The tangible side of Change Management | Looyint Blog

Part of the problem with change management is that there are various factors that influence transformation initiatives.???? If you ask 10 managers for critical factors in change programs, you?ll probably get 8-10 different answers. Everybody looks at an initiative from his or her viewpoint and energy-field. Based on their personal experience and different success factors, often you will see that the focus is on soft issues, like leadership, culture and motivation; not always that tangible?..

For instance, Prof. Dr. Thijs H. Homan is a leading Dutch Professor of Implementation and Change Management at the Open University and doesn?t believe in change ?management?. He says:

?People want change, but do not like to be changed. Prevent a top down, programmatically controlled change process. Change has to do with people and not with systems.? And I agree, because the soft issues within change processes are very important elements, but they are not sufficient enough to directly influence the outcome of many change programs.

Tangible factors will help you make progress more measurable. Obviously, you want to measure and therefore be able to influence Moments of Change both within the organization and maybe in external communication.

Tangible factors can be the time necessary to complete the change project, or the number of people required to execute it, the amount of time people can spend on change on a weekly basis, or results that are expected to achieve. This doesn?t mean that you can ignore the soft elements, because they are also very critical in change processes. First start the dialogue and work on the tangible factors and then focus of on the soft side. Ensure that organizational structures, systems and procedures are adapted, before the change teams focuses on the soft aspects.

Using tangible factors

There are several tangible aspects, you can use during a change process that will help you to expand your influence, gauge the atmosphere and more importantly: measure actions that are really being taken. Here you?ll find several examples:

?

?

1. Let change groups identify targets, make sure they are included in annual planning

2. Describe the desired behaviour at all levels, as concrete as possible

3. Review frequently. Research indicates that a long project that is reviewed frequently is more likely to succeed than a short project that isn?t reviewed frequently

4. Identify moments to measure progress and -in time- make sure the consequences will be clear for those who can/will not participate in the desired change.

5. Have project teams describe measurable objectives. Organize peer supervision/review sessions with the board where progress is discussed. Monitor the attendance of these sessions (both the change team and the board). Create a Movement Indicator.

6. Be specific: It?s not enough for senior executives to ask people at the watercooler if a project team is doing well; they must clarify members? roles, commitments, and accountability.

7. Link the desired culture to desired competencies and implement this in the organization

8. Reward good behaviour in a constant way with recognition, money or by getting people promoted, but also sanction people for unacceptable behaviour. Measurement points are: work meetings, bilateral meetings, etc.

9. Project teams must calculate how much work employees will have to do beyond their existing responsibilities to change over to new processes. Ideally, no one?s workload should increase more than 10%. Even better: which regular task(s) can they skip or assign to a colleague in order to give the right attention to change?

10. Make sure managers regularly communicate the reason for the change and the importance of its success. Also make sure the message is convincing and consistent.

11. Make sure that the people involved give meaning to aspects in the change process and that this meaning is discussed on several occasions. (workshops, meetings, 1:1, etc.)

12. Use effective milestones. The most effective milestones are those that describe major actions or achievements rather than day-to-day activities. They must enable senior executives and project sponsors to confirm that the project has made progress since the last review took place. Good milestones encompass a number of tasks that teams must complete. For example, describing a particular milestone as ?Consultations with Clients Completed? is more effective than ?Consult Clients? because it represents an achievement and shows that the project has made headway.

13. Identify short-term successes and make them measurable in time

14. The management must coach cynics in counterweight sessions.

15. Use Quality Monitoring tools to make sure you develop 1 ?language? and are able to easily measure progress

16. Communicate ?evidence? on a monthly basis that the transformation is on the right track

17. Let managers give each other feedback in monthly sessions on Practice What You Preach.

18. Use context measures that will contribute to the desired culture and behaviour. For example: a theme that supports the right movement and change

Sources:

• Harvard Business Review. The hard side of change management
• Professor John P. Kotter. Leading Change
• Professor Thijs Homan. Organisatiedynamica
• Picture: thanks to Sylvia Becker Hill LLC

Summary:

Hard change processes are not effective. The challenge for most organizations is to get employees and management fully involved when implementing changes. And to make sure everybody is on board in order to change successfully. Employees and managers must be able to give meaning to the aspects that are involved in this change. They must have the time and resources to apply this (often new) behaviour.

Change becomes tangible, when people agree on the progress that has to be made. When teams use milestones that encompass a number of tasks that teams must complete. When teams review each month. When you look, from a behavioural point of view how colleagues respond to these initiatives. Tangible aspects help to see more clearly which aspects move and which don?t.

?

Source: http://blog.looyint.com/verandering-in-organisatie/the-tangible-side-of-change-management/

eva longoria Rihanna wiz khalifa Michael Clarke Duncan Nazanin Boniadi Deval Patrick Dedication 4