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Change management is better than what you’re doing.

 

My biggest pet peeve is when leaders use “change management” as a buzzword.

The meeting is ending, people are starting to gather up their things or open an email, and a leader mentions as an afterthought “…and we’ll definitely need change management on this one.” Everyone nods, continues to pack their bags, and heads out the door.

There are a few possible scenarios that follow.

  • Everyone forgets the mention of change management until after go-live, when adoption is slow and people are getting frustrated. Then someone slaps together additional training or job aids.
  • The leader assigns “change management” to a team member with no change management experience, leading to months of stress for this person, who does their best without having the skills or tools (and ultimately doesn’t make an impact, through no fault of their own).
  • The team brings in a change management team or expert (internal or external to the company) but gives them weak direction, few resources, and little influence. They struggle to get what they need from stakeholders and never make any real difference.

Don’t call whatever that is change management.

The reason this bothers me is that change management is one of the few disciplines that gets mentioned and then immediately overlooked. You won’t hear a leader say the first part: “…and we need some operational support” without a second part: “…to make sure the process can integrate with our technology.”

As change managers, we are begging for the second half of the sentence. Why do you need change management?

  • Are you worried about audiences embracing the change because it’s a dramatic departure from the norm?
  • Is there a lot of new content for people to take in and you’re worried they won’t remember on the job?
  • Are you worried about people knowing and hitting key deadlines?
  • Are there teams across the organization who need to come together to make this change work?
  • Are there stakeholder groups that don’t want this change?
  • Does the effort have an extended timeline and need prolonged momentum?

Once you know the “why,” you can plan the “how” – the change management solution. For example,

  • If you’re worried about people embracing the change, focus the solution on their motivation — connecting to their purpose, showing them the value they personally will see from the change.
  • If you need change management because there’s so much new content, put the training solution into high gear. Pull out all the stops to make sure the content is visible, accessible, and digestible (especially once you go live).
  • If people coming together makes you nervous, focus on cross-functional collaboration and creating spaces to bring ideas together.

The “how” gets you to the “what:” adoption and performance — people doing things not just differently, but differently in the way that is needed to realize value.

To use change management successfully, don’t leave it as an afterthought. Explore why you need change management and how you will do it, to get to the goals of your initiative.

Want to explore the topic in more detail? We’d love to chat: Book a meeting