Leaders should consider these four things when implementing a change. Having a culture that can absorb change is essential in leadership. People need to trust who is leading the change to help understand the reason for it and trust that they will be successful. For change to be successful, top-down communication and bottom-up feedback
Have a Culture That Can Absorb the Change
Culture is an evolving creature, and the aspects of culture to look for are: No change saturation, People feel empowered, people are involved from the onset, and people voice their concerns freely
- If you have an innovation culture, a fast-paced culture, or a culture that is excited by change, consider what alternatives or postponements you can do to allow for a better environment for your change.
Over-Communicate
Communicate frequently and consistently
- Utilize existing structures/meetings to reduce adding additional work/change
- Be positive but realistic
- Stay aligned with other leaders/departments/functions
- Speak on behalf of your team’s concerns
- When people adopt change, reward them in a way that matters
Key People in Key Roles
People need to trust who is leading the change to help understand the reason for change and trust that they will be successful
- Senior leaders who support change
- An actual change team with training in change management
- Someone managing the project
- Specialists who know the changing process
- Early adopters or advocates from the operations/business
Customized Approach
For a change to be successful, it needs to be tailored to the individual by building out a “what’s in it for me” approach
- Identify different types of stakeholders based on how the change impacts them
- Determine unique resistance for each stakeholder group and an appropriate mitigation plan for each resistance point
- Develop a communications plan per group (medium, frequency, messenger)
- Create a training plan per each group (content, medium, instructor)
