We’ve all been there. To quote Aaron Burr from the musical theatre hit, Hamilton, we’re in “the room where it happens.” Organizations of all scale and in all industries are facing unprecedented levels of change and challenge. It’s important to come up with a game plan.
Whether it’s a strategic planning offsite, or a big board meeting, these important gatherings are where decisions get debated and made, and priorities set. When you’re in the “room where it happens,” there’s often a sense of excitement, momentum and satisfaction when you see that you and fellow colleagues are in alignment.
Yet change management expert John Kotter estimates that 70% of all change initiatives are doomed to fail. The great plans and the good will generated “in the room where it happens” start to fall apart, almost as soon as the meeting itself is over. People don’t follow-up. Important key strategic messages aren’t “cascaded” through the organization effectively. What felt like a united front in the board room can easily devolve into working in departmental silos when it comes to implementation. According to a 2008 IBM global study on change initiatives which surveyed 1,500 change management executives, the biggest obstacles to implementing change were changing people’s mindsets and attitudes and the existing corporate culture.
Two of the most important tools you have to employ to manage change effectively is the quality of your communication and organizational focus. In this matrix, I’ve laid out how these two factors play out.
“One and Done” Approach – Managing change is a process, not an event. You can’t just have the strategic planning meeting and assume that everyone throughout the organization will get on board with the plan. It’s like making all the big plans for the wedding, but not having any discussions about the agreements, goals, priorities and values you share and want to celebrate when you’re actually married.
Making the assumption that strategic messages will simply “cascade down” to all levels of the organization, perhaps through a few Town Hall meetings or an email with a 250 page slide deck attached is not going to cut it.
Communication is as much about listening as it is about speaking, so relying on intermittent bursts of communication is like playing broken telephone. Your decisions and the rationale behind them, and the plans to implement them, get watered down and inconsistent. When you couple that with sporadic focus, you’re only setting yourself up to be in a reactive mode to change, putting your attention on issues only when they become problematic.
Management by Edict – Another way some organizations respond to change is managing by edict. Communication is clear but comes out in the form of strong missives from the top of the organization down to the troops. The top brass may feel they are being clear and decisive, but when you manage change by edict, you risk alienating the very people you need to have on board in order to actually make the change happen.
Your front line staff and middle management have important perspectives and experience to share, yet without consistent dialogue with all parts of the organization – especially through execution and implementation phases – you jeopardize your chances of success.
Change Fatigue – On the other end of the focus spectrum is when your organization is always making change it can lead to burnout, stress, and apathy on the part of your workforce. Launching too many change initiatives at once, having multiple “key” priorities that may compete with one another, or slipping deadlines can contribute to a sense of overwhelm in the workplace. This ultimately can lead to employee engagement dropping just when you need employee buy-in and initiative the most. In this quadrant, the focus is consistent to the point of being relentless, yet communication is not strong so people lose sight of the big picture and why change in the way that’s being proposed is even needed.
Aligned and Effective Action – When you have consistency in terms of organizational focus and clear, ongoing communication, then you’re in the best position to be able to manage change effectively. The need to evolve and change how you do business is part of the reality of work today, so communication needs to be built right into the day-to-day relationships people have with each other.
The culture supports an environment of two-way dialogue, where it is safe to ask questions or propose new solutions or take risks. When people feel heard and respected, they’re more willing to put their “skin in the game” and contribute their best efforts and ideas to a common cause. Graphic recordings can be a powerful aid to clear communication, not only when the change initiatives are being conceived, but also as a tool to support implementation.
Further, there is an understanding that change is an ongoing investment of time, energy and resources – and the initial investment when you’re getting new structures in place or different products to market may be higher at start-up. Yet the investment upfront to ensure strong communication and a consistent focus helps to create the environment for alignment among all the players and stakeholders that you need to ensure success. It helps to keep your actions focused in the right direction so you can be effective and strategic in how you implement and sustain the change.
This is one of the many visual frameworks I use to help build the adaptive skills and support strategic planning of my organizational clients. When navigating change, being highly intentional in your communication strategy and the focus of your activities is critical. It helps ensure that everyone has a deep understanding of why change is needed, and the valuable contribution each individual can make.
