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Cassie A. Solomon and Gregory P. Shea, authors of Leading Successful Change: 8 Keys for Making Change Work, discuss the 8 things you should be focusing on if you want your project’s change management efforts to succeed.
They say that if you don’t address at least four of these elements, your project will fail. People will fall back to their old ways.
Shea and Solomon write that moving any of the 8 Levers of Change can alter the work environment in a specific way and send a different set of cues for those who live there. “Change enough levers to allow the owners of the behavior, and indeed, to see that it is time to adapt to a different set of environmental cues.
What are the key things to look out for in your projects? These are the 8 levers that will bring about change.
1. Organization
2. Workplace design
3. Tasks
4. People
5. Rewards
6. Measurement
7. Information distribution
8. Allocation of decisions
Next steps
1. Organization
The organization element describes how things are organized in the company. What is centrally managed and what is decentralized? One example would be whether project managers are distributed across different departments or a single Project Management Office. How will this affect your ability to drive through change in your project?
You may also find organizations that are divided by geography or division. This could impact your ability to implement change. Do you see a lot of people working in silos or cross-functional teams?
These are the things you need to think about if you want your project to succeed. To get the best results, you must tailor your approach to the project and the changes it will bring.
If you want to make your project more successful, you should consider redesigning your organization chart. It is also possible to look at the involvement that you require from other teams, and how you will get it, if you are trying to break down silos or geographic barriers between departments.
You can learn different skills to manage an international team.
2. Workplace design
The layout of the workplace affects the employees. One time I did a study on improving business processes for a leadership institute. One of the things I heard when interviewing the Marketing team was how much time they thought they could save if they had their fax machine (remember them?). Instead of walking to a shared machine,
This was an easy fix that would have made the staff feel heard and resulted in a boost in morale. This would also help save time which is a benefit for everyone. Although I believe the management team was expecting some more radical suggestions, it was the fax machine one that stuck with us — so simple to fix.
They made a simple change, which I believe was the final result.
Solomon and Shea argue that people can work together by putting things in close proximity to each other. Is it possible to embed the change by moving equipment and people around? What technology can you use to help you accomplish the same thing even if you are unable to physically move the people?
Another option is collaboration tools for project managers. They will allow people to work together more effectively, regardless of where they live.
3. Tasks
Although it may seem simple, it is worth paying attention to. It doesn’t necessarily mean that tasks or workflows are the most efficient or effective. It can be helpful to take stock of the tasks you are assigned and compare them with your internal workflows to determine if there are any gaps.