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Top three 'do differently'
The excerpt below comes from the 2005
Best Practices in Change Management benchmarking report with 411 participants from 59
countries. The report includes findings for all aspects of managing change. Below are the
top three things participants would do differently on their next project. As you prepare for new
projects and changes in 2006, ask yourself how well you have prepared for these factors.
Best practice excerpt - What teams would do differently on their
next project
Participants were asked what they would do differently on their next project. The most
commonly cited responses in order of frequency were:
Dedicate resources to change
management.
Create a change management team or lead position to select and adopt a
methodology and improve the organization's understanding of the value of change
management. Empower these individuals to prepare and educate executives, managers and
project team members on change management tools, processes and techniques.
Secure executive sponsorship earlier in
the project.
Enlist executive support for the change as early as possible. Clarify the role of
the sponsor and make sure they understand how critical this role is to the success of the
project. Conduct ongoing briefings of the progress and status of the project and provide
coaching in areas of change management for those managers who may be inexperienced in
dealing with large-scale change.
Repeat key messages early and often.
Reach everyone in the organization with messages pertaining to the change.
Keep communications clear, simple and frequent.
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Using best practice information
How do you use the lessons and experiences of
others to help your change go more smoothly? Below
are several implications.
- How do you stack up - for projects on the horizon
in 2006, ask yourself how well you score on the three factors above.
This will be a good assessment to do before you jump into new changes in
the coming year. If you score poorly on any of the factors, then take
action now and don't wait!
- Change management team characteristics -
look for the following attributes as you choose your change management
team members: excellent communication skills, business influence,
commitment to the change, knowledge of the business, team player, change
management experience, creativity, innovative problem solver,
flexibility, passion and dedication to success, enthusiastic, and
responsible.
- Ensure sufficient change management team
resources - increase the number of full-time personnel, increase the
overall number of team members, provide the team with specific change
management expertise and select a representative membership from
different functions, departments, and levels within the organization.
- Executive sponsors need and want to be coached
- the change management team is the sponsor's coach. The change
management team should build a working relationship with the executive
sponsor and provide the coaching (including the sponsorship roadmap -
where they need to be, when, what they will be doing) they need to be
successful. This will in turn make you successful because strong
and visible executive sponsorship throughout a project is the number one
success factor according to
2005
Best Practices in Change Management Report.
For more information on sponsor activities see the 2005 Best Practices
in Change Management Report and for more information on building a
sponsorship roadmap see the
Change Management Pilot.
- Preferred senders of messages - repeating
key messages 5-7 times is essential, but who should be sending those
messages? The 2005
Best Practices in Change Management Report
identifies two primary senders of communication messages depending on
the nature of the message. Top-level executives and managers are
the preferred senders when the message pertains to the business need for
change and alignment of the change with the organization's overall
direction. The employees' immediate supervisors are cited as the
key senders of messages that pertain to the individual impact resulting
from the change (discussing 'what's in it for me' with each employee.)
Table of contents of complete report:
The full 2005 Best Practices in
Change Management Report provides insights, lessons learned and checklists for effectively
managing the people side of change. Below is the complete table of contents:
| PARTICIPANT LIST EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
Participant profile
Study objective
Greatest contributors to success
Greatest change management obstacles
What would you do differently on your next project
METHODOLOGY
Did you use a particular change management
methodology
Methodologies used
When to start change management
Primary methods used to research change management approaches
Resources for ongoing help with change management
Methods to deal with project team resistance to change management
Most effective involvement of HR in change management
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
ACTIVITIES
Change management activities by program phase
Supplemental lists
SPONSOR ROLE
Most important sponsor activities
Most common mistakes made by executive sponsors
Sponsor effectiveness
Level of sponsor
How to coach and educate your sponsor
Methods for managing resistance with senior managers
Special tactics when your project sponsor is at the wrong level
SPONSOR ACTIVITIES
Sponsor change management activities by program phase
Supplemental lists
MANAGERS AND SUPERVISORS
Most effective tactics for deploying change management with managers
and supervisors
Most effective ways to deal with resistant managers or supervisors
Job aides, ongoing support and tools provided for managers and supervisors
COMMUNICATIONS
Methods to communicate change
The two most effective communication methods
Essential messages
Preferred senders of change messages
What to do differently next time
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RESISTANCE
TO CHANGE
Primary reasons front line employees resist change
Primary reasons managers resist change
Who was most resistant to change
Identifying resistance
Tactics to manage resistance
Ineffective methods for dealing with resistance
Organization's readiness to change
REINFORCEMENT AND
FEEDBACK
How to gather feedback
Methods to reward, recognize and reinforce change
Reinforcing change with job descriptions
Job cuts and morale
The unique role HR can play in change management
CONSULTANTS
Role of consultants
Key contribution of consultants
Concerns about consultants
Would you use a consultant again
Consultants used by participants
TEAM STRUCTURE
What would be done differently next time regarding the change
management team structure
Educating the team about change management
Team resources
Critical gaps for project teams
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
COMPETENCY
Where to begin when building change management competency
Change management methodologies
ABOUT THE PROJECTS
Project type and motivation
Project stage
Size of change
Processes being changed
ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS
Participant profile
Organization profile
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Resources:
2005 Best
Practices in Change Management Report
Change Management Pilot
Change
Management Toolkit.
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