Organisations must navigate change effectively to stay up to date in the current dynamic business landscape. Multiple external changes can be exerting pressure concurrently with the internal change program already underway. Adapting to new technologies while responding to market shifts, or improving internal processes, organisations need to address it all. So when you approach change, what problem are you really solving?
Understanding the Problem
Change management isn't just about communication and culture, it’s about applying management to the progressive solving of real problems. Beyond factors traditionally seen as 'soft', like training and employee motivation, change management requires an approach that ensures the change will stick. All aspects of the environment need to be considered for long term sustainability.
By first understanding what problem we're truly trying to solve, we gain insights into the problem context, we're able to better engage stakeholders, and find clearer, more practical solutions.
To get to the source of the change management problem, it's advisable to choose an approach that aligns with your organisation’s culture and needs. There may be proprietary models available, or you can use common techniques to support your analysis.
Root Cause Analysis helps identify the underlying causes of a problem by asking “why” repeatedly to trace issues back to their origins. SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) assesses internal strengths and weaknesses along with external opportunities and threats. It can provide a bigger picture, holistic view of the situation. Stakeholder Mapping identifies key stakeholders and their interests. Understanding their perspectives can help to uncover hidden problems and potential solutions. Process Mapping helps to visualise existing processes, and identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, or gaps. Process maps can reveal clearly where improvements are needed.
Common Challenges and Solutions
In The change training myth we explore how training is a potential change management solution that organisations jump to early. Our brains are good at getting to solutions and often the faster we get there, the more in control we feel. But if we don't spend enough time with the problem, there is a significant chance we won't solve the right one.
For common challenges, a number of solutions present themselves early because organisations have often experienced something like it before, and already have resource available to help. Let's have a look at some examples of common challenges and handy solutions that may not work if the problem isn't first properly understood.
Lack of Alignment
When teams or departments in an organisation work in silos, this can lead to misalignment in goals, processes, and communication. Organisations might jump quickly to implementing a new collaboration tool without addressing underlying cultural issues. This could be premature because technology alone won’t solve alignment problems. First the organisation needs to foster a culture of transparency, shared purpose, and cross-functional collaboration; and then secondly enable these positive behaviours through tools such as collaboration platforms. Without addressing the root cause, the collaboration platform will become another monument that enables organisational silos to continue.
Resistance to Change
Employees often resist changes due to fear of the unknown, loss of control, or perceived threats. It might be tempting to mandate new changes without involving employees in the decision-making process for fear that they'll obstruct the change. However, involving employees early builds buy-in and reduces resistance. Engaging employees through workshops and communication allows the resistance to have a legitimate voice, and rise to the surface - where it can usually be dealt with by clear explanations.
Ineffective Communication
Poor communication leads to misunderstandings, rumours, and decreased productivity. Rolling out a new communication platform might seem like the answer, but without assessing the communication gaps organisations may create additional layers of the exact same problem. A greater quantity of channels doesn't improve communication. Take the time to understand communication pain points first. Is it lack of clarity, overload, or ineffective channels? Then tailor solutions accordingly.
Unclear Goals and Metrics
Another common challenge is when goals are vague or conflicting. Under these conditions, teams may struggle to prioritise and measure success. However, setting arbitrary targets without aligning them to strategic objectives will just mean that we've moved from solving the wrong problem to measuring the wrong solution. Define SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals collaboratively with teams, because metrics should drive desired outcomes.
Change Fatigue
Organisations that constantly introduce changes, may drive a sense of fatigue and decreased engagement. For more on this, see You're at change saturation. Should you stop changing? Launching multiple initiatives simultaneously, or creating more new programs to manage those that appear to be failing can create indifference, apathy and disengagement. Instead, prioritise changes strategically, communicate their impact and benefits clearly and allow time for adjustment before introducing more. Consider taking a portfolio approach to changes in order to avoid the harmful effects of change saturation.
Leadership Vacuum
It can be unfortunately common in change programs to have a lack of strong leadership, and naturally this can hinder change efforts. However making rash decisions about hiring external leaders without developing internal talent, or assigning a sponsor without assessing their true passion for the change or their leadership abilities will do nothing for the leadership vacuum. Taking the time to find and appoint the right sponsor will pay off in the end. This may require developing leadership capabilities internally or investing in a candidate who has the passion, but needs some uplift in skills through training and mentorship programs.
What problem are you solving?
Next time someone comes to you with a solution all ready to go, take a few minutes to consider the problem that we're attempting to solve before running headlong into yet another initiative or implementation.
Change management goes beyond communication and culture. Effective change management requires diagnosing the root causes before implementing solutions. Premature actions can exacerbate problems rather than solve them. And, by addressing the hard questions, you’ll stack the odds in favour of a more successful change initiative.
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