Big or small, change efforts seem to run into the same brick walls over and over again. According to various pieces of research, such as the Harvard Business Review and Forbes and people such as John Kotter. 70% of change projects fail.
Here are 10 tips for a successful change management project.
- Your why is imperative, map out why you want to make the change and how you envisage it adding value for all those impacted by the change programme.
- Map out your end goal and timeline with phases, however, expect it to change and evolve over the life-cycle of the project.
- Executive buy-in paramount, engage your leaders and articulate that this change is urgent. People need to know that your executive team is on board and aligned with the vision of the transformation. Leaders must commit to exhibiting a positive outlook and willingness to change behaviour as well as processes.
- Create a team of change-makers and ensure everyone knows their roles and responsibilities for creating, testing and implementing.
- Communication is key, think about how the change project will impact your audience and tailor the message accordingly by employing targeted communication plans that engage and motivate your employees through the life-cycle of the project and give them an understanding of why the change is taking place and how the change will impact them.
- Work with middle management, provide them with the tools and understanding as to why the change is taking place and get them on board to share a positive message with their teams.
- Implement the technology that is right for you and your plans for the future, the technology needs to be one that people see the advantages and that will save time for employees to be able to focus on the important things such as provide a better customer experience.
- Have metrics that you can track and provide guidance on how your team can achieve these as this will help them be motivated towards the goals.
- Celebrate successes and communicate them to the wider employees and make them feel part of the journey.
- Effective training is non-negotiable, you must ensure that the employees feel they have the right level of support and that the tools they have been provided make things easier not harder to do their job.
And There You Have It! 10 Tips on How to Manage Change Successfully
Follow the processes and get other’s buy-in and it should have a huge impact and if you need any help give us a call or send us an email.