Setting the Stage for Change
This is the third in the “Making Remote Work” series. In the prior submissions, the importance of creating and controlling a “Remote Work” process and what tools to use was the emphasis. Business Process Management (BPM) and its “Map/Measure/Manage” discipline engineered a process that:
· Focuses on the Customers’ expectations
· Measures the critical aspects of internal process
· Guides everyone in the process on how to act and react
A completed BPM system is not the end, it is the beginning. The best processes will not work unless everyone is fully engaged and supportive. In fact, the next step is the most important part.
Making it Happen and making it Last
This article opened with a short sentence that recaps my experience with change and managing change over the course of 30+ years. Every time I worked to implement change, I found, what I thought was obvious and easy, was among the most difficult activities of my career. Achieving change is exceedingly difficult and making changes last is a significantly smaller subset of the first. My entire career has focused on change and as a result, I have studied change management thoroughly and, in many cases, it was a part of my routine positions. The challenge that I faced in every instance of major organizational change was twofold. The first challenge was to make it happen and then after it happened, making it last. I worked diligently to find the “magic incantation” that would make change happen and last and found that it was a process that happens rather universally, whether within an individual or in a huge organization. The challenge of this article is to address the “high-points”. If you are interested in learning more, contact us through our website at www.thecii.com.
Resistance to Change
The foundation of a successful individual or organizational change is an understanding of the behavior related to a change. It is a normal psychological behavior for individuals and groups to resist change. We have been built to survive and our entire construct centers around survival. This is because change introduces an element of risk. Risk is a broad term. In this context it is any alteration from status quo that may come with additional effort or a loss of something important is considered a risk, no matter how improbable it may be. Risk, no matter how inconsequential, threatens some element of survival and the normal response is to resist it. Recognizing this normal and basic element of human nature is the first step in learning to manage it. The are many tools and activities available to address perceived and actual risk. The Cii “tool-kit” has examples and templates along with experts that can facilitate their effectiveness.
“Freewill to the Rescue”
The “saving grace” to managing change is that fact that everyone can “over-ride” the survival instinct and “change.” Some individuals are “swayed” by logic and rational thought, while others through emotional influences. There is no single method to effective change; just like there is no single language. Everyone, in one way or another, speaks a different change language. Regardless of the change language spoken, the “bottom line” is “value”. “Value” from this perspective is the benefit derived from the change. Most change managers focus their messages on telling others what they will receive as a result of the change, rather than listening to what the recipients of the message think that they will receive. Great Change Managers simply present the change and then listen to the answers to this simple question, “What do you have to lose?” This information sets the stage for the next series of activities.
Response Groups
When change is presented to a group, one will quickly notice that there are three basic reactions:
Adopters – Some individuals within this response type have “nothing to win or lose” and as a result, they support the idea of change. Others within this grouping see the value of change and support it. In either case, they will not stand in the way of change.
Fence sitters – These individuals have no opinion either way and will normally “go with the majority”. They do not like to upset the “status quo” whatever it is at the time. This group will “wait and see.” The wise change manager uses this group as the “change status thermometer” for they will sway their opinions in the subtle direction of majority.
Resisters – These individuals have decided that the change is unnecessary. They made up their minds for a myriad of reasons, but always because it is “risky”, “little of no value” or “too high a cost”. In the long run this group, once aligned, becomes the strongest and most compliant supporters of the change.
Successful Managers of Change not only recognize these three distinct response groups, they also prioritize their efforts and focus responses accordingly for each group to maximize the effectiveness of their efforts.
They respond to adopters with rewards and recognition. They also look to adopters for their inputs and insights as to the benefits of change.
They respond to the fence sitters “wait and see” response by keeping them informed of successes and by gathering potential concerns related to “loss” and working with the to disqualify those fears.
They respond to the resistors only if these individuals are interfering with the change. The response to conscious or sub-conscious interference is to recognize the behavior and its impact and addressing the concerns from which the resistance is created.
The Compelling Case for Change
In every case, regardless of the response group, the focus of communication is what I learned is called “a compelling case for change”. A Manager of Change first understands that real communication is the transmission of a message from sender to a receiver, that elicits the expected response. If the receiver does not accept the recommended change, it is “not their fault” but that of the sender. Change is ALWAYS the responsibility of the sender and if it does not happen, the responsibility most often is the responsibility of the Manager of Change for not being sufficiently compelling or addressing the concerns of those specific individuals. This takes managing change back to the importance of the initial presentation of the message and listening. The compelling case for change is dynamic and it morphs as more information is amassed from the “What do you have to lose?” question. Managing change is not as simple as a creating a single sentence and adjusting it. The complexity requires a multi-faceted approach, which in its simplest form addresses change from two perspectives.
The two-fold approach holds that change is like a coin. It has 2 sides. One side is called the “Threat” and the other side is called the “Opportunity”. Many early Managers of Change focused their message on one side of the coin or the other. In doing so, they failed to recognize the need for the other. Successful Management of Change requires using both sides, at the appropriate time. In this simplicity it is fulfilled by a comprehensive compelling case for change from both the value and loss perspective, which is gathered by listening to both the adopters and the resisters.
Monitoring and Reaction
Good management is a blend of knowing when to “leave it alone” and when to react and more important what to do when reacting. Great management is the recognition of repeated situations or “excuses” and the ongoing elimination of them. They see that if they take away the excuses for not doing or doing something, there will come a time when the is no excuse for not changing! It is rare that an immediate reaction is needed. The Cii Mindset/Toolset/Behavior-set (addressed in another article) learning model helps the change manager create consistent messaging and actions that support the change effort.
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