Now that we know who we are dealing with, let's revisit the “Eight Steps To Managing Change” in a little more depth.
1 Start now. Don't wait until you get into serious trouble.
Change is most successful when change is slow. Desperate change is rushed, and people don't respond well to being rushed.
2 Accept that you, your people and your company must change.
A change initiative is not the time to play the blame game. Identify your leaders and go forward.
3 Little changes are good (and will stick), big sweeping changes are disruptive (and tend to fail).
Your company has developed certain behaviors and habits over the years - these are part of the company culture. Be patient - it will take more than a little time to change this.
4 Listen to your employees throughout the process.
You can't force people to change - the best you can do is persuade them that change is in their best interest. Listen to them. This is the only way you can understand their concerns and address their anxieties.
5 Get an outsider to help in the process.
Outsiders aren't involved in office politics. They have no memories of the “good old days,” no axes to grind and no favorites. They will be even-handed in guiding the change process.
6 Write down the goals and make them public. Everyone needs to know why.
This step is skipped all the time. Big changes are coming, everyone must participate, an outside change facilitator is hired. The rumor mill is running overtime. Everyone has a theory as to why. Write down the real (measurable) reason why you are shaking everyone up with change: post it, broadcast it and make sure everyone knows why.
7 Mistakes will happen. Learn from them, but don't stop the process.
Face it - you are trying something completely different. Mistakes will happen. Your refusers are counting on it. Don't pull the plug at the first misstep. That sends a bad message to the whole company. “We're not serious about change. At the first stumble we are going to bail out.”
8 Reassess your business and goals regularly - continuous change (continuous improvement) is the only way this works.
The market, your customers and competitors are always changing - and so must you. Practice does make perfect. The more change becomes part of your business, part of your company culture - the better you will get at it.
For more thoughts on change, I recommend Rich Reale's book, “Making Change Stick,” available at www.p-impact.com.