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2005 ã weLEAD, Inc.
Change Management – Part 2
By Tom Anderson
How change may
be mismanaged is well known. Change efforts may fail because of poor planning,
monitoring and control, focusing more on the objective than on the steps and
process involved, a lack of milestones along the way, and failing to monitor
progress and take corrective action.
Change efforts often lack the necessary
resources, e.g. budget, systems, time and information, and the necessary
expertise, knowledge and skills. Corporate policies and practices sometimes
remain the same and become inconsistent with the aims and strategies for change
(Gill, May, 2003, n.p.).
Managers
must always be consistent when they talk about change and how they communicate
the change process. Always gain as much
input from the users as you can and involve them in the process so they're part
of the change rather than the receiver of it (Shein, 2004, n.p.).
According to
the Change Management Learning Center
[CMLC] (2004):
If you are an
employee in an organization undergoing change and if the change is implemented
and you believe it was not needed (i.e., you were not aware that any changes
were required), then your reaction might be:
“This is a waste of time.”
“Why change if it was working just fine
before?”
“If it ain't broke, don't fix it.”
“They never tell us what’s going on!”
Our natural
reaction to change, even in the best circumstances, is to resist (n.p.).
According to
David Miller (2002):
A key determinant
of implementation success is personal change adaptability. Adaptability is the
ability of individuals to navigate change successfully. People vary in their
ability to do this; some can cope with the stresses associated with change
better than others and can thrive even during periods of extreme turbulence.
This adaptability appears to be both genetic and learned. In particular, the
learning appears to come from situations that the individual found challenging
or threatening - but ultimately found ways of coping and learning from the
experience.
Leaders need higher
adaptability levels than others in the organization. Attempting to lead change
while undergoing personal change puts enormous demands on any leader's
adaptability levels. In addition, they are often leading a change agenda
consisting of multiple demanding changes. The stresses they face are compounded
by the perceived need for leaders to model ‘grace under pressure’ during times
of turbulence. Leaders in many cultures are often judged/valued by their
ability to appear unemotional and somehow detached from events around them.
(n.p.)
A key component of gaining acceptance when
you're looking at business process change is to make the people who are
undergoing the change part of the process so they don't feel something is being
forced on them. It's something they are part of. (Shein, 2004, n.p.)
Leaders with low adaptability are more
likely to block change strategies or tactics because of lack of
communication. Communication is one of
the most significant values of change management. Communication must flow in all directions to
effectively offer employees with the information they need to make a
change. Lack of information about what
change is going on, can be the biggest cause of resistance in the organization.
Lastly, change managers must manage change in order to
reduce risks. According to weLEAD (2001):
It is absolutely
essential that you spend a tremendous amount of time vigorously teaching,
proclaiming and convincing others why the change is necessary and healthy. Pontificating
in a meeting doesn’t do it. Sending a memo doesn’t do it. A company wide
meeting flashing a few PowerPoint slides doesn’t do it. Intimidating others
doesn’t do it. What does do it is engaging in enthusiastic discussion with
others as to why they will be better off contributing to the change process.
Everyone wants a better work environment, encouragement, greater personal
fulfillment, possible career advancement and potential gains in income. How and
why will the change you seek to introduce contribute to their needs? If you have not prepared a convincing answer,
prepare for massive amounts of resistance and frustration. People can accept the need for sacrifice and change
if they are convinced it is a worthwhile process and will result in a better
future (n.p.).
If people are not convinced, then the
result is a potentially dangerous mix of different priorities, different
knowledge sets and different driving forces.
If the change is not managed properly, these different values and driving
forces clash resulting in unfortunate outcomes for the business. (BPR, 2004, n.p.)
Many organizations learned the hard way
through failed projects. They learned that change management is not something
addressed after the fact. Change management must start at the beginning of the
project and be integrated into all facets. (BPR, 2004, n.p.)
According to
Peter J. Drucker (1999):
Organizations that are
change leaders are designed for change, but people need continuity. They need to know where they stand. They need to know the people they work with.
They need to know the values and the rules of the organization. They do not function well if the environment
is not predictable, not understandable, not known. Continuity is equally needed
outside the enterprise. To be able to
change rapidly, one needs close, long-standing relationships with suppliers and
distributors.
Balancing change and
continuity requires continual work on information flow. Nothing disrupts continuity and corrupts
relationships more than poor or unreliable information (except, perhaps,
deliberate misinformation). It has to
become routine for any enterprise to ask at any change, even the most minor
one, "Who needs to be informed of this?"
Information is
particularly important when a change is not a mere improvement, but is
something totally new. Any enterprise
that wants to be successful as a change leader has to have a firm rule that
there are no surprises. Above all, there
needs to be consistency in the fundamentals of the enterprise: its mission, its
values, its definition of performance and results. Precisely because change is a constant in the
change-leader enterprises, their foundations have to be extra strong.
The balance between
change and continuity has to be built into compensation, recognition, and
rewards. We learned long ago that an
organization will not innovate unless innovators are properly rewarded; that a
business in which successful innovators do not make it into senior management,
let alone into top management, will not innovate. We will have to learn,
similarly, that an organization will have to reward continuity by considering,
for instance, people who deliver continuing improvement to be as valuable to
the organization and as deserving of recognition and rewards as the genuine
innovator.
The more an
institution is organized to be a change leader, the more it will need to
balance rapid change and continuity.
That balance will be one of the major concerns of tomorrow's management.
One thing is certain:
we face years of profound changes. It is
futile to try to ignore the changes and to pretend that tomorrow will be like
yesterday, only more so. But to try to
anticipate the changes is equally unlikely to be successful. The changes are not predictable. The only policy likely to succeed, although
it, too, is highly risky, is to try to make the future (n.p.).
According to LYNCO
Associates, Inc. (1997):
There are twelve principles that must be followed for
managing change.
Thought processes and relationship dynamics are
fundamental if change is to be successful.
Change
only happens when each person makes a decision to implement the change.
People
fear change when it "happens" to them.
Given the freedom
to do so, people will build quality into their work as a matter of personal
pride. Traditional organizational
systems treat people like children and expect them to act like adults.
"Truth"
is more important during periods of change and uncertainty than "good
news."
Those who demonstrate
consistent behavior and clearly defined values earn trust.
People who work are
capable of doing much more than they are doing.
The intrinsic
rewards of a project are often more important than the material rewards and
recognition.
A clearly defined
vision of the end result enables all the people to define the most efficient
path for accomplishing the results (n.p.).
The more
input people have into defining the changes that will affect their work, the
more they will take ownership for the results.
To change
the individual, change the system (LYNCO Associates, Inc., 1997).
According to
Change Management Learning Center (2004):
The people dimension of change is how employees
experience the change process. Research shows that a problem with this
dimension of change is the most commonly cited reason for project failures. In
a study with 248 companies, effective change management with employees was
listed as one of the top-three overall success factors for the project. Helping managers be effective sponsors of
change was considered the most critical success factor overall.
Effective management of the people dimension of change
requires managing five key phases that form the basis of the ADKAR model:
Awareness of the need to change
Desire to participate and
support the change
Knowledge of how to change
(and what the change looks like)
Ability to implement the
change on a day-to-day basis
Reinforcement to keep the change
in place
Successful change
happens when both dimensions of change occur simultaneously. Since many
change projects experience resistance from managers and employees, their
progress on this people dimension stalls.
This is why change management is often cited as the most important
success factor for large change projects
(n.p.).
While change must be well managed, it
must be planned, organized, directed and controlled. It also requires effective
leadership to introduce change successfully; it is leadership that makes the
difference (Gill, 2003, n.p.).
Managers must constantly behave in ways
that support the organizational goals.
Goals should be consistent (Whetten, &
Cameron, 2002, p. 312). They need to be
able to trust and respect the people that they lead. Demonstrate genuine respect for your
employees and their talent, and give sincere praise for their work (Gootnick
& Gootnick, 2000, p. 137).
Leadership of successful change requires
vision, strategy, and the development of a culture of sustainable-shared values
that support the vision and strategy for change.
Successful change requires empowering,
motivating and inspiring those who are involved or affected. This behavior
reflects the underlying dimensions and requirements of leadership: the cognitive,
the spiritual, the emotional and the behavioral (Gill, 2003, n.p.).
Finally,
remember that as a Manager you are also a promoter! You must personally model the new change and
sincerely listen to others. Show
everyone you are open-minded and concerned about any new problems or challenges
that arise. Others are watching you to
see if you believe what you are promoting or if you are simply going through
the motions. You need credibility to be
an effective change agent. (weLEAD,
2001, n.p.)
It should be
noticed that it is something else as well: change management, apart from being
a seductive response to complexity, has itself become a prestigious
activity. Catalysts, champions and
mangers of change are heroes: they turn things around, they are inspirational,
and they are movers and shakers
(Griffith, 2002, n.p.).
According to Drucker (1999):
Introduce change on a small scale. One cannot do market research on the truly new. Also, no innovation is right the first time. Invariably, problems crop up that nobody thought of. Invariably, problems that loomed very large to the innovator turn out to be trivial or nonexistent. It is almost a law of nature that anything that is truly new, whether it is a product or a service or a technology, finds its major market and its major application not where the innovator and entrepreneur expected.
The best example is
an early one. The improvement of the
steam engine that James Watt designed and patented in 1769 is the event that,
for most people, signifies the advent of the Industrial Revolution. Actually, throughout his life Watt saw only
one use for the steam engine: to pump water out of coal mines. That was the use for which he had designed
it, so he sold it only to coal mines. It
was his partner, Matthew Boulton, who was the real father of the Industrial
Revolution. Within 10 or 15 years after
Boulton had first sold a steam engine to a cotton mill, the price of textiles
had fallen by 70%. That created both the
first mass market and the first factory. (n.p.)
Change also needs
to be introduced to the customer who is looking for new ideas and a way to get
their product to market at the least amout of cost.
According to Drucker (1999):
Everything improved or new needs first to be tested on a small scale, that is, it needs a pilot test. Since everything new gets into trouble at some point, it needs a champion. That person needs to be somebody the organization respects; it does not need to be somebody within the organization. A good way to test a new product or new service is often to find a customer who really wants the innovation and who is willing to work with the producer on making it truly successful.
If the pilot test
is successful, if it finds the problems nobody anticipated but also finds the
opportunities nobody anticipated, the risk of change is usually quite
small. It is usually quite clear where
to introduce the change and how to introduce it. (n.p.)
Management must also have the support of
the stakeholders as to where this change is leading them and a budget plan for
managing the change.
According to Drucker (1999):
In most enterprises there is only one budget. In good times expenditures are increased across the board. In bad times expenditures are cut across the board. That practically guarantees missing out on the future. The change leader requires two separate budgets. Its first budget should be an operating budget that shows the expenditures needed to maintain the present business. That is normally 80% to 90% or so of all expenditures.
That budget should
always be approached with the question "What is the minimum we need to spend to keep
operations going?" In bad times it should, indeed, be adjusted
downward. Then the change leader should
have a separate budget for the future.
That budget should remain stable throughout good times and bad
times. It should rarely amount to more
than 10% to 20% of total expenditures.
Very few of
the expenditures for the future will produce results unless the budget is
maintained at a stable level over a substantial time period. (It is important
to note, however, that there may be times that are so catastrophic that
maintaining those expenditures could threaten the very survival of the
enterprise.) That goes for work on new products, new services, and new
technologies; for the development of markets, customers, and distribution
channels; and, above all, for the development of people. The future budget should be approached with
the question "What is the maximum
this activity can absorb to produce optimal results?"
The most common, but also the most damaging, practice is to cut back on
expenditures for success, especially in bad times. The argument is always "This product,
service, or technology is a success anyhow; it doesn't need to have more money
put into it." The right argument
is, "This is a success and therefore should be supported to the maximum
possible.” It should be supported especially in bad times, when the competition
is likely to cut spending and therefore is likely to create an opening.(n.p.)
It is important to learn from what
successful change leaders do and how they do it, and to emulate their
characteristics as much as possible.
Change is forced on people through many external pressures, for example shareholders'
demands for growth and internal pressures, such as the need to increase
quality. These influences rarely go away
and, when they do, they are replaced by others, but their affects can be
mitigated by strong, skilled change leadership (Miller, 2002, n.p.).
Measurement systems and feedback loops
should make the results every team is getting highly visible and widely
available to everyone. Your education,
training, and communication activities should continuously keep people
throughout your organization in touch with what's working and what isn't (Clemmer, 2004, n.p.). Managers must
also be able to recognize employees as things are going well.
According to
Jim Clemmer (2004):
Celebrate,
publicize, recognize, honor, thank, applaud, and otherwise encourage champions
and local teams who take initiative to change and improve their part of the
world.
Look for the
existing leaders and champions who are making improvements and changes. Shape
your improvement plan and process by building on their energy and experience.
Since change champions won't be covering all areas as completely as possible,
they are also the logical starting point for making the changes and
improvements that will better round out and balance your long term effort.
Develop change and
improvement momentum by building around the champions who are most likely to
make the effort succeed. They will help
to bring the others onto their side. They are also the ones you and everyone
else can learn the most from. But don't
try to impose their successful approaches on others. Ownership and personalization are the keys to
local adaptation of changes and improvements. Sell, persuade, educate, and
communicate. (n.p.)
Managers
must also understand that resistance to change is just another opportunity to
new ideas that ned to be developed.
As stated by
Jim Clemmer (2004):
Don't automatically
label resistance to change as negative and something to be overcome or beaten
back. The real enemy of organizational
change is apathy. "Just tell me what you want done, boss, so I can get out
of this place and on with my real life" is the attitude that kills
change. Resistors often have strong
passion and high energy. They resist
because they care. Understand the roots
of their resistance and re-channel it. (n.p.)
In conclusion, to avoid jobs moving
overseas and manufacturing plants closing, companies today will become more
competitive in the market place and effective change management is the key to
that success. We need to encourage
employee development and self-actualization and encourage them that the company
goals are in their best interest (Dessler, 2004, p. 387).
Change management can
produce significant benefits, but it will be challenging to achieve success.
Initiating a change management process requires senior management's commitment,
ownership, leadership, funding, training, and common technology. Senior management must be prepared to realign
staff roles, responsibilities, and deliverables to adhere to the new change
management process standards.
(Brittain, Brittain &, Brittain, 2003)
Change is always a
difficult, unsettling, and expensive proposition for any organization, and yet
the ability to change to rapidly shifting demands and developing technologies
is essential for the success of any organization. If we’re smart, however, we’ve learned that
although we cannot alter the fact of constant change, we can learn to work
through the difficulties and characteristics associated with change, and manage
our response to it. We don't always get
to choose the changes that come into our lives.
But we do get to choose how to respond (Clemmer, 2004, n.p.).
References:
Brittain, K.
Brittain, S. & Brittain, D. (2003,
Business Process Reengineering (2004). An Overview of Change Management. Retrieved
Clemmer, J.
(2004). Change Management Can Lead
to Rigidity and Resistance to Change. Retrieved
Clemmer, J.
(2004). Change is Life. Retrieved
Clemmer, J.
(2004). Harnessing the Energy of
Change Champions. Retrieved
Dessler, G.
(2004). Management Principles And
Practices For Tomorrow's Leaders (Third ed.).
Drucker, P. J. (1999, June). Inc.
Magazine. Retrieved
Gill, R.
(2003, May). Change management - or change leadership? Journal of Change Management, 3, 307.
Retrieved
Gootnick, M. M., & Gootnick, D. (2000). Action
Tools for Effective Managers: A Guide for Solving Day-to-Day Problems On The
Job.
Griffith, J. (2002, June). Why change management fails. Journal of Change Management, 2,
297-304. Retrieved
Hiatt, J.
(2004). Employees Survival Guide
to Change. Retrieved
LYNCO Associates, Inc. (1997). Twelve Principles for Managing Change. Retrieved
Mind Tools (2004). Retrieved
Shein, E.
(2004,
Thomas, G.
(2001). Each Day is a Gift. weLead
Online Magazine, , n.p.. Retrieved
weLEAD (2001, October). Being an effective agent of change. Retrieved
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About
the author:
Tom D. Anderson is the Process Engineering Manager at
Donaldson Company, Inc. in Grinnell,