Change management is the process of enabling your employees to succeed at their roles in the new environment after some form of organizational transformation. Sounds simple, right? Well, just how do we go about doing this? It is one thing to say what change management is and what it is intended to do; it is something else to outline how to do it.
Below you will find the steps to perform an effective change management process. These steps may need to be altered somewhat depending on your type of initiative, as all initiatives have unique requirements. Additionally, each step may be more or less involved based on your project type. For example, a technology implementation will likely require more hands-on training than an organizational culture transformation.
1. Readiness Assessment - Part 1
A change readiness assessment will assess how ready your organization is ready to take on a change. It seeks to answer whether or not you can be successful implementing the type of change, based on such things as your culture, employee aptitude and timing. Any assessment should also measure change fatigue, which is when employees are worn out from too many changes occurring at the same time.
2. Stakeholder Assessment
This assessment will identify all the employee groups that are impacted by a change so you can ensure each group receives the appropriate level attention throughout the process. It is important to do this assessment properly so that no one is left out of the change strategy. You do not want to realize further down the road that certain segments of your employee population were left out of the strategy.
3. Change Impact Assessment
The change impact assessment builds on the stakeholder analysis by not only identifying who is impacted by a change, but also how they are impacted. Identifying how each stakeholder group is impacted is a critical step in building the change management strategy. It can also increase executive support because it can be an “eye opener” by providing a snapshot of the overall impact to the organization.
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4. Change Management Strategy
After a thorough and complete analysis, the strategy is ready to be developed. This, of course, is the crux of the entire process. The strategy will outline all the activities and touchpoints the employees will receive that are necessary to drive change.
Within the change management strategy, there are several components that must be included to increase the likelihood of project success.
Leadership and Sponsorship – this is arguably the single most important component of any change strategy. An executive within the organization must be selected to be the voice and driving force behind the change. Without effective leadership, your project is destined to fail. This leader should also be visible throughout the process to add credibility and demonstrate the he/she is ready to “walk the walk.”
Empathetic Approach – throughout the change process, the focus must remain on the employees and their ongoing adjustments. This means taking an honest approach by listening to their concerns, understanding that people go through change differently, and making them feel as though they are a part of the change. Employees should never feel as though the change is being forced upon them.
Communication – this includes all the one-way information that employees will receive, including emails, digital signage, etc. This information should include not only what is changing, but also why it is changing. These should be targeted messages, intended for specific audiences with specific objectives.
Engagement – this is a two-way communication with employees. This is far more beneficial than one-way communication because it allows employees the ability to express their concerns and provide feedback. Engagement opportunities should be provided with both leadership (e.g., town hall meetings) and peers (e.g., lunch and learn sessions).
Training – a form of engagement where employees are trained on the new skills required for success. Depending on your implementation, you will have varying needs for your training plan.
5. Change Agent Networks
Change Agent Networks are used as a means of reaching the entire organization and can greatly improve the effectiveness of your strategy. Change Agents are employees who “own” the change and believe in it, evangelize it to other employees, and display the new behaviors early in the process. They show enthusiasm and can provide feedback to the project team on how things are progressing for their business areas.
See our post on selecting change agents.
6. Resistance Management
Resistance refers to when employees within the organization are not on board with the change and are therefore impeding its success. Resistance can occur for many reasons, including both personal and organizational reasons. A plan must be formulated to determine the source of the resistance and the actions necessary to combat all forms.
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7. Readiness Assessment - Part 2
The first part of the readiness assessment assessed whether the organization was ready and able to take on the change and begin the process to implement it. The second part looks to determine whether it is ready to go live with the changes. It will determine such things as whether or not all employees have been trained, if the communication strategies were effective, and how well resistance was managed. The implementation should not go forward until all components on the assessment have been adequately satisfied.
8. Reinforcement
The change process does not end when the initiative goes live. Reinforcement activities must be in place to keep employees engaged to ensure the appropriate behaviors are sustained long into the future. These behaviors are likely to diminish over time if they do not receive the continued support that is required.
9. Measurement Strategies
Of course, change should always happen for a reason. That reason should be tied to productivity, revenue or some other measurable result. All implementations will have different criteria by which success is determined, however the metrics to validate success should be agreed upon long before the initiative goes live.
As mentioned above, all change processes will have unique features that will be necessary based on their disparate requirements. However, by following the process set forth in this post, you are starting with an advantage that can guide your entire effort and bring measurable results to your business.
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