8 Steps for Change in the New Year!
Mark Twain has been quoted as saying that the only person who likes a change is a baby in a wet diaper. It seems that it may be natural for individuals and organizations to resist change. A leader of an organization must keep this resistance in mind when leading any organizational reinvention project.
Robert Hargrove as identified five guiding principles for a leader consider as they reinvent their organizations. The leader must have the vision and desire to make the change happen, giving the attention and energy needed to energize the organization around the change. The leader must not only reinvent the organization, but they must reinvent themselves, or as Mahatma Gandhi said "you must be the change you wish to see in the world." A leader must also question everything about what has worked in the past and identify the ideal vision of what the organization must do in the future and communicate and act in ways that help make the vision a reality. Lastly, the leader must coach those in the organization "to investigate what needs to be reinvented to achieve the vision.".
In order to help the organization move though change, I recommend that a leader follow eight steps which will help them manage and coach change efforts more successfully. These include the following:
1. Build an environment of trust with the employees in order to create an environment where employees are more open to ideas and more willing to discuss possibilities and problems associated with change.
2. Link the change effort to a common team value in order to help employees feel they can relate to the change effort at a personal level. This increases the desire and motivation to change.
3. Articulate and communicate a clear message about why the change effort is needed and will help the team. This links the facts and figures supporting the change to the team value. Communication should be frequent throughout the effort.
4. Establish a vision with the employees regarding the possible advantages of making the change in order to help the team define for themselves where the change will take them.
5. Collaborate for solutions with team members so that employees have the opportunity to identify the driving and restraining forces in the change effort and identify action steps for implementing steps to implement the change and overcome the restraining forces.
6. Establish and celebrate wins along the way. The leader should actively orchestrate wins and celebrations so employees can see that the change effort is important and see that changes in behavior will lead to positive outcomes.
7. The leader must manage performance around the change. This includes coaching those who need support with the change, disciplining or removing those who continually resist the change or have decided to fight against it, rewarding positive changes, hiring employees who have the new capabilities needed in the change effort, etc...
8. Constantly monitor the process and the results to ensure that the change effort is on track.
