Is change management hindering your change?
The importance of ensuring your stakeholders understand the value of change.
Change is hard. It’s disruptive and time consuming for organisations, taking place alongside an already full workload. Isn’t it the dream of every organisation to just press pause whilst they implement change? But change is necessary; it creates opportunity, transforms services and operations, and ultimately prevents stagnation.
Many organisations wisely invest in change management, preparing for the disruption and guiding teams through it to the other side. They know all too well the questions they’ll face:
When?
What do we have to do?
People want to plan. They want to know when the disruption will occur and how long will it last. They want details of what is expected of them; the tasks they are responsible for and how long they have to complete them. And so the focus is on process, responding to the demands for plans and timelines.
Change management can quickly becomes an exercise in defining the process for transition but there is a danger it can hinder change if that is all it delivers.
If change is disruptive and time consuming there has to be a reason. Why change in the first place? In my experience stakeholders need to understand two things:
What is the problem?
What is the value of change?
Communication in change management is vital, ensuring all stakeholders understand what the issues are and identifying clear value propositions for change. Sometimes it’s often very simple: What is wrong with the status quo? How will changing make things better? The process still matters and will be a major factor in change management but unless people have a clear understanding of why, the disruption of change and additional workload will frustrate and demoralise. Value propositions are key.
“There has to be an answer to is it worth it?”
Engaging stakeholders also includes senior leadership buy in, ensuring they too understand the value of change and enabling them to manage the implementation of change within their teams. Projects driven by senior leaders with a clear mandate for change are both more effective and efficient. They provide a much needed commitment that moving forward is worth the disruption.
The creation of a detailed roadmap for change will always be necessary but so too is communicating the value of change. In the middle of an ever increasing workload and additional training, there has to be an answer to is it worth it?
