Jay Worth
As I discussed in my previous article, change management is the process of implementing major changes to the structure or workflow of your business in such a way that your team willingly agrees to implement the change.
Let’s dive into practical steps for change management. (Note: these steps come from the Harvard Business Review article by John Kotter and have been adapted for the green industry.)
Step #1–ID the Problem
You must be working toward a solution that is widely recognized in your business. A good rule is to have agreement from 70 percent of your staff impacted by this change before starting the process. Once you’ve got that buy-in, move to the next step.
If few people see the need for change, you’ll face pushback at each remaining step. If people don’t see it, walk them through why there’s a problem. If people still don’t see it, consider that maybe it’s a personal preference (i.e. “I want it done this way”) rather than a business problem.
Step #2–Assemble a “Change Team”
You need your team to help you implement this change. Making unilateral decisions won’t work if you want the change to stick.
The team must have enough senior leaders to enforce the change and a mix of mid-level and frontline workers giving input to ensure the change is practical and viable. Select people who have titles, but also those who influence the rest of your team, regardless of their “official” job title. Avoid stacking the team with either only frontline workers or only senior leaders; you’ll encounter resistance from the wider company.
Lastly, ensure that the entire company knows that this team has been empowered to research the problem, develop a solution AND implement it. Communication about this is vital to success.
Step #3–Create the Vision
This step is about how you will communicate this change.
Once the change team has researched solutions and a new path is selected, you need to communicate with the rest of the company by using a vision statement. Here are critical items to include in that statement:
- What is the problem the change team is trying to solve?
- Why is this a problem?
- What is the solution to this problem?
- What does the future look like once this problem is solved?
Make sure that the vision is as straightforward as possible. Tweak it until a majority of the change team agrees. Then, share it with discreet employees outside the change team and people outside the company whose feedback you trust. Ask if it’s clear. If not, rework the statement until a majority of people who hear it understand the answers to those questions.
Warning: Don’t hijack this process. If you’re an owner, CEO or president, you’ll be tempted to take over the “solution” step. Don’t.
Just because your team might arrive at a slightly different solution than you doesn’t make it wrong. It makes it different. Allow them to work it out. If you are authoritarian, you might as well have made the decision. Doing this poorly will also break the trust of those influential people on your change team.
Step #4–Communicate the Vision
Once your change team has identified the problem, arrived at a viable solution and created a vision statement about the upcoming change, you need to roll it out to the company at large.
A good rule of thumb for this part of the process is this: Don’t stop talking about it. Ever.
That vision statement has to become something that’s embedded in your way of business moving forward. Memorize it yourself. Have other senior leaders memorize it. Ask your mid-level managers to memorize it.
Talk about it at morning huddles, one-on-ones and when you drop by the job sites. Connect the dots for your team between the problem, the solution and how the “new way” is going to benefit everyone.
And this last point is especially important; we are all more likely to do something if it benefits us. Your team is no different. Talk about how the change makes their lives easier, better, less stressful, etc. When you draw a direct line between “problem > solution > benefit,” they’re more likely to do it.
Wrapping It All Up
Here’s a quick summary of the four steps for change management:
- Identify a real business problem to solve. Don’t fix something that isn’t broken.
- Assemble a team of people with both seniority and influence. Ensure the company knows they’re empowered to work on a particular issue.
- Create a vision statement that clearly articulates the problem, why it’s a problem, the solution AND what the future looks like once the solution is implemented.
- Communicate this vision incessantly—in morning huddles, performance reviews and casual conversations. When you’re saying it in your sleep, you might be talking about it enough.
In my last article, I’ll detail the practical steps for this process to help you nail this the first time, thereby saving you employee morale and keeping retention high.
Didn't read Part 1? Here is the link:
https://www.synkd.io/synkd-news/what-is-change-management
Get In Touch With...
Jay Worth
Marketing Manager for Single Ops
Email: jay@singleops.com