Talking to the Right People

People resist and resent changes that force their lives to be different. You can weaken this natural resistance by including -- as early as possible -- those affected by the planned change. When we have input into the changes that affect us, we usually feel less threatened and more cooperative. Including people in the planning process is a powerful way to generate support for the initiative.

Talking to the People Who Do the Work

Consider the opinions and insights of lots of people. Start researching the Change Initiative by engaging those who work in the current process. They already know what the problems are and probably already have ideas about changes. They are a useful source of information about how the process works. Later they have important information about the quality of the Change Team's work as it progresses.

Talk openly with the people who work in -- and with -- the changing process. The Change Agent should not make any promises about what kind of changes will be made, because once the Change Team begins its work, there are no guarantees. However, the more positive interest the Change Agent can generate for the initiative, the easier it will be for the team to go into that area and implement changes. People who do the work are also a great source for recruits for the Change Team. Several of the people who use the current process must become members of the Change Team.

The people working in and with the process can offer the Change Team needed insights and suggestions that the team may never have considered. Change Agents must build a good foundation here.

Talking to the People Who Manage the Work

Typically the people who manage the work of a particular process have a high stake in stabilizing that process, NOT in changing it. After all, the manager's job is to assure results that were predicted while assuming the process would stay the same. What's more, changing a process -- even to radically improve its performance -- disrupts productivity in the short term. Change Agents and Change Teams can run into tough resistance and hard opposition from the people who manage these processes. The Change Agent can discover sources of opposition and resistance, then describe and understand the reasons for it. This discovery may lead to new ways of thinking about the Change Initiative… ways to get the job done with minimal opposition.

People who manage a process are generally intimately aware of those who depend on the process. They often understand why the process works as it currently does; in many cases, this information has never been passed on to those who do the work. All of this information is critical to effecting a change. Respecting that the person or people who manage the process have a lot to offer will go a long way towards gaining their support.

A manager willing to help a Change Agent will probably be more inclined to help the Change Team when the time comes for the team to do its work. That manager may even volunteer to join the team making changes.

Talking with Insiders Involved in the Process

Any change of a work process will have an effect on other processes in the organization. Processes are connected to other processes. This connection may be something as simple as sharing common space or something as intricate as the way the process and its products are used by other processes.

In researching an initiative, a Change Agent must talk to people within the organization who are connected to the process to be changed. In addition to being a rich source of information, those people will begin understanding how they may have to change to meet the new conditions the initiative will create.

This is where small, high-leverage changes can have a lot of impact. As a result of one Change Initiative, many other processes may have to adapt to accommodate a change that's just been made. That kind of cascading change will transform the organization. One Change Initiative can increase the leverage (or success potential) of changes in other processes, making them prime targets for a new initiative.

Talking to Outsiders Involved in the Process

Customers, outside vendors and others who are not part of the organization, but touch the process, may have valuable input. Utilize them as a resource for information and ideas as well as to assess THEIR needs. It's possible to recruit team members here, too.

This transformation is taking place, in part, because the organization can no longer appropriately adapt to demands made by outside forces. To produce a viable and worthwhile change, know what those outside forces demand of the process you plan to change.

The more customers and other interested outsiders are included, the more support (and power) they will offer in implementing change plans later. By including them early on, they will be more understanding and patient during the awkward period of moving from the old process to the new one.

Gathering this information may be the most critical step in creating a successful Change Initiative. This is not the place to cut corners.

One final reminder…

Remember, through all of this talking, it is not the job of the Change Agent to make or keep friends for the Change Team. Let the Champion worry about how to get what the Change Team needs, about mediating conflicts, negotiating resources and neutralizing opposition. That's the Champion's role and s/he was trained for it. But every little bit helps, and the fewer enemies the Change Agent makes, the higher the possibility of success for the Change Team.

© 1997 ChangeCraft ™

Written by Heidi Jeanne Hess
(Veronica Boaz and Doug Wesley contributed)

Check Point

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