1. Commitment

If anything is going to change, there must be commitment at all levels. The top team need to be clear on the need for the change, buy into it and be committed to helping others achieve it.

2. Communication

When employees are not clear what is happening, they start to speculate, make their own judgements and choices. A clear and effective communication strategy is one of the essential cornerstones of any change.

3. Realism

Successful change is grounded in realism. Take for example two organisations that are facing significant financial challenges. The CEO of A PLC states that it will take three years to turn things round. The CEO of B PLC states that everything will be fixed in 9 months. If you are a shareholder, analyst, employee, supplier or customer, which organisation are you most likely to get behind?

4. Defined Outcome

Any organisation that wants to make a successful change needs to be clear on where it is heading and what it will be like when the change has been completed.

5. Clear Accountability

The fifth essential ingredient in successful change is make sure that everyone know what they are responsible for and that there is a clear process that holds people to account for what they have achieved.

What else would you add to the list?

Change is a major challenge for most organisations.  Research suggests that 70% of change projects are not sustained.  In a period of change, communication is key.  If we are honest, most of us are uncomfortable with uncertainty.  In times of change, people become frightened, resistant, go into denial and may even be angry.  There is no magic formula for getting rid of these feelings, but open communication can go a long way to reducing the impact.  So what are 7 things you can do to improve communication in a period of change?

1.                  Communicate the case for change

Individuals need to fully understand:

• Why change is needed

• What the benefits are for them

• What the benefits are for the organisation

• How it might impact on them personally

People will have without doubt given a lot of commitment to the organisation, so make sure that you make the time to get across the case for change.

2.                  Communicate regularly

Once the case for change is communicated and it clear that is going to happen, make regular communication a priority.  This can be something as simple as a weekly e-mail or even audio e-mail which:

• Outlines what has happened so far

• Sets out what will be happening next

• Acknowledges challenges or problems that have been encountered and what is being done about them

3.                  Provide opportunities to ask questions

Traditionally this might have been through open meetings or focus groups and these are still appropriate.  Using technology to allow people to submit questions to a central point is another excellent way of addressing concerns and getting insights into what is worrying people.   These questions can even provide the focus of the weekly communications, as it is likely that common themes will arise.

4.                  Provide opportunities to submit ideas

There is a wealth of talent in the organisation who have numerous ideas that can help make change projects a success.  Make it easy for people to submit those ideas online or in traditional forms such as suggestion boxes.

5.                  Feedback on questions and ideas

It is clearly not possible to feedback on every question or idea submitted, but it is easy to group them and feedback on themes.

6.                  Be honest

People may not like bad news but will appreciate it more than someone being less than 100% honest with them.  Make a decision at the outset to be honest in your communications.

7.                  Train your managers

If people have concerns, their manager will usually be the first person they will speak to.  Make sure that you have provided some basic training to managers on how best to handle these communications.

Change is a major challenge and should not be underestimated.  Good communication can however go a long way towards making change as smooth as possible.

The need for change, transformation, new ways of working and innovation to name just a few is never off the agenda.  Yet the realities between the desire and the delivery of change are somewhat different.  So what realities do you need to face up to when making change?

Reality 1: Most folks don’t like change

Sure we all have to adapt a little bit all of the time and in the main do this without thinking.  On the other hand talk about any sort of significant scale change and chances are that the barriers will go up pretty quickly.  We all to a greater or lesser extent thrive in consistency and stability.

Reality 2: People focus first on what they will lose

Think about a time in the past when you have had to consider making change.  Chances are that people’s initial reaction was not to focus on the opportunity or challenge.  They are more likely to focus on what they will lose.  It is human nature and almost a sort of safety mechanism.

Reality 3: People will feel isolated

People might normally feel that they are part and parcel of a team of supportive people.  Then a change comes along and it can be easy to feel isolated.  This is even more likely if you are the person who is leading the team.

Reality 4: People all have a different level of readiness for change

Some people thrive on continually having new challenges thrust in their direction while for others it will feel like a huge burden.  As the leader the challenge is to be aware of the fact that everyone responds differently and that you will need to test readiness for change.

Reality 5: People worry that they won’t be able to do it  

One or two might be sceptical but change is still possible.  On the other hand if there are many all starting to doubt the ability, skills or resources to make change then there is a potentially big problem.  As the leader you have a key role in supporting people through these times of doubt.

Reality 6: People have only got so much capacity

Even the most enthusiastic can suffer from change fatigue from time to time.  There is a fine balancing act between challenging people and burning them out.  Be alert to the fact that people may only have so much capacity so don’t overload them with change initiatives.

Reality 7: People need to fail safe

Whenever you are considering change you are asking people to take some risk.  They will only take those risks if they know that if it does not work out that they will be acknowledged for having a go.  Remember without some form of risk taking nothing ever moves forward.

Bottom Line – The natural tendency is to resist change, so what are you doing as a leader to help other achieve success when it comes to making change?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professionals to become better leaders and managers.  For more information click here

Change is happening all the time in the business world.  From time to time, all organisations will find themselves in a situation where it has to implement a more structured and more radical change program.  This might be due to factors such as:

• Competition

• Loss of stakeholder confidence

• An adverse event impacting on business reputation

• Technological advances

Change programs are common but it is claimed that up to 70% of them fail.  While there are multiple reasons here are 6 reasons why change programs fail.

1. Communication

It might be that the organisation is having problems delivering the tough messages.  Alternatively it might be inconsistency in the message delivered by members of the leadership team.

The problem might not be with what is said but listening effectively to differing views and ideas.

2. Top Down

Senior people might lead the organisation, set the direction and put the plans in place.  Yet in reality they are not the people who can make it happen.  People at lowest level of the organisation determine whether a change program delivers.  They need to be involved.

3. Lack of space and support

Changes impact on individuals in a very personal way.  If organisations do not provide the space and support to individuals who are impacted by the change, the chances of success are greatly reduced.

4. Unclear objectives

The objective or outcome of any change program needs to be clear.  Ambiguity makes it impossible to get across the reasons and benefits of the change.

5. Lack of performance measures

Change is usually about improvement.  Unless there is a clear set of measures that can let people know whether they are on or off track, that are monitored and people are held accountable for sustainable change is unlikely.

6. Underestimating emotions

While everything on a spreadsheet or project plan is highly rational, it is important not to underestimate emotions.  Few relish change and see it as an opportunity.  This is neither right nor wrong it is just the way it is.  Awareness of people’s emotions can make a huge difference.

Change is a fact of business life and by taking some simple steps, the chances of success can be greatly enhanced.  What’s your top tip?

Imagine you have just been brought into an organisation with the specific goal of making a step change in the performance of the organisation or a specific team, function or project.   Chances are that people around the organisation will be thinking that you are superman or superwoman and that you have some magic wand that is going to fix everything.  The reality, as you know is somewhat different.  So what is it important to do to manage expectations?

Be Totally Honest

Any situation that requires a step change in performance is not going to be something small.  As a result it is important that you are totally honest with people about the size of the challenge and that there is no magic bullet.  Get clear on your message and stick to it.  Make sure that others in your leadership team are clear on the message and stick to it.

Set Realistic Timescales

One of the temptations is to promise timescales that are neither plausible nor achievable.  The best leaders recognise this and set themselves timescales that are going to be seen as others as realistic and position them as totally grounded.  When they are seen as realistic and grounded it builds trust and confidence in them.  This can be particularly useful when it comes to handling media expectations.

Communicate Regularly

It is no use just communicating the vision and then thinking that the communication is done.  This should be the start of a rolling programme of communication that keeps people up to date with the progress and achievements.

Avoid Promises

If you have a situation where you are having to cut costs in order to achieve the step change in performance, employees and their representatives might be looking for promises around job losses.  As the leader you must resist the temptation to avoid making promises that you cannot keep.

Bottom Line – If you are a leader who is tasked with making a step change in performance, managing expectations is a key pillar in your success.  So what do you need to do differently to manage expectations?

e all know that change is happening all of the time.  Yet when it is a change that is related to our career or business, it takes on a whole new perspective.  We might see it as an opportunity, we might see it as a threat and we might even see it as a combination of opportunity and threat.

When faced with a change, it is all too easy to become paralysed by it.  If we are not careful it can lead to illness and stress.  Given this, how can we embrace change?

1. Accept it

This is the first vital step in embracing change.  We all have had times in our life when it was difficult to accept change at the time even though we know it will work out fine in the long run.  I still remember being called into the office of our newly appointed CEO and being advised that I was not part of the plans going forward.  Was I slightly disappointed at the time, yes I was, but at the same time knew resisting it was not going to help the situation.

2. Recognise your successes

I have always found that sitting and writing down all of your achievements is a powerful thing to do when you are facing a change.  For me it does two things.  It allows you to celebrate what you have done and at the same time opens the mind to things you still want to achieve.

3. Look forward

It is the easiest thing in the world to keep looking back and questioning yourself.  While it is useful to reflect on what you have learned, you don’t want to get stuck in the treacle.  Ask yourself what’s next and start moving towards it.

4. See it as a new beginning

We have all probably heard the phrase as one door closes another opens.  In terms of change, I believe that this is a really powerful metaphor.  Change is the next step in the journey, so embrace it and grab the new opportunity.

Over the last few months, I have been noticing more a more people who want things to happen in their business, career and life and at the same time seem reluctant to take responsibility for making it happen.

People often look for circumstances to justify why things are not happening.  It might be:

“There are too many other people in this area in the same business sector as me so I will never make a decent living”

“Organisations are flattening structures all of the time so it is almost impossible to get a senior role”

“I have no time to exercise on a regular basis even though I know it is important for my health and well being”

“I hate my job but I just need to get on with it to pay the bills”

“I need to keep my mouth shut on this issue to keep the peace”

It is all too easy to say to ourselves that this is the way it is.  The truth is that to achieve anything in our life, we need to take responsibility for making it happen or to choose and accept what we have. 

So how can you start to take responsibility and start to move forward on those things that are important to you?

1. Decide to take charge

Whenever you are struggling consciously choose to take 100% responsibility for the results you achieve.

2. Identify what you need to do

We often fall into the trap of saying “I don’t know.”  If this happens to you, take responsibility for finding out.

Imagine for example you want to get your first senior manager role.  Research the skills, knowledge, experience and personal attributes that are needed, assess against what you have and find ways of closing the gap.

Alternatively you might be struggling to get clients.  Sit down and look at how you are promoting yourself.  Assess what appears to be working and what is not.  Look for areas that you have not explored.  For example, one of the new strategies I adopted for my business in the last few months was article marketing.

3. Ignore self doubt

You can be pretty sure that when you decide to take charge, your gremlin or fears will start to take over.  All of your self doubts, anxieties and limiting beliefs will make an appearance.  Thank your gremlin for his/her concern and ignore it.

4. Get into action

If you want to build your responsibility taking muscle, start taking action.  You will be amazed how quickly things start to happen and how motivated you become to do more.

Whatever organisation you are working in right now, there is likely to be some form of change happening. You might be:

• Restructuring
• Acquiring another business
• Cutting numbers of staff
• Implementing new working practices

Sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking that change is difficult or requires some special skills which you might not have. 

In reality, we are dealing with change every day.  The weather, how we are feeling, new food in a different restaurant, visiting new places are just a few examples.  The next time you are faced with a major change, ask yourself the following questions:

What are you resisting?
Why are you resisting?
What are you afraid of?
What is the cost to me of not changing?
What benefits are there of changing?
What would I need to do to make the change?
What is the first step I could take?

Contrary to what we all think we are much more ready and able to make change than we believe.  So what’s the first step for you?

Change is part and parcel of life in business these days and many change projects arise out of the need to turn around financial problems.  A business might be facing problems making a profit or liquidity problems around servicing borrowings that it has made to name just a few.  So what common mistakes do people make when it comes to financial turnaround projects?

Mistake 1:  Seeing it as something for the accountants

Yes accountants have an important role to play in financial management in organisations but the reality is that they spend very little of the organisation’s money.  Often when faced with financial problems, non financial managers see it as something to be dealt with by accountants rather than by the whole organisation.

Solution: Start seeing financial turnaround projects as business change projects.

Mistake 2: Trying to rely on quick fixes

Quick fixes such as short term cuts in expenditure or deferring something are clearly important to stop the rot but they are not the route to sustained turnaround of performance.  Think about it, if you had a deep cut that needed stitching to heal properly, you would not merely cover the wound with a plaster or bandage.  You would look for the best long term solution.

Solution:  Use quick fixes as the start point not the end point of financial turnaround.

Mistake 3: Deck chair shuffling

By the term deck chair shuffling, I mean making the easy changes without ever tackling the real issues that are getting in the way of performance. It is easy to delude yourself that you are making a change when in reality all you are doing is making surface level changes within the comfort zone.

Solution:  Make a commitment to keep deck chair shuffling to a minimum and focus energies on the real issues that need tackling, even if they are uncomfortable.

Mistake 4: Short term focus

Anyone can grab the low hanging fruit and achieve short term improvement.  Trouble is that it is only a matter of time before the same problems arise again and the organisation finds itself in a worse position than it already was in.

Solution:  When faced with a turnaround and change situation focus on creating long term sustainable change.

Mistake 5:  Failing to give people enough time

When organisations are facing challenges, it is all too easy to remove the current senior team, bring in the new people and expect them to deliver miracles overnight.  Change, other than that of a short term quick fix strategies takes time. 

Solution:  Give senior people sufficient time to make sustainable change.

Sustainable change is not something that happens overnight.  By avoiding these five common mistakes you can greatly increase the chances of achieving financial turnaround and achieving sustainable change.

Leading is challenging at the best of time.  In the current economy, the need to make change is even more pressing for many organisations and those working in them in management and leadership roles.  The big barrier that managers and leaders need to overcome is not about process or project management.  So what is it?

Getting others to see the need and importance of making change

So how do you address this big barrier?

1. Explain in very clear and simple terms the current situation.
2. Outline the likely consequences for the organisation and individuals of doing nothing.
3. Set out what needs to happen and by when to address the situation.
4. Gain support from a sufficiently large cohort of the workforce and their representatives to make it happen.

What else would you add to the list to remove the biggest barrier?