As leading change efforts is a large part of what I do, I’m very used to hearing things like:
- Ugg, another change?
- Do we have to do this?
- Why can’t we just have a little time without changes?
- I hate change!
- I’m just going to keep doing it my way.
These statements and emotional responses to changes in the workplace are entirely tied to how we lead the implementation of changes at work.
Change feels bad it when:
- The Change Management is Deficit focused:
- The perception is that the change is due to something the individual or team is doing wrong
- The approach to the change is focused on things people do not know
- The Change Management process is too short
- One training, maybe two are provided
- After the training everyone moves on and considers it done
- The Change being implemented isn’t right
- It does not address the root cause to get the desired results
- It does not positively impact those who are responsible for making the change
But not all change is bad!
For one thing, the same people who complain about change are not likely living in their childhood home. They may be married or in a serious relationship. They may have kids (including pets) or be planning them. And these are changes under taken willingly.
Markedly, we all engage in change daily, so how do we improve work related change?
The answer is we start to approach change through a Change Management lens, not only as a project to be managed.
Project Management or Change Management?
This is a favorite topic of mine, so you will find lots of more specific pieces in other posts. What I want to leave you with today is an understanding of what the difference is and some initial shifts in thinking that you can implement immediately.
While Project Management is important, it’s only a subset of change management. We need both to succeed. But change management is harder because it’s often less concrete because it involves the human aspects of change rather than just the tasks. Here’s some examples of how the two are different but related:
| Change Management | Project Management | |
|---|---|---|
| Focused on | The People Who needs to change? What do they think? What do they need to change? | The project What is changing? Who is doing what? What are the deadlines? |
| Starts with | Clear understanding of the problem being solved What’s the root cause? What’s the desired outcome? | The solution chosen What are all of the key implementation steps? What are the resources available? |
| Asks questions like | What will motivate people to make this change? What will remind people to make the change in the moment? Can something be done to make the change the easiest option or automate it? How will we know if it’s worked? How should we communicate that the change is coming, what the change is, and how implementation is going? | Who needs to do what in the implementation plan? Are deadlines getting met? Who is holding people accountable for tasks? Are the measurement tools working? |
Where do I start?
If you’re reading this, I’m making the assumption that either you are either currently struggling with managing a change or are stepping into a role where you are expected to manage change for the first time. It can be overwhelming when you realize how many books there are on the topic and just how many resources are available on the internet.
Here are the three things I recommend starting with (before of course reading more of my posts on the topic!):
- Ask “Why” a lot. As in, ALL THE DAMN TIME
- For example, if you are tasked with implementing a new software, here are why questions to ask:
- Why are we implementing this software?
- Why is that problem happening in the first place?
- Why do we believe this software is going to solve XYZ? (whatever the issue was which was the answer to the question above)
- Why should the people who need to engage with this new software want to use it?
- Generally, I find that the leaders or group discussing the change and tasking you with it make the assumption that everyone has the same answer to “Why are we doing this?” When we assume everyone is on the same page, asking why takes courage. It could uncover that’s not the case.
- The answers you get will clue you in on if important components of change management, not just project management, have been done or not. If they skipped steps, like understanding the root cause of the problem and including the perspective of those who will need to engage for the change to happen, you know there is work you have to do before going further into implementation.
- For example, if you are tasked with implementing a new software, here are why questions to ask:
- Think about the people who need to implement the change and ask what, other than training, can be done to support them.
- What will make them WANT to make this change?
- What will make it EASY to make the change?
- What will remind them of the IMPORTANCE of the change?
- Don’t give up – change manage is difficult and it is cyclical.
- You will have failures, that’s just part of it.
- The important part is to go back to number 1 – Why did it fail? How can it be better on the next cycle?
