When people ask me to describe our change management model at LRI, I tell them it boils down to three principles.
Principle number one: Focus on the first five percent. What you do to engage stakeholders, gather champions, set expectations, and how well you paint a picture for people of the decision-making process will go a long way toward guaranteeing a successful outcome. Engage as many people as you can in the process early on – most importantly – those who will be affected and those who can help. When ideological stances are strongly opposed it is best to engage early instead of shutting people out of the process. Read my article strategic change management for more on the first five percent.
Principle number two: Focus on defining the root problem. What good is a solution, if the problem is not defined correctly. We advocate a systems approach. Without looking at the reasons why people often say things like: “Staff isn’t working hard enough,” or “we need better products,” or “we need more sales”. Very often, the answer lies in looking in the mirror – at what you’re doing or not doing. A systems approach we use is to focus on core values – things essential for an organizations success. You can make tough decisions look easy if you ground them in well-understood core values.
Principle number three: Find a good guide. Experienced guides set the right tone, keep an open mind, find areas of agreement, and identify key issues. Guides should be able to show case studies or examples of models that worked for other organizations. A good sense of humor is important, along with the courage to handle adversity and uncertainty. It is hard to find a good and experienced guide. But they are absolutely essential to our change management model.
Author Bio: Eric Douglas is a senior business consultant with expertise in executive leadership, change management, and strategic planning.