Change Management in 3 phases !

Managing Change follows a simple 3 step process. Here are the different you need to follow:

Phase 1: Preparing for Change
- Define your change Management strategy
- Set up your Change Management team
- Develop your sponsorship model

Phase 2 : Managing Change
- Develop Change Management Plan
- Take actions and implement Plan

Phase 3: Evaluating and reinforcing Change
- Collect and analyse feedback
- Analyse Gap
- Manage resistance
- Implement corrective action
- Celebrate success!

Do you think I have missed out any Phases? Is there a pre-step or a fourth step? I would be interested to here your thoughts on this.

Image: Flickr, Change, Gilad Benari

Are your managers able to become Change Agent ?

Managers are important allies in times of change. They have the proximity to and relationships with employees that are critical for building support and navigating resistance in times of change.

But many managers are not being provided the skills and tools they need to become change agent. As a matter of fact being a great manager and being a great change leader are two different things. Managers must first be on board with a change before they can lead their direct reports through the change.

Here are some tips to develop your manager as Change Agent:

1. Get them on board - managers have to go through their own change process before supporting their direct reports.
2. Explain them clearly what you expect from them.
3. Build competencies - "leading change" is a competency that can be developed
4. Provide tools - including change methodology, impact assessment template, roles description..
5. Provide support - help managers succeed at leading change

Image : Flickr Time for change, David Reece

Change resistance? Understand why …

Resistance is an inevitable response to any major change. Individuals naturally rush to defend the status quo if they feel their security or statuses are threatened.

Here are the major reasons why managers and employees resist change…

The top-reasons for managers’ resistance
- Lost of power
- Overload
- Lack awareness of need
- Unprepared to operate in the future state
- Fear of uncertainty

The top-reasons for employees’ resistance
- Lack awareness of need
- Fear of job loss
- Lack of the required skills or knowledge
- Comfort with Status quo
- Must do more with less

So, before any change action, think about why your people would resist to change.. and prepare your action plan!

Sources: Thanks to Isabelle & Guillaume

Image: Flickr, alshepmcr

Want some Change ? Be Disruptive !

Some managers believe there is no way to guide the innovation journey, because innovation is just random and unpredictable. If innovation is indeed a black box, the best company can do is let a thousand flowers bloom, in the hope that one of them sprouts into a substantial growth business. This is a bit like releasing thousands of monkeys into a room full of word processor end hoping they will produce Shakespeare….

Disruptive ideas provide management alternatives that, if spread, can completely transform the way the organisation works without the need for a massive ‘change management programme’. Each of them in its own right has the potential to create significant change, but the compound benefit of a few of them is a real engine of change and business transformation.

Disruptive Ideas:

• are simple
  
• have a total disproportion between their simplicity and the significant impact in the life of organizations


• can be implemented now


• have zero cost or are cheap to implement


• are most likely to be contrarian


• are most likely to be counterintuitive
  
• have a high risk of being trivialised or dismissed


• can spread virally very easily, as soon as some people implement them

As a conclusion, I would add the following principle : Good Enough can be Great ! Disruptors win by playing the innovation game differently. Disruption are all about trade-offs…. Think about it !

Sources :
- Leandro Herrero, 2008
- Innovator’s Guide to Growth, Putting Disruptive Innovation to work (ScottD. Anthony, Mark W. Jonhson, Josef V. Sinfield, Elisabeth J. Altman)

- Image Flickr, seretuaccidente

Change: managing the process

Because Change is inevitable and unpredictable in its consequences doesn’t mean that it can’t be manage as a process.
These are the stages in managing change:

1. Tell them why: Change is better accepted when people are given a compelling business reason.

2. Make it manageable: Even when people accept what needs to be done, change may just be too big for anyone to handle. Breaking it down into manageable bits can help overcome this.

3. Take a shared approach: involve people early, asking them to join you in managing change.

4. Reward success early: flag up successes as quicly as possible. Don’t wait for year-end or the appraisal cycle.

5. Expect resistance

6. Recognize that change takes longer than expected. Remember the 6 stages that people go through when experiencing change and hence the process takes so long. The stages are: immobilization or shock, disbelief, depression, acceptance of reality, testing out the new situation, rationalizing why it’s happening and then final acceptance.

But above all : Enjoy changes !

Top talents? High PO? Are companies mistaken?

Target talent at all levels

Following my MBA course this week, I have worked on market segmentation. Well, I am convinced that Talents should also be segmented.

Organizations can’t afford to neglect the contributions of other employees. Several authors in recent years have emphasized the valuable contributions of B players: capable, steady performers who make up the majority of any workforce. Research on social capital has also highlighted the importance of inclusiveness: top talent is more effective when it operates in vibrant internal networks with a range of employees. Performance suffers when such social networks are absent or withdrawn. Our experience has even shown that strong networks help retain young Gen Y professionals.

Companies must therefore address the needs of talent at all levels of the organization: frontline staff, technical specialists, even the indirect workforce, such as people who work for suppliers, contractors, and joint-venture partners—are often as critical to overall success as A players. Experience suggests that an exclusive focus on top players can damage the morale of the rest of the organization and, as a result, overall performance.

**A more inclusive approach involves thinking of the workforce as a collection of talent segments that actively create or apply knowledge.**

Image:

http://www.counterpoint-music.com/specialties/images/talentshow.jpg

Keep your staff mobilized… Some good ideas found on the web….

- Show your people that you have a plan.
- Communicate face to face.
- Involve your people.
- Show your compassion.
- Redefine success.
- Offer recognition.
- Keep on celebrating. Applaud every small success.

Do say: 'We will be honest and open with our people, and show them the way forward, but we will also be realistic about our prospects during this downturn.'
Don't say: 'We're all doomed.'

Image Flickr