These guiding principles for change management are inspired by the book “Our Iceberg is Melting” by John Kotter. Change is always tough, but by adopting these principles throughout your projects, you can create a unstoppable force!
Create a sense of urgency
In today’s hyper competitive world, the ability to create a sense of urgency is essential for success. However, how do we do that in a humane way that empowers others to act, as opposed to it feeling like an imposition?
One effective way is to highlight the benefits of taking action, and why it is important to do so now. For example, if you are implementing a system, you can highlight how it will streamline their processes, save individuals time and save the business money. By focusing on the positive aspects of the project or initiative, you can help people realise the importance and meaning of taking urgent action. Do this repeatedly and publicly in preparation and during realisation of the project
Don’t avoid conflict or ignore reality, however. Change is hard and this needs to be acknowledged.
Form the Guiding team
To enact change in an organisation of any scale, it’s important to have a guiding team in place. This team will be responsible for making sure that your company is moving in the right direction and helping navigate the inevitable complexities. But what exactly should this team look like? And how can you go about creating one?
Putting together a good guiding team is no easy task. You’ll need to carefully select individuals who have the right skills and experience. Conscientious people, who share the vision, enjoy a challenge and can bring others with them, are invaluable.
If you take the time to assemble a well-rounded team, you’ll be rewarded with invaluable insights, action and support that will take things to the next level with urgency.
Communicate your vision and strategy for change
Communicating your vision encompasses the three W’s
- What – What needs to change and what the future holds
- Why – Why it needs to change NOW!
- Who – Who is leading the charge
You must also clearly communicate the How. This means being clear about the structure and timescales of the endeavour, and how others are empowered to take the initiatives forward and help enact the required change.
Communication creates Buy in
You should take ample time to clearly communicate the goals of the change and its benefits. Ensure that senior leaders are backing, cascading and reiterating this information through the organisation. Also ensure there is a means through which individuals can feed their own ideas into the process. Listen to the wider team and allow them and volunteer themselves for involvement in the project.
All of these efforts will increase employee buy-in, ensuring any transition is as smooth as possible. Change is a constant, but with clear communication, it doesn’t have to be a source of stress.
Empower Others
You need to encourage your team to take reasonable risks and feel able to make mistakes. It’s only through trying things out, that solutions and processes can be perfected. By encouraging employees to experiment, you create a culture of positive change and innovation.
Of course, taking risks also means that there is a possibility of failure, but failures can provide the most valuable lessons. For that reason, failure should be embraced and treated in a non-judgemental and forgiving way. Ideally discussion should be contained within the guiding team and learnings made.
On the flip side, any small wins need to be celebrated publicly and those responsible praised. This builds momentum and empowers team members to strive further.
Create and Celebrate the Short-term wins
Short-term wins keep us motivated and help us stay on track to reach long-term goals. They also provide a much-needed sense of progress and accomplishment along the way.
Short-term wins should be specific, measurable, and achievable. For instance, if one of your project goals is to increase customer service levels, ensure you can track this improvement accurately with a specific, reproducible measure. This means you can continue to quote the measure over time, and hopefully continued improvement as your processes are refined
Whatever your goals are, taking the time to celebrate your short-term wins will keep you the guiding team motivated, helping create long term success.
Build Momentum
Momentum is a key factor in making lasting positive change. This can be difficult to achieve, as there are always new challenges and obstacles to overcome. However, continued progress and regular celebration of these achievements builds a feedback loop. Without momentum, change programmes can quickly become stagnant, people can become complacent and that all important sense of urgency is lost.
In addition to celebrating success and learning from failure, regular communication and updates on how the vision is being realised keeps people engaged and motivated.
Embed the new culture
Embedding a new culture in an organisation takes discipline and courage. You need to continue to instil confidence by repeating the pattern of success and openness to failure over the longer term. You also need to be open to evaluating whether old structures and ways of working are appropriate and remain effective in the new culture.
Be aware that some people may have been left behind so may need help and support. Any remaining doubt needs to be addressed through reference to the evidence base built up through the success made of the project deliverables. Broadly the project or change programme should be celebrated and cascaded through the organisation by management.