There is no change curve. A single change curve doesn’t exist in most organisations. The concept of a single change curve means you’re always looking at it from the myopic lens of a single project or a single change. If we adopt a humanistic and human-centred view, what we see is that at any one time there are likely multiple change curves happening, to the same person, the same team, the same organisation.
At any one time, an impacted stakeholder maybe undergoing the 3rd iteraction of changes in one project, whilst partially adopting the new behaviours of another project, whilst just learning about the details of yet another project. And it may not even be projects or programs. It could be smaller team-led continuous improvement initiatives.
The concept of Agile methodology has revolutionized the way organizations approach software development and project management. It emphasizes flexibility, adaptability, and continuous improvement. However, the frequent introduction of multiple Agile changes within an organization can lead to multiple ‘S’ curves, which can result in several challenges related to adoption and business performance and capacity.
Multiple S curves refer to the continuous introduction of new Agile changes, each of which leads to a new adoption process and a corresponding performance improvement. This results in a series of S-shaped curves, each representing a different stage of the Agile adoption process.
The S curve is assuming that all of the changes are well implemented with good people experiences. The initial curve shows the slowness of the change adoption in the beginning, followed by a faster change adoption process, and finally capering off.
However, when the change is not well implemented due to various reasons the experience can be more like a V curve, where the experience and performance dips down into the ‘valley of despair’, followed by a ramp-up of improving experiences and change adoption.
The introduction of multiple Agile changes within an organization can lead to several challenges related to adoption and business performance and capacity. Firstly, continuous change can lead to confusion and uncertainty among employees. It can be difficult for employees to keep up with the latest changes and understand how they should adjust their work processes accordingly. This can result in decreased productivity and morale among employees.
Moreover, frequent changes can also result in increased cognitive strain and workload for employees. They may need to continuously learn new processes and techniques, leading to burnout and decreased job satisfaction.
Another challenge of having multiple Agile changes is that it can lead to decreased consistency in processes and outcomes. Each change may result in different outcomes and different ways of working, making it difficult to standardize and measure performance. This can result in a lack of accountability and a decrease in the organization’s overall efficiency.
In addition to the challenges related to adoption and performance, multiple Agile changes can also result in a decreased business capacity. The frequent changes can disrupt established workflows, making it difficult for teams to complete projects in a timely manner. This can lead to decreased project velocity and increased project risk, making it challenging for the organization to meet its goals and objectives.
So, while Agile methodology is a powerful tool for organizations, the frequent introduction of multiple Agile changes can result in several challenges related to adoption, performance, and capacity. To mitigate these challenges, organizations should take a strategic approach to Agile adoption, ensuring that changes are well-planned, communicated effectively, and implemented in a controlled manner. By doing so, organizations can ensure that the benefits of Agile methodology are realized while minimizing the risks associated with multiple changes.
To truly manage the multiple change curves, data is key. Without understanding which change curves are happening at what time it is not possible to manage change holistically. With data, you can easily drill into what is happening when, to whom, to what extent, and in what way. It is only with data that we can effectively orchestrate change across the board.
If you are going on a journey to capture change impacts across the organisation, be aware of how you are capturing the data so that you are truly addressing business issues critical to the organisation. For example:
Ensure that the data captured can be easily formatted and visualised to support a range of business decision-making contexts without too much manual work. The more manual the set up of the data is, the more time and effort it requires to answer the various data cuts that stakeholders may be needing
Balancing critical data points required versus having too many data fields and therefore too Cumberland and difficult to capture the data. The more data you are required to collect, the more complex the process is for those whom you are collecting the data from
Thanks to the nature of agile projects, the data will change constantly. The tracking of constantly changing change data is critical. However, it should also be easy and quick to update the data
Organisations under changes will invariably have changes in organisational structures, teams or roles. Ensure that your data-capturing process makes it easy to update the structure as they change.
Have a chat with us to understand more about how to leverage digital solutions to multiple change impacts across the organisation, and how to leverage AI and automation to make your lives easier in leveraging a data platform to make critical business decisions using change impact data.
So next time you talk about THE change curve, just be aware that you’re likely not adopting a people-centric view of change. You may want to look more holistically at what your impacted stakeholders are undergoing or about to undergo. Adopt a holistic mindset of what impacted stakeholders are going through as you plan out your change approach.
If you’re interested in exploring more about managing agile changes check out the following:
Change is an inevitable part of, not just corporate life, but life in general. It’s a natural occurrence that we all must face at some point. But despite the many benefits that change can bring, many of us are still reluctant to embrace it. After all, for many, it is easier to keep doing the same thing than to do something different and unknown. With the unknown comes risks. Risks that may be scary. Risks that things may be worse than the current scenario.
Often resistance to change can be thought of as an outcome of bad change management. If you don’t effectively manage your stakeholders or have not effectively assessed the impact of change, there is likely going to be change resistance. Resistance may arise from bad change interventions, including ineffective consultation or engagement of stakeholders.
However, sometimes despite everything you’ve done. You’ve ticked every box and followed almost a ‘textbook’ approach to the change process. Despite this, you are still getting change resistance from some stakeholder groups. Why is this happening?
Sometimes there may be very few levers you can pull in preventing the resistance. You’ve gotten your leadership cohorts to reinforce and evangelize the purpose and benefits of the change. You’ve tried all you can to reach the hearts not just the minds of what you think impacted employees want to hear.
Why is this happening? It could be the fear of loss, or loss aversion, that has led to the resistance. This is the research-backed fact that people tend to have a cognitive bias where the pain of losing is much stronger than the pleasure of gaining.
One example of this phenomenon is why people stay in bad marriages. Despite the obvious benefits of leaving an unhappy marriage, many people still choose to stay in it. This is because they fear the loss of familiarity, comfort, and security that their marriage provides. This is despite how unhappy they honestly are in the marriage. They may also be afraid of the unknown or the changes that come with divorce. These same fears and reluctance to change can also be seen in organizations facing change.
For something less dramatic, another example could be changing phones. We are wedded to our phones for a big chunk of how we run our lives. Changing a phone operating system, brand, or even model can be a quite a change that a lot of people are not inclined to go through, until they are pushed to do it.
When organizations decide to implement changes, they often focus on the potential benefits that will come from the change. They may present a logical argument for why the change is necessary and how it will benefit everyone involved. However, even with a clear and logical argument, people may still be reluctant to embrace change. This is because change often means loss, even if it is the loss of something negative or unwanted.
For example, if an organization decides to implement new software, employees may resist the change even if it will make their jobs easier and more efficient. This is because they are comfortable with the current system, and they fear the unknown or the potential loss of skills that they have developed with the current system. They may also fear that the new system will require them to learn new skills or take on new responsibilities. This can be despite your best efforts to create a positive picture of the end state.
There are still lots of examples in organisations where employees prefer to stick to their current manual ways of work using spreadsheets, versus the more efficient and effective digital tools.
They may have created the spreadsheet themselves. They may have spent months building consensus across the organisation to use this process. Changing this process could mean not only a lack of familiarity, but it could also result in a loss of their ‘importance’ of their role. So as a result, people continue to maintain the status quo. Stay within the comfort zone. After all, if they don’t change, they can’t be ‘blamed’ if something goes wrong.
As change practitioners, we cannot just blame those impacted by the change. We may also need to see if this applies to us. For example, a lot of change practitioners still use manual spreadsheets to create a ‘single view of change’ despite the amount of manual work that is required. They may have faced leaders who question the integrity of the rating system or become ‘bored’ with the same heatmap or chart since they can’t use it to make black-and-white business decisions. But, fear of the unfamiliarity dominates.
Organizations need to recognize this fear of loss and work to address it. Here are some practical suggestions for designing change initiatives that can help tackle this barrier:
1. Look at the data about how your target employees have responded to different types of changes in the past. What types of responses were there with a certain type or volume of change? How were these dealt with? What were the outcomes? What types of employees were more ‘resistant’ than others?
2. Communicate Clearly, early and Transparently: Slow change adopters may need more time to prepare for change and what it means for them. Is there another option if they do not like the end state? What if they disagree? Communication should be clear, transparent, and empathetic. It should focus on the benefits of the change, and address any concerns or fears employees may have. It should also focus on what would happen if the changes are not adopted.
3. Involve employees in the Change Process (where it makes sense): Inviting employees to participate in the change process can help them feel more invested in the change and less fearful of losing control. When employees have a voice in the decision-making process, they are more likely to feel valued and respected. This also allows businesses to identify potential challenges and concerns that employees may have, which can be addressed before the change is implemented. This approach may need to be applied carefully, especially when dealing with a highly resistant group of employees. If not carefully managed, the change approach may get out of control.
4. Provide Support: Change can be overwhelming and stressful, especially when employees feel like they are not equipped to handle it. Providing support and training can help employees feel more confident and prepared. It can also help them see the benefits of the change more clearly. This may sound like common sense. But it’s amazing how many change initiatives don’t provide any support to impacted groups, beyond technical support.
5. Celebrate Successes: Change can be a long and difficult process, so it is essential to celebrate successes along the way. Recognizing and acknowledging employee efforts and successes can help maintain momentum and motivation. This is another seemingly ‘no-brainer’. Designing a series of successes help create positivity.
6. Be Patient: Change takes time, and employees need time to adjust. It is essential to be patient and understanding. Rushing the process or ignoring employees’ concerns can lead to resistance and resentment. In your change readiness assessment or baselining phase of the project, if you’ve found that change adoption could be slow and resistance could be expected, ensure you’ve factored in sufficient timing.
Change is difficult, even when it makes logical sense and has many benefits. People are often afraid of losing something, even if it is something negative or unwanted. Organizations need to recognize this fear of loss and work to address it when implementing changes. Recognising this cognitive bias is the first step. By providing support, and resources, and involving employees in the change process, organizations can help reduce the fear of loss and successfully implement change.
A good change adoption dashboard can make or break the full benefit realization of a change initiative. It captures the essence of what stakeholders need to focus on to drive full change adoption. This visual representation of the status and progress of a change initiative provides real-time data and insights into how well-impacted employees are adopting the change and what steps can be taken to improve adoption rates. In this article, we will outline the steps for designing an effective change adoption dashboard.
Change adoption is often only measured toward the end of a change initiative. This is a mistake since the adoption journey can start as early as the project commencement, or when stakeholders start hearing about the initiative. At a minimum, change adoption should be defined and agreed upon before significant change impact happens. If you are implementing a system this will be well before the system go-live.
These are the key steps in building a great change adoption dashboard.
Step 1: Define the Objectives of the Change Initiative
The first step in designing a change adoption dashboard is to clearly define the objectives of the change initiative. This includes understanding what the change is, what it aims to achieve, and what the desired outcomes are. Understanding the objectives of the change initiative is critical to defining the metrics that will be used to measure adoption and success.
If your initiative has a long list of objectives, be careful not to be tempted to start incorporating all of these into your dashboard. Your task is to pin down the most critical change management objectives that must be met in order for the initiative to be successful. If you are really struggling with how many objectives you should focus on, aim for the top three.
Step 2: Identify Key Metrics
Once the objectives of the change initiative have been defined, the next step is to identify the key metrics that will be used to measure adoption and success. These metrics should be directly tied to the objectives of the change initiative and should provide actionable insights into the progress and success of the change.
Some examples of metrics that can be used to measure change adoption include:
Stakeholder engagement levels (depending on your stakeholder impacts these could be customer, employee or partners)
User adoption rates
Process improvement metrics
Time to adoption
Feedback from employees
The key is to locate the few metrics that will form the core of what full change adoption means. As a general rule, this often means a behaviour change of some kind. Here are some examples.
If the goal is changing a business process from A to B. Then you are looking for employees to start following the new process B. Then, identify the core behaviours that mean following process B.
If the goal is to start using a new system, then you would focus on system usage. Also focus on tracking any workarounds that employees may resort to in order not to use the system.
If the goal is to improve customer conversations, then you would focus on the quality of those conversations using key indicators. This may involve call listening or customer satisfaction ratings.
Again, ensure you are not over-extending yourself by picking too many metrics. The more there is, the more work there is. Having too many metrics also lead to attention dilution, and you start to loose stakeholder focus on the more critical metrics compared to less critical ones.
In the group of metrics you’ve chosen, if there is no behaviour measure then it is likely you may have missed the most critical element of change adoption. In most cases, behaviour change metric is essential for any change adoption dashboard.
If your change process involves too many behaviour steps, then focus on ones that are easier to track and report on. In a system implementation project, they could be system usage reports or login frequency.
Examples of target behaviours as a part of behaviour change
Step 3: Choose the Right Visualization Techniques
The next step in designing a change adoption dashboard is to choose the right visualization techniques. The visualizations should be chosen based on the data that needs to be displayed and the insights that need to be gained. Some examples of visualization techniques that can be used include:
Bar graphs: to display changes in metrics over time
Pie charts: to display the distribution of data
Line charts: to display changes in metrics over time
Heat maps: to display the distribution of data on a map
Selection of charts can be technical, and your goal is always to choose the right type of chart to make it easier for the audience to understand and interpret. Minimise on having too many colors since this can be distracting and overwhelming. Use colours carefully and only to show a particular point or to highlight a finding. Choosing the wrong chart can mean more questions than answers for your stakeholders, so choose carefully.
Beyond just having a collection of charts, modern dashboards have a mixture of different types of visuals to aid easy stakeholder understanding. For example, you could have different data ‘tiles’ that show key figures or trends. You may also want to incorporate key text descriptions of findings or trends in your dashboard. Having a mixture of different types of information can help your stakeholders greatly and avoid data saturation.
Example of chart styles from The Change Compass
Step 4: Design the Dashboard
Once the objectives, metrics, and visualization techniques have been defined, the next step is to design the dashboard. The design should be intuitive and user-friendly, with the ability to drill down into the data to gain deeper insights. The dashboard should also be accessible to all stakeholders, including employees, managers, and executives.
Data visualisation is a discipline in itself. For a general overview and key tips on chart design and selection visit our article to learn more about data visualisation techniques.
To reduce manual work in constantly updating and producing the dashboard for your stakeholders think about leveraging technical solutions to do this for you. A common approach is to use excel spreadsheet and PowerBI. This may be feasible for some, but it often involves using a PowerBI expert (which may come at a cost), and any time you want to change the dashboard you need to loop back the expert to do it for you.
The Change Compass has incorporated powerful and intuitive dashboarding and charting features so that you do not need to be an expert to create a dashboard. Reference our templates as examples and create your own dashboard with a few clicks.
An Example of a Change Adoption Dashboard from The Change Compass
Step 5: Test and Refine the Dashboard
The final step in designing a change adoption dashboard is to test and refine it. This includes testing the dashboard with a small group of stakeholders and getting their feedback. Based on their feedback, the dashboard can be refined and improved until it provides the insights and data that stakeholders need to drive change adoption.
A key part of this step is testing any automation process in dashboard generation. Is the data accurate? Is it recent and updated? What operating rhythms do you need to have in place to ensure that the process flows smoothly, and that you get the dashboard produced every week/month/quarter?
Step 6: Continuously Monitor and Update the Dashboard
It is important to continuously monitor the change adoption dashboard and update it regularly. This will help to ensure that the dashboard remains relevant and provides the most up-to-date information on the progress of the change initiative.
The reality is that stakeholders will very likely get bored with the same dashboard time and time again. They will likely suggest changes and amendments from time to time. Anticipate this and proactively improve your dashboard. Does it drive the right stakeholder focus and conversation? If not, tweak it.
Good stakeholder conversations mean that your stakeholders are getting to the roots of why the change is or is not taking place. The data presented prompts the constant focus and avoids diversion in that focus. This is also a journey for your key stakeholders to find meaning in what it takes to lead the change and reinforce the change to get business results.
Summary
Designing an effective change adoption dashboard is a critical step in ensuring the success of change initiatives. By providing real-time data and insights into how well employees are adopting the change, a change adoption dashboard can help key stakeholders make informed decisions and take action to improve adoption rates. Ultimately it is about achieving the full initiative benefits targeted. By following the steps outlined in this article, change managers can design a change adoption dashboard that provides the insights they need to drive change adoption.
Building and executing a change adoption dashboard can be a manually intensive and time consuming exercise. Leverage technology tools that incorporates automation and AI. You will find that this can significantly increase the speed in which you are able to execute on not just the change dashboard, but driving the overall change delivery. For example, you can leverage out-of-the-box features such as forecasting and natural language query to save significant time and effort.
Have a chat to us about what options there are to help you do this.
It is the year of rabbit in the Chinese New Year of 2023. A quarter of the world’s population celebrates this. It is also the first year that a lot of countries are emerging from Covid and where there are little or no restrictions on travel and movement. People are travelling again and taking vacations. There is optimism in the air. Optimism that hopefully, the year brings better luck in health and economy for people a new year with hopefully less change and fewer disruptions.
With any Chinese New Year, there is a set of traditional customs that accompany the new year. These customs have developed over the years as people gather to pray, to gather, to celebrate, and to make wishes for the new year. For example, the customs of a family getting together to clean their house, having dinner, and staying u late on New Year’s Eve were formed in the Wei and Jin dynasties (220-420 AD). From the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD) entertainment formed including as firecrackers, dragon and lion dances, and lantern shows.
These customs have been formed to welcome the new and the good and remove the bad and the old. It helps to gear the families and communities to bring positivity in facing the new year. These rituals help people focus on the milestone and use it as an opportunity to reset and renew.
In running change projects, we also need to re-gear ourselves for the new year so that we ourselves are in the right head space and outlook to drive successful change in the new year. How might we do this? Chinese new year customs offer some useful suggestions.
Tip 1 – Getting the house in order
To prepare for the new year the Chinese clean their houses and surrounding areas as a symbol of sweeping out any misfortune and traces of bad luck. This is aimed to rid the house of back luck and misfortune of the past to open up the spaces for all that is new, including good luck.
Change practitioners should also follow suit to ensure that their change initiative is set up for success. Keeping the ‘house in order’ means:
Ensuring the documentation and data are optimised, easy to access, orderly, and can meet audit requirements.
Access to files is well organised and appropriate. Roles that no longer require access may need permission updates
The change team resourcing is optimised. Is there sufficient change resources to meet project requirements for the new year? How can resourcing be optimised? If the change management stream was asked to cut costs, what would be items to consider?
Tip 2: Visiting relatives and friends – or stakeholders
Another Chinese New Year custom is to visit friends and relatives. This is a way for people to bring good wishes to each other. Often these visits involve bringing gifts such as fruit and local products.
Change practitioners should begin the new year by meeting with various stakeholder groups. Bring positive thoughts and wishes to your meetings. Re-connect with your stakeholder groups to find out how their holiday period fared. This may be one of those few opportunities during the year where you’re able to connect to your stakeholders at a personal level by understanding more about their families (whatever form the family may consist of).
When you re-connect with your stakeholder groups, think about:
What are the new or changing needs of your stakeholders in the new year?
Which stakeholders do you need to spend more or less time with as a result of your experience last year?
Where are your stakeholders along the change journey? What else could help to speed up their adoption of the change?
What communication, engagement, and learning needs have worked well or not so well with them?
Typical Chinese New Year customs
Tip 3: Setting off firecrackers and fireworks – or re-highlighting the change
In the Chinese New Year, the firecrackers and fireworks are to create a festive atmosphere to welcome the new year. It is about creating the right environment.
In a similar way, change practitioners need to think about how to open the new year with a bang to re-orient their stakeholders to focus on the change. This does not mean setting off fireworks literally. But it means being clear about what communications and engagement tactics might be needed to create the right environment for people to focus on the change in the new year.
It may not need to be a communications campaign. Some ideas of what may work in organisations to draw attention to re-orientate back to the focus on the change:
An interview with the project sponsor
Town hall session
A social lunch or drinks session
Posters and cards
Emails about the focus for the year
Show-and-tell session about the holiday period
Tip 4: New year’s shopping – or update
People buy food and gifts for Chinese New Year for friends and family to celebrate the fresh new year. This also includes wearing new clothes as a symbol of good health and prosperity for the new year.
In a similar vein, change practitioners should think about what reset or update is needed for the new year. What has been learned from the past year which can be applied in the new year? Does the change approach need to be adjusted or tweaked for the new year?
What aspects of the change needs to be updated for the new year?
These might include such as:
New survey format or tool to allow the project to easily design conditional questioning to probe deeper into potential change readiness and change adoption blockers
Change messaging or positioning that may need to be tweaked to better resonate with particular stakeholder groups. Look at the data in terms of feedback, click rates, or viewership rate of communication materials as evidence
Change measurement system may need to be tweaked. Are you able to collect the right type and level of data to make critical change decisions? How should measures be altered accordingly to better suit the demands of the new year?
Leverage AI and automation to work more productively and deliver more value. There is ChatGPT which is wildly talked about that can uses to write content for all types of purposes. The Change Compass also offers a range of automation and AI tools to make your lives easier in delivering change
These are some of the ways in which change practitioners can practice traditional Chinese New Year’s customs and rituals and apply them to their projects. Customs have been formed over hundreds of years and exist to mark milestones collectively for people. They help gear us for the new year, to be better prepared, and to be in the right mindset. Moreover, they help us to have the capacity to be optimistic. Through optimism, we can welcome the new year with intentions toward successful change.
Creating a change management strategy is one of the most important pieces of work for the change management practitioner. Done well, it can drive the change initiative to success. If not crafted carefully, it can lead the project to its downfall even before the project starts. A good change strategy should be logical, fact based and clear. Yet, despite its importance it is one of the least understood aspects of the change management process.
A key pitfall for the change practitioner in devising a change strategy is to create one that is ‘cookie cutter’ and ‘generic’. Creating a generic change strategy is very easy, not because the change practitioner is lazy or is incompetent, but mostly because there is usually a standard and acknowledged ‘way of doing things around here’ in organisations.
Organisations are used to doing things in certain ways and this is often incorporated as a part of the ‘culture’. ‘The way we do things around here’ is often the impetus by which stakeholders reinforce the ‘status quo’ of implementing change in a particular way. This is because ‘this way’ has always worked in the past and is what people are used to.
What’s wrong with using the status quo you may ask? Well, sometimes it may be the best way, but not always. Why? Because not all changes are the same.
Changes come in all shapes and sizes, some are large multi-year transformations whilst others are small process improvements. There are also different types of changes, ranging from significant organisational restructuring, system implementation through to new product launches. Some changes may require highly structured, process-centric implementation method such as a regulatory process change. Other changes may be better with a more agile approach, such as transformation programs to improve customer centricity.
Rather than asking what the stakeholders think would be the best change strategy or approach, take a fact-based approach. If possible, refer to previously implemented changes as benchmarks or comparison yard-sticks. Ask your stakeholders how previously implemented changes fared against their respective change management strategies.
Key points of your research should include the following:
Size/Complexity of the change
Context/Type of change
Numbers of people impacted
Length of the project
Engagement and communication approaches taken
Stakeholder education and influencing approaches taken
Stakeholder responses and engagement levels
Lessons learnt and what worked or did not work
Research and data on what has worked in the past is crucial to your strategy
Taking a benchmark approach to developing a change strategy ensures that you take into account the facts of what worked and did not work. You also take into account differences in the change initiatives and how these could have impacted the change strategy taken and therefore the corresponding outcomes. Where possible, use change metrics such as stakeholder responses or survey results. These are powerful indicators of change outcomes against the strategies taken.
Most change management strategies are not strategies
If you review change management strategies devised across initiatives, you will find that most change strategies are not actually strategies, but a compilation of change tactics. These change tactics are a list of aspirational ‘philosophies’ that may be nice to have but there is no real way of knowing how these drive the project to success.
Let’s look at some examples of these change tactics.
Be transparent and truthful. This is a common used one, where the goal is to be as authentic and truthful as possible with the goal of gaining trust of impacted stakeholders. This means not intending to making the messaging overly positive, and erring on the side of being as realistic as possible. This may be hard to implement if Corporative Affairs or Internal Communications does not agree with this approach.
Involve stakeholders in designing the change. This is another popular aspiration for change initiatives. The thinking is to be as inclusive as possible to include a range of stakeholders in the design and implementation of the change, so as to maximise engagement. The more engaged targeted stakeholders are the higher the changes of change adoption success.
Strong senior leader sponsorship. Thanks to a wide range of books and literature touting the importance of gaining senior leader sponsorship, this is another common one. Yes, having senior leaders driving the change will go a long way toward ensuring change outcome success. However, this in itself may not be sufficient. Again, depending on the type of change it maybe better to have a bottom-up, grass roots approach, rather than a top down approach.
All of the above change tactics may seem sound and logical. And they probably are. However, the whole point of a change strategy is not to list out a set of tactics, principles or philosophies. There could be a very long list of seemingly logical tactics. It also may not be possible or realistic to commit fully to every tactic.
Change strategy is about deciding what top few change approaches will be taken that will directly drive the most initiative success. This means that the change practitioner must start with the project targets and objectives. These should be as black and white indicators. For example, increase customer satisfaction by 10%, increase efficiency by 20%, or increase customer responses by 40%.
Now that you have identified the project targets and objectives from the project manager, you now need to identify change management requirements. For example, to increase efficiency by 10%, the project needs to ensure that the customer service representatives follow the new process 100% of the time. To do this, the project may need to design a series of audit and system notification processes to reinforce this behaviour. From a change management perspective your requirement could be ensuring that the report is built into and discussed by the relevant leaders and teams. Also, that the performance scorecard for concerned roles have built in these metrics.
Let’s take another example. To increase customer satisfaction by 20% the project needs to ensure that frontline agents know how to have the right type of conversations with customers. The change management requirement could be to instil continual coaching and feedback to drive continual skills uplift that is based on competency ratings. The Change strategy would then be driving competency based uplift.
High level example of a change management strategy
In this way you can see that each part of the change strategy directly contributes to reaching the project targets. The direct contribution of each change strategy can then be evaluated in terms of its contribution importance.
So now you know how to devise a change strategy that directly contributes to the goals of the project. Your change management work should be geared around driving this strategy. And the contribution of your work should be clear and explicit. It should not be brushed aside as a ‘nice to have’ or too ‘soft and fluffy’.
If you want to learn more about creating the right change management metrics, visit The Ultimate Guide to Measuring Change.
Creating the right change management strategy is an important step. Even more important throughout the implementation of the project is how you monitor and adapt to the challenges that come your way. Change strategies may need to be tweaked or revised depending on the data you’re seeing along the way. To find out more about how to leverage data to resolve the most challenging questions during your change journey chat to us about how The Change Management platform can help.
