Here are additional words of wisdom about change management spoken by participants in my change management survey. The words of my participants demonstrate the nuances of change management: change strategy, planning, implementation, and courage, much more graphically than any I can offer on my own.
Consequences of Change
- "Carry the wounded; help the long term stragglers find another place to work."
- "At the same time, and again in scenarios of critical change, do not retain (for too long) any key management personnel who show no signs of willingness to accept change."
- "Publicize rewards and recognition for positive approaches and accomplishments, and celebrate each small win publicly."
- "Provide positive consequence for change, and negative consequence for not adopting the change. Set up some early wins."
Employee Involvement During Change
- "Lao Tzu... the best change is what the people think they did themselves... i.e., high involvement is better so long as it is not overlay cumbersome and doesn't interfere with people being successful in their regular roles."
- "I find personally and I believe for most employees that it is critical that they are involved in the process. The level of involvement will depend on the employee--inviting suggestions and feedback, delegating aspects of the process, etc. The process is more successful, I believe, when the employees are bought into the process and see that their input is valued and makes a difference."
- "Hold facilitated groups to solicit input after a presentation that focuses attention to a specific area are most effective during the planning stages. I've seen too many loosely organized wide open requests for group input that turn into free-for-all's. These generate frustration and hurt feelings, contributing to further resistance because there was no focused purpose to identify achievement."
Change Management Lessons
- "Most of the problems in organizations are fixable through organizational changes (structure, process, culture) and learning (not necessarily the same as training). It's far more rare than we might think that you really need to get someone out of the organization."
- "Change is continuous. Change Management is a fad that in many respects may or may not work. It is clearly the measurement of change that organizations are most interested in as they wish to drive and direct it. The workplace evolution of change causes great difficulty as it has appeared to accelerate beyond, in many cases, the human capacity to keep up. This has been referenced for hundreds of years, the fact that generally people are not prepared to embrace any change as quickly as most organizations wish to impose.
It is, in fact, this skill (adaptability, flexibility, resiliency) that is the basis of survival of the fittest, not a new philosophy. The fittest, however, most often not the masses. Finally, it is the imposition of change, in a formal fashion, that causes the greatest change shift in the wrong direction. Change that is assumed, incorporated or aligned with the true motivations of the individual is the change that is most positive and most profound. This is the work that my company strives to achieve, meeting the people where they are...Change by permission, rather than enforcement." - "The key in any change process is to discern the need that is felt both from the organization's perspective and the individual's. Usually change efforts wait until after the last minute when the pain is so high it can no longer be resisted. This leads to massive lay-offs and over reactions. If on the other hand the leadership build a strong reflective process and trust for each other, two things take place.
1. Issues are surfaced before they become overwhelming and a strategy can be developed which all understand or 2. When crises develop the substance is present to pull together and deal with it. Obviously this is not an easy place to live as there is always a temptation to lapse into being so appreciative that you stop paying attention to the realities that may be harsh themselves. Open and honest communications are assumed but don't happen, because of a lack of trust." - "Expect tough times ahead; everyone expects that after the initiation event, it should go smoothly, but the most painful part is yet to come: the transition period. Recognizing this early on in the process will help weather the storms ahead."
- "In the government, change interventions generally come from outside pressure. Congress or others might designate a new pay program as something that should be done or a study of an agency failure makes recommendations. Thus few inside an agency psychologically own the solution so they only talk, not walk the talk. Management underestimates or avoids the personal energy/time required for success. Upper management makes statements, forms task forces, and waits for the change to roll-out. Lower levels do what is forced and wait it out."
More? See Leadership and Measurement During Change.
