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Leading
Organizational Change, Part 2 In Part 1 of this article, we looked at the challenges associated with
making substantial organizational change, and the three primary stages of
change that are typically involved. In Part 2, we outline the basic steps
in leading the change process. Fortunately, we can benefit from the
experiences of hundreds of companies that have implemented successful
change initiatives. John Kotter, in his book Leading
Change, identifies the following six strategies that consistently
appear in the literature summarizing successful corporate change efforts:
Establishing the Edict As noted
earlier, you are unlikely to achieve significant changes in your firm
until your people feel compelled to. This isn’t to suggest that a
heavy-handed managerial style is needed. But strong leadership is
necessary, with a demonstrated strength of conviction and intolerance for
staff indifference to the change process. Here are some suggested actions: u
Communicate
a compelling case.
Explain why the change is needed and the consequences of not making the
change. The most effective change initiatives I’ve witnessed were driven
by outside influences—changes in the marketplace or an unhappy major
client. u
Seek
consensus on the need for change.
Having stated the case for change, you should seek confirmation that the
majority of your staff are in agreement. If your argument is persuasive
and the need for change is evident, getting consensus is usually not a
problem. It’s getting people to follow through that presents the biggest
challenge. u
Define
the limits of tolerance.
Change (or more accurately, the transition associated with change) takes
time. So you can’t expect everyone to fall into line with the change
immediately. But you should define how much noncompliance you will
tolerate and hold people to a minimum standard. This is critical. In
effect, you need to communicate, “It may take time to get where we want
to go, but standing still is not an option.” u
Ask
permission to enforce compliance.
As manager, you may have the authority to force people to do what’s
needed. But you will have much greater success if you ask their permission
to hold them accountable. Assuming they have agreed that change is needed,
you’re asking them to allow you to ensure that it happens. In my
experience, they will readily agree to let you assume the role of enforcer
and will then respond more favorably to your exercise of authority. Personalizing the Pain People change for personal reasons. Even though you’ve made
a compelling case for change for the company’s sake, the discomfort
should be felt at the individual level before real change can be expected.
Pain can be a powerful motivator, whether one is seeking relief or trying
to avoid it. In the corporate world, pain is the discomfort felt in
the absence of a solution to a problem. This is the root cause for billions of dollars of business
transactions every year. If it works for sales, it certainly can (and
should) be leveraged to motivate employees to participate in needed
organizational changes. Your job as change leader involves both (1)
alleviating the pain associated with the change and (2) elevating the
sense of discomfort with the status quo. It can be a delicate balance.
Some suggestions for raising people’s awareness of the pain: u
Assess
the company’s problem(s) relative to the personal impacts they cause. Financial and other performance metrics are useful,
but employees are most responsive to how issues affect them personally.
Help your staff better understand the pain these problems cause for them. u
Probe
your staff’s awareness of the problem(s) with feeling questions. Don’t seek
only information, but what perceptions and emotions these issues evoke.
Listen attentively without rendering judgments. The feedback you receive
will be valuable in formulating the best change strategy. u
Show
empathy for your staff’s perceptions of the problem(s). Employees often sense that their managers depersonalize
issues, focusing more on company performance measures than personal
concerns. Explain how the proposed changes are good for their concerns and
problems, not just the firm’s. u
Be
open about your own feelings and concerns.
Without sharing privileged or potentially demotivating information, let
your staff sense your own personal pain. Don’t gloss over real problems;
address them openly with your staff. Let them see your passion
about the issue. Communicating
the Vision If urgency is the stick, vision is the carrot. An effective
vision, according to Kotter, is a “sensible and appealing picture of the
future.” It should be clear enough to motivate your staff, but not so
prescriptive that it discourages creative input. It should be ambitious,
but clearly within reach. Your vision must become their vision.
Everyone should see the direct benefits of accomplishing it. The following are some keys to communicating the vision (or
any important message) to people overloaded with too much information and
communication channels: u
Keep
it simple and consistent.
Use a minimum of words to make your point. Focus on a few key themes.
Avoid technical jargon or complex concepts that might exclude some of your
employees. Make sure that everyone assigned to the communication task is
telling the same story. u
Use
multiple channels.
Balance considerations of relative impact, frequency, and costs to
maximize your opportunities to make your message prominent. Mix
communication media with face-to-face meetings. u
Keep
repeating it.
Take a hint from advertisers—repetition works. The more often your staff
hears the message, the more likely it will remain in their minds and begin
to influence their behavior. u
Invite
dialogue.
People are more likely to buy into the vision if they have an opportunity
for feedback. Staff meetings and individual conversations are good forums
for learning how your message is being received. u
Act
consistently with your message.
Nothing will undermine the credibility of your message quicker than not
walking the talk (more on this later). Leading by Example Behavior communicates more persuasively than words. Managers
often undermine their own initiatives by their actions. For example, you
may have made a strong case for kicking off a new quality program, but as
soon as you fail to participate in the associated exercises, you send a
message that it’s not really that important. Leading change demands more
than cheerleading from the sidelines; the leader must become personally
involved in the game. Let me suggest an exercise in this regard. Consider how your
current actions and attitudes might either (1) encourage your coworkers to
move towards making the needed changes or (2) discourage them from taking
your plea for change serious. Dig deep; consider even the subtle behaviors
that may send the message that you either do or don’t take the issue as
seriously as you tell your employees you do. Think about what you’re not doing as well. Write these down. Then list what changes you need
to make that will enable you to better lead this change initiative by
example. Sustaining
the Effort As a consultant, I’m often asked
to help clients initiate change efforts. There is a flurry of activity
early in the process. I often conduct an assessment of the current process
and systems, work with staff in defining needed changes, prepare an action
plan, and may help launch the effort with training. While there are always
a few skeptics, most are generally enthusiastic about making
improvements—at least initially. Then people get busy, project
deadlines bear down on them, and there’s a strong pull to revert back to
the old familiar ways of getting things done. And most often, that’s
where they ultimately end up, despite the considerable money and effort
spent trying to change. Sound familiar? What can you do to make the change
process more effective? I offer the following suggestions: u
Burn some boats. Take steps to prevent folks from going
back to the old ways. Discontinue certain procedures, make discontinued
resources unavailable, cease to acknowledge old forms, etc. If you give
people the choice of changing or going back, they will often choose to go
back. So gradually limit that choice. u
Measure progress. Define how you are going to
monitor progress in making the change. You will need some objective,
quantifiable metrics (even perceptions can be measured, using a numeric
scale). The metrics should align with the expected performance or
competitive improvements you hope to gain. Be consistent in keeping track
and inform employees of the results. u
Enforce agreed-upon consequences. As discussed earlier,
you should seek consensus from staff on minimum expectations and the
consequences of not participating in the change process. For many firms,
this is the most difficult part, because the non-compliers are often some
of the company’s most valuable people. But if you can’t get your star
players on board with the change effort, don’t expect anyone else to
stick with it over the long term. This is where you really prove how
serious you are. In fact, if you won’t hold people accountable—no
matter who they are—then don’t waste your time and money on starting
the change process. Ideally, you will have secured agreement from these
key individuals to allow you to hold them accountable. u
Form a “guiding coalition.” Kotter found that most
companies who succeeded in change initiatives developed a coalition of
senior managers to lead the process. A united management front will go
much further than even the most committed and persuasive CEO. Members of
this coalition should bring the right mix of expertise, credibility,
position, and leadership ability. u
Hire an outside facilitator. Please forgive the
self-serving plug, but this is a strategy that works. One of the biggest
obstacles to facilitating the change process internally is the tendency
for managers to be continually distracted by more urgent (but not
necessarily more important!) matters. An outside facilitator can help
ensure that the process keeps moving, not to mention the value of this
individual’s special expertise in leading such an effort. u
Celebrate short-term gains. Keep progress toward
your goals at the forefront. Give employees the sense that their efforts
are paying off. Reward and recognize their achievements as appropriate.
But don’t let improvement weaken the conviction that the completed
change is needed! u
Link the change with your firm’s core values. If client focus is a distinctive of your firm’s culture, then
implementing a structured client service process would seem to make
perfect sense. Some may initially resist the move to a more formalized
approach, but you should be able to agree upon the intended result. Many
firm cultures disdain added structure (perceived as added bureaucracy) but
can be gradually moved in that direction when entrenched shared values are
the driving force. This link is key to ultimately embedding the change in
the corporate culture. u
Keep reinforcing the message. This point was made
earlier but deserves repeating here. I worked with a firm that made the
successful transition from poor safety performance to a true safety
culture. They began starting every meeting with a “safety minute.”
Every field job was preceded by a review of pertinent safety issues.
Safety goals were worked into everyone’s annual review. All managers
were required to meet certain safety metrics. There were regular emails
and memos concerning safety topics. Eventually safety became part of who
they are, rather than something they just do because they have to. The
constant safety conversation was a key part of that change. u
Revise the approach as needed. One common concern
about change is that it might not work. Avoid sticking with the game plan
when it becomes obvious that it’s not achieving the desired results. But
don’t abandon the process! Make appropriate changes to adapt to the
evolving circumstances and to apply your growing understanding of what
works and doesn’t work. Copyright © 2000, The Business Edge, all rights reserved
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