Key messages for the change management team
The second
tutorial in this series talked about methods to educate your change management team.
The tutorial included an assessment tool as well as the top seven methods for educating a
team based on the 2005 Best Practices
in Change Management report. But the question remains, what do we need to teach them?
What content should be provided? What are the key messages we need to communicate?
To answer these questions, remember that for many participating on
the change management team, the effective application of change management principles and
tools is itself a change for them. Examples include:
- a newly promoted senior leader who has participated in changes but
never fulfilled the role of a change sponsor
- project team members who are well versed in project management
methodologies and tools but not exposed to change management
- functional managers being brought on to a change management team to
share insights and expertise from their particular area but who have no exposure to change
management concepts or tools
Each of these individuals are undergoing a change themselves - the
change of applying effective change management.
Since they are going through the change as individuals, we can use the ADKAR model to
examine the key steps, messages and information that is required to get change management
team members successfully through the personal change (remember, applying
effective change management is the change we are talking about). ADKAR is an
individual change management model characterized by the five phases below:
- Awareness of the need to change
- Desire to participate and support the change
- Knowledge about how to change
- Ability to implement new skills and behaviors
- Reinforcement to keep the change in place
For more information on the ADKAR model, read the paper prepared
for the State Department or the ADKAR
overview tutorial.
Applying ADKAR with the change management team
Below are a series of questions and some talking points related to
each phase of the ADKAR model as they pertain to this change, namely, applying effective change management. The
tutorial also includes links to resources that will give more detail and depth to
particular points.
Awareness of the need to apply
effective change management
- Why is change management necessary and why now?
- What is wrong with the way we are implementing changes today?
- What will happen if we don't use change management?
As a leader asking your teams to apply change management, the first step is to make the
need for change management concrete. When someone is asked to change the way they do
things (i.e. apply change management on your next project), the first response is usually:
"why?". Several key messages and
suggestions for building Awareness include:
- Highlight past failures or transition problems in the organization
where change management was not effectively applied.
- These create a common reference point for your team so the messages going forward have
more impact. Talk about the impacts of those past changes and what key steps were missed.
- Provide concrete examples of the risks of poorly managed change. These
include:
- lower productivity
- loss of valued employees
- decreased morale
- slow adoption
- passive resistance (including lack of commitment)
- active resistance (including sabotage)
- the possible failure of the change
- Share benchmarking findings. Below are several findings from Prosci's
last benchmarking study with 327 business process reengineering teams:
- The number one thing teams would do differently on their next project is use a
structured change management approach.
- Resistance from employees was the number one obstacle to changes being successful.
- Bring in a leader to advocate the use of change management.
- Our research shows that executives and senior leaders are the best senders of messages
related to the business need for change. This is true for applying change management as
well. Therefore, having an executive speak to your team about
the importance of change management for the organization will be a key success factor.
- Resources: Prosci's book Change
Management: the people side of change dedicates the entire first chapter to building
the case 'why manage change'. The book provides a great foundation for anyone who is
tasked with managing the human side of change. Also, the Change Management Learning Center
has several tutorials that can be used to
build your team's Awareness.
Desire to participate and support effective
change management application
- What is in it for me (WIIFM)?
- What are the benefits of change management for the organization?
- Why should I get on board?
Desire is typically one of the most difficult phases because it requires individuals to
make their own decision. As a leader you
want to make a compelling case for adopting change management, building on the Awareness
that was created earlier. Talking points for Desire include:
- Share case studies where change management has made an impact.
- Bring in people from within or from outside your organization to share their experiences
on projects that successfully applied change management. For some people on your team,
they will need concrete examples to support the concept.
- Share benchmarking findings.
- There are two studies that show a direct correlation between the use of change
management and meeting project objectives (one from Prosci and one from McKinsey). The
team should have the desire to meet project objectives, and change management is a key
factor in meeting these objectives. Contact Prosci for more information on how to acquire
these reports from the respective sources.
- Leverage senior leadership.
- Prosci research has found that the role of the sponsor (the leader that is championing
the change) is the number one contributor to successful change. Likewise, the role of the
sponsor responsible for the application of change management is also critical for your
success. Active and visible support for applying change management by a senior leader
shows commitment and builds Desire with team members.
- Find effective coaches.
- The relationship between an employee (or someone on your change management team) and
his/her immediate supervisor is a powerful tool for building Desire. Identify which of the
team's supervisors can serve as coaches of change and prepare them with the awareness and
knowledge they need (coaching may be an individual change for your supervisors too).
- Resources: The most critical resources for building Desire are senior
leaders and the employee's direct supervisor. The Change Management Toolkit and Change Management Pilot provide templates for
both the sponsor roadmap and coaching plan. The Change Management Learning Center's tutorial page also includes series on overcoming
resistance, engaging supervisors and a tutorial dedicated to building Desire with Prosci's top 10 list for
overcoming resistance.
Knowledge about how to apply change
management
- What skills are involved in implementing change management?
- How do I obtain those skills?
The key mechanism for creating Knowledge is training. Unfortunately, many organizations
fail to address Awareness and Desire, and attempt to build buy-in by just training people.
This is not an effective approach and can even create more resistance and make adoption
even more difficult. Make sure that your team has awareness of the need for change
management and a desire to engage before initiating training.
Some key points for Knowledge include:
- Teach the team how individuals go through change.
- To be an effective manager of change, people need to understand how an individual
experiences change. Whether it is your project team, communications staff, human resources
personnel, senior leaders and executives, supervisors or front-line employees - everyone
will be better equipped to handle and manage change with a solid understanding of the
ADKAR model.
- Teach organizational change management principles and processes.
- The team needs to be exposed to the change management methodology you will be using for
your project. This may be a methodology selected specifically for the project or one
developed and deployed across your organization. Organizations are using both internally
developed methodologies and externally provided approaches. The key is that your team
understand what change management tools they have (communications, sponsorship, coaching,
training, etc.) and when and how to use these tools.
- Resources: The Change
Management Toolkit (hardcopy) and Change Management Pilot (online) provide
access to Prosci's 3-Phase methodology based on research results with more than 1100
companies, including templates, checklists, assessment and guidelines to quickly apply
organizational change management. These resources are available for license to the
organization. Call 970-203-9332 for licensing information. Prosci also provides a three
day training session that teaches the concepts and has participants apply them in
real-time to actual changes they are working on in their own job. Find out more about training options.
Ability to implement new skills
and behaviors related to change management
- Once I have the knowledge, will I be able to act on that knowledge?
- What do I do when I have problems or questions?
Ability is the fourth phase - following Awareness, Desire and Knowledge. This means
that the team can act on the knowledge provided in change management. Some keys to
ensuring Ability include:
- Provide outlets for getting help.
- One of the keys for Ability is providing information on where to go to get help. This
may be an individual or group in your organization, an intranet or internet site, or other
resources. The 2005 Best Practices report found that internal resources, external
consultants and web-searches were the top three methods for ongoing assistance.
- Coach change management practitioners.
- Coaching by experienced and skilled people in your organization is a great way to
support and build Ability in your change team.
- Engage in two-way communication.
- While Knowledge can sometimes be conveyed in a one-directional manner, to create Ability
you need to be available to hear concerns and questions and give back direction and
clarification. Two-way communication helps to solidify Knowledge so it can be acted upon.
- Get interactive in your training sessions.
- Learning by doing is one of the most important ways to build both Knowledge and Ability,
especially for adult learning. Prosci's change management certification training is built
around a case study that participants bring from their own job. During the course, the
participant is actually creating the communication plan, doing the sponsor assessment,
identifying special tactics and so forth as they learn the concepts - building Ability, while Knowledge is being transferred.
- Resources: An important resource is your internal coaches and support
staff. You need to provide these individuals with the tools and information they need to
effectively support project teams and change management teams during implementation.
Reinforcement to keep the use
of change management in place
- What happens when we are successful?
- What is the reward?
- Will there be smaller rewards along the way to encourage us?
In many instances, changes in large organizations can be temporary if employees revert
back to the old way of doing things. If you've identified change management as a key
component of the changes you are making in your organization, then you cannot take the
risk of reverting back to ineffectively managing the people side of change. Some keys to
keeping change management in place include:
- Engage senior leaders.
- Active and visible sponsorship for the application of change management will have a
significant impact on how often it is applied. They must endorse that change management is
an integral part of all future projects. They also must hold project teams accountable for
applying these tools on their projects.
- Monitor progress and create measurement systems.
- Just like for any other change you expect to be adopted, there must be some way to
ensure success. For change management activities, this may include status meetings and
deliverable standards (like you would for the project management deliverables, such as
schedules and work breakdown structures). Create schedules and stick to them. Visibly show
your results.
- Watch for alignment of incentives.
- Be sure that your incentives line up with the goals of the project to drive the
behaviors you want - both for the change you are introducing and for your change team.
- Celebrate successes.
- Identifying and celebrating successes is important - it reinforces that there is
commitment to applying change management. It also keeps morale high and can create
additional momentum.
Summary
This tutorial used the individual change management model ADKAR to
look at the change: applying effective change management. This approach
helps change management teams and practitioners to fully grasp why change management is
being applied and how to do it effectively. While the process appears long and
comprehensive, the phases can actually be addressed in a short amount of time. The
important point to remember is that the change will take place in the sequence described
by ADKAR, so do not try to skip steps or individuals may end up sitting in a training
program thinking "why am I here?". For more information:
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