Learning about my learning... own experience on change management (Part 3)

Greetings to all,

On this final instalment of my own experience on change management, I must take cognizance that change process goes through a series of phases that, in total, usually require a considerable length of time and with some enduring change management process.

To achieve this, I will employ John Kotter’s widely used “checklist” for managing organisational change taken from his 1996 best seller Leading Change. Below are the steps to be undertaken and its detail actions:-

Establish a Sense of Urgency

The first element is to “defrost the status quo”. Our BU must establish a sense of urgency as people must have a reason, and a really good one at that, for doing something different. There need to be an honest and convincing dialogue about what is happening and the reasons to take bold steps into automated process.

For this, I need to use Change Equation of Richard Beckhard and Rueben T. Harris (1987) and Force Field Analysis developed by Kurt Lewin.

When the urgency rate is high enough and the strength of the opposing and supporting forces towards the change have been identified, I believe that the staff in my BU will be convinced that to continue doing business as usual at these trying times is not acceptable. Hence, the automation initiatives will have its crucial buy-ins.

Create a Guiding Coalition

Change cannot be directed through the existing hierarchy. It must be nurtured and supported by a dedicated influential leader in my division. The group may be small or large but it must be influential in order to lead the change.

In order to achieve any successful change initiative, a leadership coalition plays a very important role. Even though our BU has a dedicated task-force for this initiative, unfortunately it lacks the correct approach.

To achieve a successful guiding team, our current task-force need to be revamped to be the desired "change coalition" to work as a team, continuing to build urgency and momentum around the need for change.

Develop a vision and strategy

Failed change efforts are often littered with plans and directives, but no clear and concise vision. Kotter suggests that change leaders should be able to communicate the vision in five minutes and elicit understanding and interest. If not, they should rework the vision.

As such, our BU task-force needs to constantly communicate to the staff of the vision of an automated systems environment as when you keep it fresh on everyone's minds, they will remember it and respond to it.

Communicate the change vision and strategy, leading to commitment

I take cognizant that communication is more than a notice posted on the division’s bulletin board. Change leaders must communicate the vision through their actions.

I’m mindful of Kotter’s cautions that a results-oriented leader may want to skip one or more of these first four steps in order to get right to the action. Without the solid foundation established by all of these steps, any change action is unlikely to take hold and survive for the long term.

Empower Employees to Implement Change

This is the action element and the first step is to empower others to act on the vision. Change leaders must clear the way for employees to develop new ideas and approaches without being foiled by the old ways.

As such, our BU task-force must put in place the structure for change, and continually check for barriers to it. Removing obstacles can empower the people you need to execute your vision, and it can help the change move forward.

Generate and recognizing small short-term wins

It must be noted that staff will not follow a vision forever. They must see results within 6 to 12 months of their effort or they will give up or perhaps resist the change. Like what Kotter said - short-term wins validate the effort and maintain the level of urgency. Change leaders may have to reward people responsible for the benefits.

Our BU task-force team may have to work very hard to come up with these targets, but each "win" that we produce can further motivate the entire staff.

Consolidate the small wins, leading to early successes

Short-term wins must be stepping-stones to greater opportunities and bigger wins, all consistent with the vision driving the overall effort. Change leaders must not stop here. They must follow through with the next element.

In my view each success provides an opportunity to build on what went right and identify what we can improve.

In this case, the task-force have to make continuous efforts to ensure that the change is seen in every aspect of our BU, not only for this automation initiative, but for other future initiatives. This will help give that change a solid place in our BU's culture. It is also important that our BU division head continue to support the change, because if not, we might end up back where we started.

STATUS OF CHANGE IMPLEMENTATION

The change process has so far progressing well. Our task-force has initiated series of negotiations with solution providers to identify the suitable software and hardware solutions for virtual meetings system. Our BU has also in collaboration with Forte Tech Solutions Sdn Bhd, a dedicated IT arm of UEM Group, to source for suitable Electronic Data Management Systems (“EDMS”) with the reputable vendors. Series of presentations and brainstorming were held between the task-force and the staff to continuously help us bring the experience of all team members into play in coming out with the customization of our BU’s automation requirements.

As a result, the automation initiatives have also been included in the UEM Group Corporate Centre Strategic Plans 2009-2013 under the Group wide initiatives for 5 years together with the strategy, tactics and the timeline to achieve the desired outcome for 2009.