Leading change in organizations and management

Leading Change

Most change efforts go through a series of phases that require a considerable amount of time.

Errors.

Not establishing a great enough sense of urgency

Successful change efforts begin by identifying a major change in performance, or major risk within a specific time frame

This risk is communicated broadly and dramatically

Communication is more difficult than it seems

Leadership (clarity, decisiveness) are critical at this stage of the process

At times, the crisis is manufactured

Not creating a powerful enough guiding coalition

There needs to be enough leaders in the coalition or it will not succeed

The head of the company is important, but nowhere near enough

Some change members need to be outside senior management, operating outside the established hierarchy

A leader needs to get the key players together to specifically work on the strategy

Insufficient power among the team will also cause the initiative to fail

Lacking a vision

1. The vision provides guidance to all stakeholders

2. The vision needs to be clear, and easy to communicate

3. Vision binds the disparate projects that comprise the change process

4. Without vision, employees become confused and alienated

5. If you can't communicate the vision in five minutes or less and get a reaction that signifies both understanding and interest, you do not yet have a workable vision.

IV. Undercommunicating the vision by a factor of ten

1. Communicating the vision once or twice is not enough

2. Executive/managerial behavior must be in line with the vision

3. It takes thousands of people to implement a change, so thousands of people need to understand the vision and buy into in.

4. Repetition is key. Repeat the vision early and often

5. If downsizing is part of the change, communicating the vision becomes more challenging, especially with respect to buy in

i. But it is more important

6. Bosses have to change, first, and they have to make demands consistent with the vision. "Walk the talk."

V. Not removing obstacles to the new vision

1. There are often blockers to change; they are often in people's heads

2. Compensation and performance appraisal systems are often blockers, because they create powerful motivators to specific behaviors. They need to be aligned to the vision.

3. Sometimes people are the barriers. They have not bought in, and therefore are not leading the change in their department/division.

4. When barriers are allowed to remain, people become cynical.

VI. Not systematically planning for and creating short-term wins

1. Change efforts take a long time, which makes it challenging to maintaining momentum

2. Short-term wins are needed to keep momentum for the change alive; they are evidence of success.

3. Creating short-term wins is an active activity, not passive. The company must establish goals and celebrate their achievement.

VII. Declaring victory too soon

1. A short-term win is not final victory. It is winning a battle, not the war.

2. Declaring victory before victory has been achieved saps momentum

3. Victory declarations remove motivation

4. Credibility established from short-term wins should be used to create motivation for bigger challenges