Why change management fails and what you can do about it
We’ve all been part of organisational change whether we recognise it or not. For some companies, it may be as small as an office fitout, moving to another floor of a building, or as large as rolling out a new software system. Whatever the change, there are bound to be teething issues.
These are some of the most common problems when an organisation undertakes change:
- Lack of sponsorship
- Get your key messages right
- Ineffective early engagement and consultation
- Poor communication and benefits realisation
- Lack of rigorous reporting, metrics and governance
- Budget blow out and stalling of change
To remedy these issues it’s important to do the following:
- Ensure that before you embark on any change project, you receive buy in from senior leadership and people that the organisation can trust. This helps build legitimacy with the change and has a flow on effect with line managers and supervisors getting on board to communicate the change to staff.
- Have your key messages sorted so that you know exactly what it is that you are going to communicate, to who and why. Know what people, systems, processes, policies, procedures and infrastructure will be impacted.
- Communicate the change early on. We know that it’s not good practice to communicate way before a change takes place as sometimes there can be a lag in information, however, it is important to communicate as soon as possible and when you have your key messages such as the who, what, when, where and why.
- Know your audience. Conduct a stakeholder analysis and audit so that you know who you are communicating to, how the change will impact them and what the benefits are. Keep it concise and have some one pagers on hand to clearly spell out the change. Also schedule regular stakeholder meetings with the right people in the right room, listen to their concerns, be empathetic, and don’t be afraid to take questions on notice. Also don’t take any criticisms personally. Change can provide uncertainty for people so it’s essential that you put their mind at ease. People want to know ‘what’s in it for me’ so clearly spell this out and how the change will benefit them.
- Have your metrics sorted and your RACI in place so that reporting and governance is handled correctly. Ensure that you have included metrics in your milestones so that you can gauge how effective the change is being communicated and implemented. It’s essential that you take a continuous improvement approach to your change.
- Have your Change and Communications Leads work in harmony with the Project Lead so that you can anticipate any changes to the budget and timeline and see if there are any ways to mitigate these issues, or at least communicate them to the Sponsor for trickle down messaging if appropriate.
We hope these tips have been helpful. For more information, or to speak with a Change and Communications Consultant/Advisor for your business email us as we have many years of experience in complex people and ICT change projects.
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