The headline is a comment from a first-line manager who was part of a comprehensive organisational change a few years ago.
The manager, let’s call her Jane, recently dug into my blog, and after having read some posts on change management, she reached out to me on LinkedIn wondering if I was interested in her experience of the change process. Since I just so happened to be the consultant who led their workshops on organisational change, the answer was a resounding yes.
Before I share Jane's thoughts, let me take you on what might seem like a detour. Consider a process I expect you to be familiar with, namely, how to plan and throw a dinner party. As you know, planning a dinner party may include you considering the menu, at what time the aperitif should be served, as well as any potential dietary restrictions your guests may have.
At the same time, you are aware that reality and a carefully laid dinner plan may be two entirely different things when all is said and done. A guest might be an hour late, throwing off the schedule. Another guest might have forgotten to mention their gluten intolerance, and at the last minute you need to improvise an alternative to the bruschetta appetizer you have prepared.
What does a dinner party has to do with organisational change? Well, much like pulling off a successful dinner party, change management also challenges the organisation with two incompatible perspectives.
The first perspective concerns a linear process. Desiring a certain outcome, the organisation plans to move step by step from the current state to the desired state. Perhaps the plan to implement the change begins with a town hall meeting where the reasons for change are explained to the staff before holding a series of workshops focused on clarifying new organisational roles.
The second perspective pertains to the human process which is decidedly unpredictable and defies a pre-determined plan. For example, what do you do if the information meeting becomes heated with critical questions? Would it still be feasible to proceed with the workshops you had in mind? Let’s say you do proceed and the workshops, instead of the constructive discussion envisioned, stir up a conflict between managers bravely promoting change and some deeply skeptical staff.
In general, my experience is not that management is unaware of these incompatible perspectives. However, experience tells me that management often underestimates potential difficulties. What they know about hosting a dinner party, they fail to apply to the change process.
Against this backdrop, let’s get back to Jane. In our chat, she typed "they managed to make the staff understand the reasons for the change; however, they did not succeed in getting people to emotionally embrace the change." Since I witnessed executives barking up the wrong tree, I agree. When people were more concerned about job security and their roles in the future organisation, management strongly pleaded for the reasons for the change, which ironically was a done deal already prior to the workshops.
The conversation Jane and I had was based on a mutual understanding of the Road to Commitment model, which states that the mental journey in change consists of three stages in which individuals:
Understand the reasons for the change
Believe that the change is good for the organisation and that the change is attainable
Feel commitment and take ownership in implementing the change
I think the lack of alignment between employee concerns and the message the employees received from management contributed to Jane's final comment in our conversation: "So it came to a halt, and people didn't get a chance to take ownership of the implementation. It felt very much like a top-down approach. As a result, we lost competent people, and worry set in among the remaining employees."
What lessons can we draw from this? The first lesson that comes to mind is the importance of flexibility. Of course, you need to plan, but at the same time, you need to be open to the fact that human processes have lives of their own. Given this unpredictability, organisations should avoid detailed planning of an upcoming workshop before the outcome of the previous one is known. Here’s another live case concerning change. In it, my client and I had carefully analysed the conditions, and as far as I could tell he had prepared the ground meticulously. On top of that, I had confidence in my workshop design. Yet, we were met with quite a surprise during the implementation.
This underscores the importance of marching in time with the process rather than trying to control the pace. If you want to delve into that way of thinking, click here. The link is to an article about management team development, but you will see the message is just as applicable in change management. If the concept of just going with the flow of the process challenges your need for control, possibly creating some stress, you might find some inspiration here.
Furthermore, the importance of being perceptive cannot be overstated. You need to have an ear to the ground and recognise what people are concerned about so that you can adapt your communication. In Jane's example, the message from management did not match the needs of the employees.
If you are considering hiring an external consultant, I recommend my free guide on ensuring return on your investment in organisational development. It contains some seemingly simple but quite effective tips.
Finally, via the link in the previous paragraph, you can also order a guide on change management that addresses what happens in people's minds during change. The forces that might arise can be devastating, but the good news is that you can influence these forces. If you want an example of how an executive with courage and empathy managed a room full of people who received disappointing news, I recommend this three-minute read.
If you're facing a challenging change process in your organisation, let's put our heads together.
The clients that get in touch with me most often are CEO, MD or CxO. They reach out because they want to realise the potential in their organisations and accomplish extraordinary results. Here's what they have to say about my contribution to that end.