There’s a time to fall in love and a time to fall in line. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but while some changes are perceived as being a good deal for everyone involved, sometimes change is needed for less-then-positive reasons. In the world of implementing change, the chances are good that you’ll see both [...]
Change Agent Tip #31 In my last article, I described methods for Change Agents to reclaim control of their overflowing inboxes by, among other things, setting aside dedicated slices of time each day to focus on handling email and using a 2-minute rule to knock out emails that are easy to answer. Click here to [...]
In this final post of a 4-part series, I’ll wrap up a recipe for change success based on the notion that Change Agents should treat their work like a project. The first three posts suggested you apply classic project management discipline to: … clearly define and manage change activities, … execute change adoption plans based [...]
In an earlier post, I advised Change Agents to treat their change like a project in order to give it the structure and discipline needed for successful execution. I also described a set of four “must haves” for Change Agents to deliver these projects. The list of key ingredients in my recipe for change project [...]
People often ask me the difference between “Change Management” and “Change Leadership”. In my last post, I answered the question with the old axiom: “You manage things and you lead people…”. I also listed some of the critical things (such as work activities, budgets and schedule dependencies) that Change Agents need to manage. Today I’ll [...]
In my last post, I described a process Change Agents can use to gather preliminary data about the types of resistance they may expect to their change. As you follow through on the surveys, interviews and site visits as I described, you will start to amass a wealth of raw data. This data will contain [...]
Every change is subject to some level of resistance and stakeholders will express it in any number of ways. Instead of simply tolerating resistance or cowering in the face of it – Change Agents should seek out the loudest detractors and leverage the momentum they can provide. The first steps to converting negative resistance into [...]
Some teams work for months or years to implement a change, then limp across the finish line burned out and ready to shut down. Others reminisce fondly about having been part of a great team that accomplished something significant. What sets the two apart? I would argue the one of the most critical factors in [...]
Most significant change initiatives show up on the radar of your organization’s leadership team at some point. The most effective changes are given executive sponsorship attention early in the planning stages. The classic disasters are noticed only when things go wrong. The best Change Agents aggressively verify Sponsorship all the way up the org chart. [...]
It may seem like an obvious thing to do, but many organizations begin rolling out big changes with no clear definition of what they’re changing or who needs to know about it. Here are a few pointers on how to effectively define your change: Write it Down: Capture the definition of your change in writing. [...]
One of the more famous movie lines from the 1960′s comes from the Paul Newman classic “Cool Hand Luke”. A road prison guard (played by the late, great character actor Strother Martin) addressed what he had just discovered to be the reason why a prisoner named Luke (played by Newman) keeps trying to escape: “What [...]
Q: When is the perfect time for a business to introduce a major change? A: There is no perfect time. But you can choose an optimal time based on your internal & external business cycles and the expectations of your customers. One Great Cup of Joe I had a great customer experience recently with the [...]
In an earlier post I shared some effective ground rules that your team can use to get along and be productive. I’m sure many of you have more good team guidelines that have worked for you – and I’d encourage you to agree on a similar list when you kick off your next team project. [...]
Anyone who’s participated on a project in a team setting has probably heard the term “ground rules” tossed around. Sometime the term applies to a useful set of axioms that cooperative team members follow to guide their civil and productive interaction. Sometimes it refers to a nice poster on the wall of all company conference [...]
I read a great article on ZDNet which recapped lessons that organizations can learn from the recent SAP implementation disaster in Marin County, California. I also listened in on a very good web seminar a while back on the same topic that was hosted by an ERP consulting company called Panorama. A quick note before [...]
In my last article, I extolled the virtues of using a team website to keep everyone on your team in the loop. But exactly what information should be kept on a team website? What’s critical and what’s just “nice to have”? These are the topics of today’s post. What’s It All About? There are dozens [...]
In my last post I introduced a concept called the Change Adoption Curve that many Organizational Change Management experts use to illustrate the cycle people tend to go through as they adapt to change. I listed several assumptions about the curve that you should watch for when using it. Today I’ll address how you can [...]
What you’re talking about…