Three Reasons Colleagues Won’t Hesitate to Join Your Cause
August 19, 2010
Many people who implement change wish that colleagues would just immediately go along with the program without much resistance. It would be nice and easy if you could just announce the change and have people automatically get on board and say, “Just tell me what I need to do!”
To think that everyone in the organization would instantly participate without hesitation is only a dream, of course. If change were that easy, they wouldn’t need you to lead it! Plus, the change and its outcomes are made better by understanding and working with the resistance that comes up. However, it does help to have people on your side from the start, who don’t need much convincing to help you out.
Most likely, there are reflexive followers in your organization, people who only need to hear about your project and they want to know how they can help. The following are three reasons people impulsively participate in change:
1. They connect with the change.
Occasionally, your change initiative will trigger someone’s curiosity or passion. The minute you say you are working on a [sustainability, innovation, leadership, Lean, you-name-it] initiative, they want to be involved. The topic is part of their expertise, or perhaps they would like it to be. They know the problem you are trying to solve, and they want to be part of the solution.
2. They have nothing better to do.
Have you ever gone into somebody’s workspace and they seem relieved that you interrupted? If you asked them to do anything at that moment besides what they were working on, they probably would. Some employees stuck in the daily grind are looking for something more meaningful, interesting or just different to be involved in. The opportunity to use their skills (or learn new ones) to help make a difference in the organization may be just what they have been waiting for to get them out of their rut. Extend an invitation, and they will likely show up.
3. They believe in you.
Some of your colleagues will get involved simply because it’s you. If you were not involved, they may not have considered it. There may be a variety of sources of this adulation. Some may view it as an opportunity to learn from you. Some see that you are headed toward great things and want to follow in your footsteps. Others may just know that if you are involved, it must be a good idea. Your friends will naturally want to work with you on a project that you are passionate about.
You may think that in order to have that kind of magnetism, you must be charismatic. When you are passionate about your project, your charisma appears. Far more important traits, however, are integrity and respect. If colleagues believe you are trustworthy and that your intentions are noble, they will honor you with their time and attention.
Locate people in your organization who connect with what you are doing, who crave something new, or who are your personal fans, and you will have found instant followers for your change initiative.
Interview: Employee Feedback with The Suggestion Guru
March 30, 2010
This morning on The Change Agent’s Dilemma radio show, I interviewed Lara Fordis of Suggestion Guru about employee feedback, especially going beyond the traditional employee survey. If you’ve been wondering how to get better feedback about your organization, your change initiative or even about yourself, you’ll want to listen to today’s show.
Lara shared a number of feedback methods and tools she has used in organizations to improve communication and engagement. She talked about the factors to consider when selecting a feedback method and also shared common mistakes you will want to avoid when implementing employee feedback.
As a special hand-out for Enclaria listeners, Lara provided this 1-page Feedback Favorites summary (PDF).
Listen here (30 minutes):
Be sure to visit the radio show page to listen to past episodes and subscribe to the show.
Planned obsolescence of change initiatives
June 24, 2009
Sometimes, it can be hard to forget that the goal of any change initiative is to make itself obsolete. You want the change to become part of the day-to-day culture and process of the organization. The processes and attitudes that at first engendered resistance are adopted and incorporated into how the business gets done.
Of course, this doesn’t happen overnight. And you can’t go straight from where you are now to where you want to be. There has to be a journey. The key is to not be sidetracked by the process of change.
Kurt Lewin (1890 – 1947) was the first to describe change as a 3-step process:
- Unfreezing – dismantling the old way, creating a sense of urgency and a need to change
- Changing – a period of transition, challenging the old way but not really knowing what the new way is
- Freezing – a returning to a sense of normalcy and comfort, crystallizing the new way
A good example of this is in a case study I wrote called A Roundabout Path to Increasing Employee Suggestions – the roundabout part is exactly what I’m talking about here.
In the case, the three steps could be described like this:
- Unfreezing – We started a steering committee separate from the executive team to collect and manage ideas. We challenged the concept of paying for ideas.
- Changing – The steering committee collected ideas, and was proactive in the response and tracking. We started a weekly newsletter to keep idea-generation and problem solving at the forefront. Idea submission levels increased dramatically.
- Freezing – Managers started holding regular meetings with their direct reports to identify and discuss opportunities for improvement, and to brainstorm on ways to address the issues that came up. The number of ideas, maintained by managers in a central database, increased even further.
If we had stopped with the centralized suggestion box as the final way for employees to submit suggestions, then we wouldn’t have followed through with the ultimate purpose of the change program: to increase innovation, not because employees submitted more ideas, but because managers asked for and valued them, and involved their teams in solving business problems.
Bottom line: It’s important to not get stuck in the change step, and keep in mind the final state and ultimate mindset change that you are going after. Plan to make your change initiative obsolete.
Inquiry: What will your organization look like when your initiative dissolves?
This post is also featured at Tenacious Tortoise.
A common picture of the ideal organization
May 18, 2009
Even though organizations have different purposes and strategies, I think we tend to have a common picture of the ideal characteristics of an effective organization. I wonder if these are the things you are trying to bring about in your organization:
- Multi-directional trust (leadership, employees, peers)
- Transparency and feedback
- Ample, clear, compelling, consistent communication
- High-performing teams
- Data-based decisions
- Accountability to results
- Clarity of vision
- Congruence of personal work with organizational goals
- Alignment between business units and departments
- Breakdown of silos, turf wars, and self-protection
- Atmosphere of mutual respect
- Employee engagement
- The idea of a “well-oiled machine”, efficient standardized processes
- Effective, value-added meetings
I would love to hear what else you might add to this list, and if any of these would actually decrease your success. Please share using the comments.
Blue Ocean change strategy
March 25, 2009
At a recent meeting of the Atlanta chapter of the Association for Strategic Planning (ASP), I heard a presentation on the basics of Blue Ocean Strategy, and thought the concept might be interesting when focused inward on an organization.
The premise behind Blue Ocean Strategy is that your current market of customers is only a subset of the customers who potentially need or want your product or service. The current market is called a Red Ocean because of all the competition tearing each other apart. The Blue Ocean represents all the potential customers who are not currently buying because they don’t have any idea what your product or service does or why they might need it.
The solution presented for engaging the Blue Ocean was through Value Innovation. The simplified method included finding the answers to these questions:
- What causes people not to buy this product?
- What can we do to overcome it? (What can we reduce, raise, eliminate or create?)
When you look at your organizational change initiative, you might see a similar pattern. There is a subset of the organization who “gets it,” pays attention, and is involved in making progress. And then there is everyone else, who is not buying what you’re selling. Not only that, but it’s not even on their radar.
Inquiry: What causes people to not to “buy” your change?
There are a number of other tools in the Blue Ocean Strategy framework that might be helpful to expand your thinking along these lines. Visit the official Blue Ocean Strategy site for some useful diagrams and more detailed concepts.
Podcast #3: The indispensible change agent
March 10, 2009
The Enclaria podcast series features interviews with change agents. Hear how others overcome obstacles while they pass along lessons learned from their organizational change experiences.
As the Senior Manager of Strategy Management Performance Excellence in a large IT department within a much larger corporation, Pamela Santiago has built a team that has become a center of excellence in change management and strategy execution within the larger organization. Her story also shows how change can start within a support unit as a proving ground, then branch out into the rest of the company. Listen for insights on what makes a successful change agent and change management team.
Podcast #2: The 100 Million Dollar Challenge
February 24, 2009
The Enclaria podcast series features interviews with change agents. Hear how others overcome obstacles while they pass along lessons learned from their organizational change experiences.
After 28 years at United Illuminating, an electric utility in Connecticut, Phil Turner retired in January this year as Director of Strategic Planning and Risk Management. As he reflects on his role as a change agent, Phil shares the story of the 100 Million Dollar Challenge, a large scale re-engineering initiative that took place in preparation for deregulation. Listen for insights about restructuring the organization for change, and about the pros and cons of implementing “big change fast.”
Case Study: A Roundabout Path to Increasing Employee Suggestions
July 1, 2008
Many companies try to fill their employee suggestion box. The Jel Sert Company, at the time a 700-employee manufacturing company headquartered in West Chicago, was no different. Over the course of four years, the company tried many initiatives to increase the number of ideas collected from employees, with some success. Read more
Don’t miss a thing!
Subscribe
in a ReaderSubscribe
via E-mail
-
