Change Management
Hidden Impacts That Cause Surprises

Change management has a lot of implications that are not well considered. People will do work in a new way that is expected to benefit the company. It is the work and the benefits that usually get all of the attention. However, if you want to lower resistance and maintain a motivated workforce after the transition, you need to go deeper than the work and the benefits. You need to be aware of what this means to the individuals involved.

Consider all the potential impacts. For some, doing work in the new way may mean they need to deal with new people to get information. (They may prefer to work head-down.) For others, the system now supplies all of the information and they don't have to speak with anyone. (They may feel isolated.) It could be that they have to take on new responsibility and decision-making. (They may not want or like the new responsibilities and decision-making is the boss’ job.) It could be that the change has taken away the work they love to do. (This diminishes the intrinsic value of their job.) If it's work they love to do, it is one thing to have it disappear. (This generates sadness.) It's another thing to have someone else do it. (This creates a negative attitude towards the person doing it or toward the manager who took it away.)

Many managers of difficult or failed change efforts have taken the -TOUGH. DEAL WITH IT!- approach. They have reaped the unhappy rewards of their work-only approach. If you would prefer a more positive outcome, you need to be aware of all of the various types of impacts and plan, in advance, for them.

How do you uncover the kinds of challenges I described above? It is not easy, but it's doable. It’s also very necessary if you want to lower resistance during and after the change. The principal strategy is to ask questions. Everyone asks the normal questions, "What happens at this step?" When you are investigating the As-Is situation, you need to also pursue the questions of how, why and who. Naturally, you listen to the answers. In addition, you must listen for what's not being said. What is being left out that you suspect might be true? Also, ask questions that are somewhat off the direct work topic. Some of these might involve the next group downstream; how the department is perceived by co-workers; are the right tings being measured. This gives you additional context for designing the new work.

It is SOP to listen for the work that gets done, the tools that get used and the information that's needed. Also listen for the people involved and the relationships among the people involved.

Ask questions such as:

• When something is broken or is a borderline call:
• What do you do?
• Why?
• What motivates you to do it that way?
• Who do you go to for resolution?
• Ask management about measurements.
• When you make (or miss) the goals, what factors are chiefly responsible for this success/failure?
• How does that come about?
• Who does that?
• How are they acknowledged/rewarded/notified of mistakes?

When discussing the To-Be work, you need to ask the question that is generally taboo in American business culture. “You now have a reasonable idea of how you will work in the new scheme.”

Also ask questions like:

• What parts are you excited about?
• What parts do you dislike?
• How could it be different and still meet this goal?

You really have to listen to this answer. People are not generally trained to give straight answers to these questions. You may have to probe to get a real answer. If you don’t get at and consider their real feelings, you are setting your self up for problems. You are setting the person up to be unhappy at their job. You are setting up a situation to reduce the benefits that you expected.

First, you have figured out who really is impacted by the change. Next, you need to establish what the real impact is to the individuals. Only then will you have a fighting chance of structuring a solution that has a positive outcome.

An extreme example of what might happen when you do not uncover the real, personal impacts to your people can be found at Leadership Is A Lever