Dear Promising:
Most change management requires significant up-front planning. The simplest way to prepare involves putting a foundation in place–prerequisites that precede any change journey. Companies risk failing to effect change if one or more of these are missing.
Before embarking on change management, be sure to:
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Clearly align the change with the company’s strategy. Key players must understand the business benefits of the change effort and have a sense of intellectual ownership.
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Understand what you’re likely to achieve. Too many change efforts fail simply because they don’t seem reasonable, don’t have clear goals or have no end in sight.
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Make certain that senior executives are committed to achieving change. For companies lacking adequate senior-level commitment and sponsorship, successful change management often is elusive, or even impossible.
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Verify that your organization has sufficient resources–financial, personnel, time, attention, etc.–to sustain the initiative until a positive return on investment is attained (in addition to maintaining acceptable business performance and delivering on other simultaneous change initiatives).
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Assess the need for external help and find outside resources if they are appropriate.
Once the journey is under way, managing change effectively depends on four concerns, each of which helps you identify and act on problems.
1) Navigation, consisting of:
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Integrating the program with management and employees
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Coordinating initiatives
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Managing costs
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Prioritizing resources
2) Enablement, specifically:
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Redesigning processes and the organization
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Developing human resources policies
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Offering appropriate training
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Creating effective communication
3) Leadership, which involves:
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Making sure there are effective role models among senior management
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Making managers and supervisors accountable
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Offering coaching and counseling
4) Ownership, namely:
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Creating teams to plan and implement the program locally
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Creating a change “network” across the company
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Confirming that people affected by change are involved, are heard, understand the need for change, believe it is positive and receive effective communication
SOURCE: Patrick Mosher, associate partner, Accenture’s human performance service line, Minneapolis, November 26, 2003.
LEARN MORE:Incentives and the Art of Changing Behavior.
The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.