Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.
- Alexander Graham Bell
The business of organizational change wrecks havoc on all parties involved. The focus of individuals’ work changes, relationships change, customer demands change—it all seems up for grabs. Those who have ordered their lives and work like clockwork are left feeling disoriented, disheveled, and “dissed” in general.
Since a significant part of the leader’s success is based on his or her ability to maintain the organization’s results during times of change, preparation— mentally and otherwise—becomes critical. There is no substitute for good preparation, and there are few antidotes for poor preparation.
As you become mentally prepared and share that preparation with others, they are able to anticipate the demands of a rapidly changing reality. As a result, the organization will be better able to anticipate the change and, when it arrives, better able to navigate the rapids of change.
| 32 | Know Your Industry |
Whether your industry is pharmaceuticals or financial reporting, it carries with it certain skills, knowledge, realities, and disciplines that are subject to change. Historically, the more you know about the industry, the more you are able to track the patterns of your industry and the better able you are to anticipate the changes that may occur in your industry.
Track your “industry”—whether that industry is your company, your professional field or your city. Know that entity and how it operates. This will provide you with a means of anticipating changes and preparing well for them.
| 33 | Watch Your Industry Patterns |
Where is your industry going? What are the implications of this direction for you and your organization? An example might prove to be useful:
When technology became sufficiently sophisticated to provide training to individuals at their desks (rather than requiring them to attend training in a classroom), it became obvious to one training manager that he would no longer need a training staff the size that he had. In relatively short order, he determined that he would: 1) not backfill available openings for training staff; 2) move several members of his in-class training team into the online training function; and 3) ramp up the distance learning part of his training function.
As you are able to see where your industry is going, you can get ahead of the curve on the needed changes.
| 34 | Train Your Staff to Observe the Trends |
In addition to your own observation of the trends, your staff needs to be likewise informed and ready to tackle the changes as they emerge.
Insist that your staff knows what’s happening in the company or what may be happening in the industry.
| 35 | Join a Professional Community |
Virtually every professional discipline has its own professional community or association. These associations serve several purposes: they provide networking opportunities for their members; they keep their members informed as to changes in their field and the implications of those changes for the members’ work; and they also provide an environment where members can learn and grow in their respective disciplines.
In terms of change, these groups often have their fingers on the pulse of the organizations that influence the future of the field. They are largely aware of the stakeholders of the field and where these stakeholders are setting their sights next.
As you interact with a professional community, you can better anticipate the changes that are coming in the industry.
| 36 | Actively Address Industry Trends |
Staff meetings, one-on-one conversations, and small group chats all provide opportunities to explore where the company, your professional discipline, or the community in which you operate may be heading.
All of these entities have implications for you and your team, as well as your collective work. The significance of these implications is often lost, however, if the topics are not brought to the forefront of discussions.
Talk about these trends. Make sure your team members can connect the dots between the present and the future. As you are able to do so, you shorten the transition period from what is currently done and what may need to be done in the future.
| 37 | Play “What If” Games |
“What if” games, if played well and regularly, provide mental and intellectual exercise for your team.
Playing “what if” games simply requires you to think of a condition and explore the possibilities that might occur as a result of that condition. For example, “What if we were no longer able to meet with clients face-to-face? How could we do our jobs effectively under those circumstances?” These “what if” games are also the beginning of scenario planning, which could also be a useful exercise in anticipating the future.
| 38 | Build Full-Fledged Scenarios |
As was indicated in the previous action, scenario planning can be a useful exercise for those anticipating change. It can also be a useful exercise for those who are not anticipating change, because it develops the group’s thinking beyond the present and into possibilities for the future.
Scenarios can be quite complex or they can be simplistic. Whatever approach you take to the building of these scenarios, recognize them for the learning potential that is in them.
And, to the degree that your group is actively involved in creating scenarios, it is actively looking at the future and subconsciously planning for it.
| 39 | Create an Established Approach to Change |
In many respects, approaches to change are much like diets; there are many of them, and many of them work. The issue, then, is not finding the one “silver bullet” of change, but finding a change process to which you are willing to commit and one that you are willing to see through.
And after you have identified this approach to change, ensure that it is well-known among the individuals in your organization. This will speed up the process of change, because the roadmap for change will be clear for all of the participants.
| 40 | Train Your Team on Your Established Approach to Change |
Although there are many reasons that changes in organizations are less than successful, one reason lies in the fact that there are multiple approaches to change, each of which requires translation before the work of change begins.
If there is a dominant approach to change in your organization, make sure all of your team members are familiar with that approach and utilize it. It will increase the depth of the dialogue among members of the team, as well as the ability to navigate the change far more quickly.
| 41 | Apply Your Approach to Change to Small, Insignificant Changes |
The old sales adage, “Try before you buy,” seems to be appropriate here. Before you invite individuals to mortgage their personal and professional futures on a change process that they may have learned but never tried out, allow them to take the process out on a “test drive.”
It’s rather like learning to dance before the big dance; having ironed out the kinks, individuals are able to move forward with greater speed when speed becomes the central issue.
| 42 | Capture Multi-Level Learning from Your Trial Run |
Having completed a “trial run” on a project of lesser importance allows you and your team to capitalize on that experiment for future application. It’s useful to explore:
• What you learned about yourself and your ability to manage change;
• What you learned about your team and its ability to manage change;
• What you learned about the organization’s ability to manage change;
• What you may have learned about change management in general.
If the change process has been well-managed, you and your team will emerge with a head full of information about what you did, what worked well, and what you might want to do differently next time.
You’ll be getting smarter.
| 43 | Make Change the Norm |
In too many organizations, and among too many individuals, change is the exception. Some organizations (and individuals) work diligently to avoid anything that looks like change—holding on to the familiar when a new approach would be far more beneficial.
Seek opportunities to develop the “change muscle” of your organization.
| 44 | Identify the Change Leaders in Your Organization |
Organizational change mastery requires the presence of individuals who cannot only navigate the change but help others to do so, as well. Their presence creates a built-in expertise useful to you as well as to others in the organization.
Who are those individuals in your organization?
Do you have a few? A lot? How many?
Make sure you know who they are and where they are located in the organization. Their influence could be quite useful to your change efforts— both present and future.
| 45 | Increase the Capacity of Those Change Leaders |
Ultimately, change management can best serve you and your organization when it is a well-ingrained competency both within your leadership role and in the roles of other individuals.
This being the case, look for opportunities to expand your understanding of change and its effectiveness, as well as the understanding of other change leaders in this important area.
| 46 | Put “Change” on the Agenda |
Formal meetings are a great way to underscore the things that are most important in your organization. Assuming you have regular staff meetings, periodic conferences, or other meetings where the important issues of your business are discussed, add “change” to that agenda.
This addition will allow for formal, systematic information to be shared about change and its impact on your organization. And it should dovetail with the ongoing dialogue focusing on change that occurs on a daily basis.
| 47 | Talk About Change as the Norm |
Make change and change management as normal a part of the conversation you have in your organization as organizational results, customer needs, and other key aspects of your overall success. Change management is an overall part of your skill set and needs to be managed as such—until further notice.
Change also needs to be a norm for those who work with you—whether they are other managers, direct reports, or colleagues in the organization.
Do your part: talk about the current changes and upcoming changes in the organization as if they were the norm. After all, they are.
Parting thoughts…
Good luck is the residue of preparation.
- Jack Youngblood
But to me the bottom line is the more education you can give yourself, and the more preparation you can do, the less chance of failing.
- Stuart Pearce