You can see the business needs to change. Customers want something different, a competitor has moved ahead, or the old way of working is creaking. The harder question is how to make the change stick when half the team is quietly hoping it will blow over.
Implementing change in a business is rarely about the idea itself. It is about thinking it through properly and bringing everyone affected along with you, so that the new way of working becomes simply how things are done. The ten steps below show you how.
1. Work out how deep the change needs to go
Everything in business is always changing. You can react, plan ahead, or ignore it and carry on regardless; businesses that ignore it often stop trading.
Start by deciding which kind of change you are facing:
- Incremental change is modest and evolutionary. It lifts the business to a slightly higher level.
- Major change is revolutionary. It has a far greater impact on the business and on your people.
Most change is evolutionary, because cash, technology and capacity limit what is realistic. How you categorise it shapes what follows: the deeper the change, the harder it is.
2. Understand what is driving the change
Change is usually pushed by someone who sees the need for something better, from inside or outside the business. The usual drivers are the market place (the banking crisis dried up cash for many firms), customers, staff, competitors, technology (the internet forced the High Street to adapt) and, in some sectors, fashion.
Watch out for the attitudes that block progress: "That's not how it's done around here" or "If it ain't broke don't fix it". Things may not be broken, but will they still be fit for the future? Once you are clear on why you are changing, come up with no fewer than 20 options for how you might change. Hold fire on choosing one just yet.
3. Create the right conditions for implementing change in a business
Change management works when you take your people with you; unless people at every level are committed, it will fail. You need a shared vision, a clear understanding of the organisation, an aligned culture, timely and clear communication, experienced help where necessary, strong leadership with a sponsor, and buy-in from every stakeholder.
The two most important pieces are culture and people. Charles Handy, in Understanding Organisations, describes four types of culture, and each needs a different approach. In a Power culture, win over the person at the centre of the web. In a Role culture, work through each silo and its protocols. In a Task culture, win the key decision makers and most of the members. In a Person culture, you have to take everyone with you.
Expect negative reactions at first. Tackle likely objections before they spread, and support your positive people so pessimism does not drag them down.
You either change the people or change the people.
Anonymous
4. Pick the right change team
Gather a small, highly influential team whose single focus is the change. Chosen well, their effect will far outweigh their size. You need:
- A senior executive who visibly sponsors the project
- A senior person with day-to-day control and responsibility
- A full-time project manager experienced in managing change
- People who know the business and change processes
- Ambassadors who will spread the word in the right places
- Outside consultants, who can act as a useful facilitator or catalyst
Keep it big enough to have the right influencers, but not so big that it becomes hard to manage. You rarely get to hand-pick everyone, so value flexibility, and draw on lessons from past teams, including on the sports field.
5. Agree a Compelling Vision
The vision is the catalyst, vivid enough to carry your team and stakeholders along. It answers one question: "What will make this business great?"
To answer it properly, have your team wear "seven hats": those of your employees, customers, suppliers, investors, friends, prospects and competitors. From each viewpoint, list words and phrases that answer the question. Then write the vision in the present tense, as if the business is already there, describing how it looks and feels.
6. Develop your action plan
This is where ideas become reality, and where many businesses stall through fear of failure. Set a clear timeline and the steps needed.
A Gantt chart, developed in 1917 by the American engineer Henry L. Gantt, is a useful way to do this. Tasks run down the side, time along the bottom, and bars show when each starts and how long it takes; even making a cup of tea can be laid out this way. Build in set points to review progress.
- Prioritise daily. Break big tasks down and have the change team fully complete at least one key action every day. The momentum soon becomes a habit.
- Track performance. Share the numbers, good or bad. Poor results are when you most need the data.
- Relentlessly remove barriers. Find the true causes, not the symptoms, and think several moves ahead.
- Delegate and outsource. Hand over what you lack the skills or time for, and be clear about what you want and by when.
7. Allocate the resources the change needs
Check you have enough staff, time, finances, assets and training capability. Look hardest at finances and time: things often take twice as long as expected.
A common failure is a key person being pulled away to fight a fire elsewhere. Unless they come back quickly, momentum is lost and the plan can collapse, so make quick decisions to keep the right resources on the project.
8. Win staff buy-in for the change
Gaining buy-in is the change team's main objective. A survey by the American Management Association of 5,100 business leaders, which found that employees fail to buy in because leaders focus on the change itself rather than on the process that gets people to change their behaviour. Ask for input while the plan is still fresh, and really listen.
Kurt Lewin's Change Model has three stages:
- Unfreezing. Getting ready. The more necessary and urgent change feels, the more motivated people are, so the Compelling Vision and clear deadlines matter.
- Transition. Change is a process, not an event. People fear the unknown, so the change team must support, train and coach.
- Refreezing. The changes become the new norm. Give them time to embed before changing again.
People also tend to move through four stages of acceptance: fear, resistance, compliance and commitment. Be honest, explain your reasons and build trust. Answer "what's in it for me?" clearly, and present new performance measures as help, not a stick to beat people with.
9. Roll out the change with a clear communication plan
Your communication plan should cover the "why and the hows" for all staff, a Q&A, briefings for stakeholders and top managers, press release dates if appropriate, and how changes will cascade. Agree early on the 5 W's:
- Who should be told?
- When should they be told?
- What should they be told?
- Where should the message be conveyed?
- Who should control the communication?
Get this wrong and misunderstandings feed resistance. Make updates two-way: front-line staff often know how to fix a problem, and if engaged they will offer solutions.
10. Monitor and evaluate progress
Review progress against the vision. Decide what you are measuring and how: a Gantt chart for a process, monthly financial Key Performance Indicators for financial performance. Ideally, set measures across the whole Balanced Business Scorecard of Strategy, People, Processes, Partnerships and Financial.
Understand every variance and act quickly. Mistakes are part of building a sustainable business; learn from them. If you still are not progressing, check your ladder is not leaning on the wrong wall and revisit the vision. After each monthly review, give each action a single owner and a date, for example "Tom: set up weekly work-in-progress meetings by 31 January". Once complete, evaluate with your team what went well and what you would do differently.
Where to start
This week, write down the change you have in mind and decide honestly whether it is evolution or revolution. Then list what is driving it and push yourself to 20 ways you could make it happen, before picking one.
Next, name the three or four people whose support would carry the rest of the business, and talk to them before the plan is fixed.