Last month I was in US for a client demo. The client liked the demo and immediately the discussion veered towards operationalizing the product. One of the clients who was present during the demo walk-through asked me, “What are the things we need to plan for during the roll out of this product”. Without batting an eyelid I said “Managing the people aspect of change from current systems and processes, to using our product”.
The client was pleasantly surprised and did acknowledge that it was an important aspect of rolling out the new way of doing things. And how prophetic the statement was, was proven just two days later when we had a demo with extended team members who’d be actually using the product. In the 30 minute meeting I heard more than 60 times why the current (significantly manual) system is much better and the new one may not be good enough. Clearly they were not on board with the new system (and later I got to know that this was the first time they came to know about the ‘change’ in the works).
This incident for me was the classic example why ‘change’ fails. The most common reason for failure is not that the new system(s) whether they be processes or products, do not work as intended, or cannot not solve the problems they are meant to – in a better and efficient manner. Rather the most common, and quite obvious reason is that people resist change, and contrary to belief, at all levels (not just the ones at lower rungs). The failure starts taking shape right at the top levels, and snowball effect can be seen as the change flows down the hierarchy!
So what’s the solution to ensure that change succeeds.
It’s a simple four step process.
Sell change (way before you actually change): Tell people, at all levels, why the need for change. Build a sense of urgency and get majority of them on board beforehand.
Co-create change: Once you’ve got folks at all levels on your side, get a few of them to be part of designing the change. Empower them and make them ‘champions’ of change.
Roll out change: With the ‘champions’ on your side, leverage them extensively while rolling out change. Let them be the first point of contact for any questions and challenges that might come up during the roll out.
Measure Impact: Once roll out is complete at all levels, measure the impact of the change is as desired and make course corrections, if needed. Remember, without metrics you will never be sure!
Most of the organizations miss out on the first two steps, or do a bad job of ‘tick-mark’ for the sake of following the process. It is important to give due attention to details throughout for successful execution of any change.
If you want to ensure that change is successful and need professional help with designing and rolling out change within your team or organization, reach out to us at learn@skillsthatmatter.in
