Confident in Command: Taking Charge of Change
Article written By Leslie Benson
Talk to any senior manager immersed in a change programme and he or she will give you his or her take on the must do’s on which successful change depends.
Actually, for those new to the game, the array of advice, guidance, tools and strategies is as baffling as it is intimidating. The more cynical contend that the range is a haphazard ploy by consultants to muddy and fertilise their hunting ground in a double whammy fee- earning bonanza.
Let me declare an interest first before dispelling a myth or two.
Aside from being the author of this article, I am, I confess, a consultant – if not an inventor of ground-breaking guidance myself. And I have, for my own and my clients’ benefit, spent a lot of time comparing and distilling the musings, teachings and observations of an auspicious collection of contemporary and classic change gurus.
So here’s my view – albeit in rather simplified form.
Most strategies for change get to the nub of the issue from different but complementary perspectives. True, some are more exhaustive than others; some suit specific organisations, sectors or professions better – still, they agree, for the most part, on the big issues.
If you’ve stumbled or articulated a change strategy or process that works for you, stick confidently with it. More importantly in my view, you’re best advised to then ensure that you’ve accounted for the all the dimensions of change – rather than whether the steps you’ve determined mirror any particular change process you’ve since come across.
Don’t look for the quick fix.
I bet for every dimension I offer to you, you’ll find a variation on the theme. That is that the art of effective change management – the truly excellent, assertive change driver spots the nuance that unlocks the transition your organisation needs. That is what being in command is all about.
So consider these dimensions and make them your own. They’re not mutually exclusive, nor are they comprehensive. But each one almost certainly applies to you.
• To start, let’s talk strategy. Too many organisations have imbibed change programmes that stem from strategies that crystallise at a particular moment in time. As time waits for no man (or woman), so it offers little comfort to your grand plan itself.
Whatever the rigor, intelligence or even genius of the strategy that is driving you, recognise that almost from the moment of publication, some element or aspect will be out of date a tad quicker than you can condense it into a captivating Powerpoint presentation.
Build the inevitability of change into your organisational strategy – put into place ongoing analysis that continuously checks the competitive advantages of your undertaking, and the extent to which you have to reshape your plans and implementation to suit changing circumstances.
• Change rarely happens without some transformation or evolution of structures and processes. The trick, of course, is to recognise them when they are staring you in the face – and to know which require what change, when, and why. As a change driver, champion or sponsor in your organisation, picture or envision what essential processes and structures would comprise your organisation as it achieves the efficient implementation of your forward strategy.
Focus on both structures and processes within your organisation and those that connect externally to your customers, shareholders, stakeholders or partners. Disparity or disharmony between the ways you work internally and externally will undermine what you are trying to achieve.
• This may sound like an invitation to suck eggs – but forget the dimension of the individual at your peril. Too many grand plans are conceived without any empathetic consideration of the impact they have on each of their people.
I’ve not yet encountered a change programme where the second two questions (assuming the first, existential one – ‘will I have a job in the new era’ – is answered in the affirmative) are: What will I need to be doing differently? Will help me to acquire the skills and knowledge I need to be successful?
Truthfully, many people – and more often than not senior or very senior people – are loath to express their concerns at this level.
If you’re not hearing anything, it doesn’t mean that your people aren’t crying out for help! Rather, it means that you have to find a discreet way of enabling them to identify with you
o What skills and knowledge they know they have (a useful moment for validation and confidence building)
o What skills and knowledge they know they don’t have
o What skills and knowledge (and here comes your carefully planned, cathartic moment to illuminate blind-spots) they don’t know they don’t have
• Of course, there is a further question most people ask, individually and collectively. ‘How will the change impact on my relationships with my colleagues?’ Or, expressed a little differently: ‘Will our team need to work together differently? What will that look like?’
I find myself banging on about this in an uncomfortable cross between a whine and a mantra. Truthfully, I think I expect change managers to understand intuitively the need to consider this critical dimension of change. Too many don’t. The result: extra mural team building that is remedial rather than forward looking.
So: help your teams get a grip. Help team leaders to reconsider the roles, responsibilities, process and relationships that make the team what it is now – and how these will need to evolve. Clarity, transparency and honesty are your best bet at managing the inevitable ambiguity you’ll encounter.
As much as you consider the impact inside teams, look at what transformation needs to take place between teams. Don’t skim over the cracks. Work with team leaders to optimise intra-team-working at every level.
• Look at most manifestos for change and you’ll see a reference to organisational culture. Quite right. But ask many managers – let alone senior managers – to define what that means and you’ll be less impressed. So here’s your challenge. Paint a picture of what it will feel like to be a valued, engaged high performer in your organisation in the medium to long term. What values, attitudes and behaviours would you expect to exhibit?
In mapping your way through the muddle of culture, don’t get confused between ‘actual’ and ‘aspirational’ aspects of culture. Your values are likely to be those attributes or strengths that you’ll want your people to operate by based on where the organisation needs to go. Don’t be limited by what you see now. The same applies to attitudes and behaviours. The more specific, the more relevant and the more consultative you are in identifying these core components of culture, the easier you’ll find it to identify what quick wins and longer term actions you’ll to undertake in making the appropriate cultural transition.
• Finally: the dimension of your stakeholders – of itself a multi-dimensional picture. It is the interplay between all those with an interest in your organisation, its people and its products and services that will determine, largely, whether or not you achieve your goals. Look inside – up and down the management hierarchy and across job functions and front and back office operations. Look outside the organisation – at customer groups, partners, suppliers and others who impact on your organisation. In each case, put empathy into practice. ‘What will the change mean to them; can you think and feel what it will look like from their perspective?’
As always, your success will depend largely on how you engage your people – in the dimensions of change you identify.
Take it from me – getting a head start with the people that matter matters more than almost anything else. It gets you in the groove, so to speak, and providing you can keep the bandwidth with them, your continuing dialogue with them will underpin any eventual success you achieve.
B F Skinner – one of the aforementioned gurus – offers 5 ways to ways ‘positively reinforce’ the people on whom you depend. Test yourself against them, and adapt them as your measure of your positive influence and leadership.
- Be specific in the information you provide. Identify specific achievements that they should aim for – not general standards.
- Be immediate in your praise when things get done – waiting unnecessarily loses impact and friends.
- Set targets that are achievable. Your people may be better engaged by incremental frequent wins than by the proverbial pot at the end of the rainbow. SMART objectives (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound) are not the mainstay only for change planning. They sit at the heart of people performance.
- Positive strokes are as important as tangible rewards. Simply demonstrating recognition can be as powerful as material prizes.
- Don’t be formulaic. A touch of unpredictability keeps people on their toes. Praise that is unexpected lives longer and more powerfully than expected commendations.
Leslie Benson is Managing Director of JSB Training and Development. You can contact him on +44 (0)20 8371 7007