to preserve my survival, my safety and my comfort.
However, when change proves unavoidable, we automatically, and often unconsciously, attempt to work out "what does this means for me"? So, in practical and pragmatic terms, the root of all resistance to [or acceptance of] change can be reduced to uncertainty over the "W.I.F.M" question - that is: "what's in it for me?"
At the organisational level, the appropriate response to change is one that actually works! What works is an approach that addresses the root cause of human resistance to change:
- That looks beyond the organisational "synergies", cost reductions and service improvements, and identifies those people who will be impacted by the change.
- That thoroughly assesses what those impacts will be.
- That recognises and addresses the emotional issues arising and the personal transitions that accompany the organisational change.
- That provides leadership, supported by management processes, and practical, tactical support that deal directly with these impacts.
- That does so in ways that work as well for the people within the organisation as they do for the organisation.
So in this brief "Practitioners Masterclass" we will focus on the 3 broad areas that a successful change sponsor needs to address:
(1) Leadership
Although we speak of "change management", it as more accurate to think in terms of "change leadership". People need to be led through the transitions they experience as they are impacted by organisational change.
Change leadership has 3 primary functions.
- Firstly, to recognise the emotional dimension and to lead those impacted by the change through the stages of personal transition. The importance of this is directly proportionate to the scope, scale and duration of the change initiative.
- Secondly, to provide the energy and inspirational motivation that builds and sustains momentum.
- Finally, to ensure a balanced alignment of organisational needs and the personal needs of all stakeholders.
(2) Change model and method
The first of the two management aspects of a change initiative is the change model and methodology that will bridge the gap between the high level "big-picture" strategic vision and a successful implementation at the front-line.
This needs to be considerably broader in scope than a typical project led -"task oriented" approach, as it addresses the human factors and deals directly with the commonest causes of failure [that are always people related].
In my view, the recommended model is one that is based on an expanded and holistic programme management based approach.
(3) Action management
The second of the two management aspects of a change initiative is the translation of the vision and strategy into actionable steps.
This may or may not include project management, but the primary emphasis is on showing - and assisting people with - the specifics of exactly what is required of them.
That last bit is important because change is a messy business. For the vast majority of us, "change as something-to-be-resisted and avoided" is the "default setting". Much of what we do as human beings is motivated by this inbuilt need to keep things as they are - to preserve the boundaries around "my life" - to preserve my survival, my safety and my comfort.
However, when change proves unavoidable, we automatically, and often unconsciously, attempt to work out "what does this means for me"? So, in practical and pragmatic terms, the root of all resistance to [or acceptance of] change can be reduced to uncertainty over the "W.I.F.M" question - that is: "what's in it for me?"
At the organisational level, the appropriate response to change is one that actually works! What works is an approach that addresses the root cause of human resistance to change:
- That looks beyond the organisational "synergies", cost reductions and service improvements, and identifies those people who will be impacted by the change.
- That thoroughly assesses what those impacts will be.
- That recognises and addresses the emotional issues arising and the personal transitions that accompany the organisational change.
- That provides leadership, supported by management processes, and practical, tactical support that deal directly with these impacts.
- That does so in ways that work as well for the people within the organisation as they do for the organisation.
So in this brief "Practitioners Masterclass" we will focus on the 3 broad areas that a successful change sponsor needs to address:
(1) Leadership
Although we speak of "change management", it as more accurate to think in terms of "change leadership". People need to be led through the transitions they experience as they are impacted by organisational change.
Change leadership has 3 primary functions.
- Firstly, to recognise the emotional dimension and to lead those impacted by the change through the stages of personal transition. The importance of this is directly proportionate to the scope, scale and duration of the change initiative.
- Secondly, to provide the energy and inspirational motivation that builds and sustains momentum.
- Finally, to ensure a balanced alignment of organisational needs and the personal needs of all stakeholders.
(2) Change model and method
The first of the two management aspects of a change initiative is the change model and methodology that will bridge the gap between the high level "big-picture" strategic vision and a successful implementation at the front-line.
This needs to be considerably broader in scope than a typical project led -"task oriented" approach, as it addresses the human factors and deals directly with the commonest causes of failure [that are always people related].
In my view, the recommended model is one that is based on an expanded and holistic programme management based approach.
(3) Action management
The second of the two management aspects of a change initiative is the translation of the vision and strategy into actionable steps.
This may or may not include project management, but the primary emphasis is on showing - and assisting people with - the specifics of exactly what is required of them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)