1- Convert the loudest skeptic to your side.
The person who asks many questions or who is vocal to challenge your ideas will be your greatest advocate if you can convert him or her. In one of my projects, I met a person who asked very confrontational questions. Later, I found out what he really wanted was to understand the subject better. Once that was taken care of, he was my greatest advocate.
2- At the initial phase of change management, find people to support you. Find a believer.
The start of a change journey is lonely. Pick out from the group anyone who is already thinking like you. Get them on your team. You can bounce ideas off each other and he can provide some input about the business that you might not know.
3- Show people the problem and the consequences.
We are creature of habits because of our brain connections. Sometimes, words are not enough to create new connections in the brain.
In one case, I wanted an analyst to produce testing results on a timely manner. There were many coaching sessions with him but to no avail. One day I showed him two diagrams of two ways to go about changing mould in a machine. I asked him which was more efficient. Then, out of the blue he exclaimed “Oh I see…”. He just had an Aha moment. From that day, he understood what was important and he started to work out his daily schedule where previously he was not able to do.
In Jamie’s Oliver food revolution, he did two visuals
-First, he placed all the junk foods the family has eaten from the previous week in the room and showed them how disgusting that was.
– Next, he got the family to cook with him and feel for themselves that for the same amount of money, time and with ease, they can have good healthy food.
4- “Are you ready to change”
People will not change unless they are ready to. One situation when people are ready to change is during crisis in business or in personal health. I remembered a radio marketer once said, two essential tools of radio marketing are repetition and the message delivered at a major change in the audience’s life. This means that people are more ready to make new brain connections when they are changing jobs, having a baby, dealing with death, bought a new house, moved to a new country and many more.
Change cannot be forced. Look out for readiness to change.
5- Start with a trial.
Everyone I know says they want change but not everyone is ready to change. The idea of change is attractive but the actual change is painful.
The best approach is to start with a trial. If it works, people can see the benefit. If it is not, revert back. In this way, people are more acceptable. By doing the trial, we are trying to create new connections in the brain and may lead to acceptance. Trial is also important because it can test both negative and positive assumptions.
In one project, I started two trials. In one trial it did not achieve the expected outcome. Despite that, we were successful because this team has taken the first step to create new connections in their brains. This trial brought about new ideas and acceptance of another idea down the track.
In the second trial, we were successful. The team saw the benefits and took initiative to go to the next level and expanded the idea to other areas of work. In this instance, one of the loudest skeptics was converted.
6- It takes time
Transformation involves creating new connections in the brain. It will take time for that to happen. Some of my successful projects were between 2 weeks to 9 months. But a transformation of the mind can take up to four years or more. Coaching and visual methods are tools that we can use to help create new connections faster.
7- Failure is part of the process
Don’t be disillusioned that following a model will get you to change overnight. Be prepared to fail. In one discussion among lean practitioners, it was mentioned that it is normal to fail between 3 to 10 times.
Acknowledging you will fail means you can prepare for it. Here’s how:
– Tell the team at the start to expect the unexpected and it is possible to fail.
– Define success more broadly. Include learning, new behaviours, new insights as success factors.
– Share experiences on how other companies have failed before they succeed.
8- See the small wins.
Highlight small wins. I organise Gemba walks on a regular basis. It’s when top management visits the workplace and meet the workers. The workers will present their wins (big or small). The outcome of this is huge. There is engagement between top management and the workers, there is pride in explaining their work and there is recognition.
9 – Get more vocal supporters.
We usually began the change management process in a lonely fashion. Once there are some traction find more supporters and expand your scope. In one organization that I was engaged with, it started with 3% of the staff who believed in lean management. After four years, we have almost 50% buy in. People were now looking to change rather than being told to.
Try it. I would love to hear from your experiences as well.
Thank you.
KY Loke