Recently, I delivered a two-hour lecture in front of business leaders managing companies generating millions to billions of euros. Preparing my talk in advance, I wanted to make it simple, understandable, acceptable, and simultaneously sound like a wake-up call and a simple guide on how everyone, no matter the leadership layer in the organization, can quickly learn how a good organizational change looks like.
Focused on simplicity, I spent two nights developing the agenda and the plan for what I had to deliver. Practiced all possible questions and answers that I could spot and think of. At the same time, while building the agenda for the presentation day, I soon realized that what was meant to be a short thirty to forty minutes presentation was turning into an extensive discussion with no clear, satisfying result.
Realizing that I have called the organizer to ask if we can change the format and turn the presentation into a workshop with a clear discussion purpose so that everyone present on the event day can participate in formulating the best steps for making a change happen. With that intention, we reengineered the agenda. We created a one-hour workshop agenda with a clear dashboard divided into the generative part(brainstorming exercise) and the Confirmation dashboard, including the final steps formulated and agreed upon by everyone participating in the panel.
On the day of the event, there were eight presentations before the part meant to be led by me. All participants looked tired and willing to end the day. And here is where the power-up came from. The part I had to deliver, with a formed team of facilitators, made everyone in the room regain their power. It also produced a straightforward guide containing seven simple steps for ensuring organizational change will happen in the best possible way. You can look through them by continuing to scan this short article.
PLAN A STRUCTURE
No change happens only because someone thinks or talks about it. Most successful changes occur when there is a clear structure to be implemented. No matter the difference, it should be started only after the new design is drawn, a discussion is conducted, and the final lines for change have been aligned. No clear plan for a new structure cannot create a good outlook at the finish line. And with no clear perspective, what is happening is not a change but non-controlled chaos. The longer that disorder remains, the weaker the organization becomes, and the more disengaged and detached people become.
PLAN A MEETING
Even with the best structure created on paper, there is no evidence that the change will be positive. People often become detached, opposing, and conflicting, not because they do not accept the change but because they don’t understand it. The best structure for everyone in the organization is the one that is understood and accepted. No matter if this will cost one hour or one month, the deeper and better the explanation of the new structure is, and the more it is understood by the population of people in the organization, the smoother the change will happen.
TEAMWORK TO WIN THE CHANGE
The change in one element of the organization moves every other piece into a different position. No matter the difference in size, its impact is powerful for everyone. That is why every change needs cross-functional support. This support type is often built by involving people from different departments in the transition. Of course, one leader sees the change as a whole and as a final destination, but team members ensure that their departments, functions, and teams support the change during the path. The more robust and diverse the group responsible for it, the more balanced the difference in the organization.
EXPLAIN POLICIES BRIEFLY
Have you heard the phrase “The shorter, the better”? If not, now is the time to listen to and understand it. Most people do not need to discuss details to participate in the change. They only need short and precise instructions concerning their role in the shift. While the core team for the change needs extensive explanation and more profound understanding, those who are operationally involved with the change are often disturbed by the details and act with no coordination if the pieces are too much. The better the organizational change leader explains the core team and trains them to translate that change into simple steps for those parts of the structures they represent, the more positive the difference will be.
MAKE USE OF POSITIVE LANGUAGE
No matter the change’s purpose and impact on the organization, one common mistake is that most steps in the process are communicated negatively or indifferently. The ugly truth is that no matter the positive impact, people feel stressed by changes and try to avoid them, sometimes at every cost. Therefore, in forming the communication agenda, the organizational change leader should be careful about what language they will use to communicate it. The more positive it sounds, the lighter it is accepted by the people being part of that change. And the opposite is also true. Therefore, balancing the communication elements is the prerequisite for a winning change or destruction of conflict and chaos.
POSITIVE ASPECTS OF CHANGE FORWARD AND LEADING
No change is only positive or only negative. The most successful transitions are a balanced mix of positive and negative experiences toward the path. Organizations cannot just scratch the negatives, close the eyes of everyone, and put on the pink glasses of joy and satisfaction. Organizational change, no matter its size, is always rewarding and painful at the same time. Those who promote the change need to learn how to communicate the positives of the change as more impactful than the negatives and more direction pointing toward the agenda of the change. The more positive the outlook looks, the more internal motivation and engagement toward the shift it creates in everyone.
EXEMPLIFY ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
Want to convince others that organizational change is necessary and will lead to gains and wins? According to the panel we created at our event and a Harvard Business Review research on what is the most impactful factor for delivering consistent and positive organizational change, people trust more the change agenda if there is a positive example happening somewhere else. It is that external proof that forms our conformity toward change. The knowledge that the same or very similar organizational change has been conducted successfully in another organization strengthens not only the belief in the positive outcome from the execution of the agenda but also powers up the whole team to bring more effort into the game to ensure that the change will happen successfully.
IN CONCLUSION:
It is hard to execute organizational change with many underwater stones. It is slippery and without a guarantee that the intentions will turn into the best outcomes. While the perfect difference does not exist as a model, the better the organization is prepared for it. Furthermore, the more employees feel empowered to conduct the change, the higher their internal motivation and engagement. With those prerequisites, organizational change can be turned from a dream to a reality for everyone with all its positives and constraints.
The Human place - a path from you to yourself 