by Donna Hamlin

Created on: June 28, 2009

Successful Foundations for Organizational Change

There are a lot of popular lines these days about change. "The only thing that stays the same is change." "Change is opportunity." "Embrace change and be a part of the future." For all the positive hoopla, it is still also true people find change disruptive, confusing and - often - hard work. At work, this can be even more stressful, since most employees have the best intentions to put in a productive day. Change often feels like the obstacle rather than the solution.

There are some helpful actions managers can take to reduce the disgruntling nature of change. Here are some that work.

1. Scan the organization for the dozen or so people who are known as opinion leaders. They are not necessarily leaders by job title and can come from any role within the organization. The chief selection criteria is that people trust their judgement and seek out their views. Meet one-on-one with each of them to describe the change you intend to make, ask their views about the change and explore their opinions about what is important to do to ensure the change goes well. Collect the ideas and suggestions and consider how this input can help to refine the actions you had in mind for the change.

2. Tell the persons you hand-picked them because of you recognize how respected they are by others. Invite them to become a member of the change team you wish to create to successfully make the change. Convene a meeting of the new change agents and discuss how they - as agents - can take ownership of the best steps to make the change effective.

3. Prepare the action plan for change and a clear explanation for the reasons and expected benefits of it. Develop a communication plan at multiple levels: one for the CEO to use, one for the change agents to use at a personal level, a written communication for brochures or e-mails to reinforce the value and status of the change, and one to update people on progress. Communication is key. Process or programmatic change ties to attitude change. It is well known that attitude change is swifter as a function of the number of consistent messages about that change in time. The multiple channels for the message and the consistent communication about it will accelerate people's ethusiasm and cooperation.

4. Recognize key results and the contributors to success. Congratulate teams and individuals who make change work. Acknowledge and celebrate positive results that come from the change. Reinforcement carries the results of change longer into the future than "campaigns" for change that stop the minute the change is in place. People want to be reminded what they did was of sustaining value. Publish results for six to nine months after the change has been well underway.

5. A last suggestion is to give the change initiative a "personality" by giving it a name that fits within the company culture. Each company has its own personality and character. If the team gives the change some of that personality, it will capture the imagination of the larger employee group. People will get on board sooner and have more fun with it. Then, when the change creates a bump or two for folks, they will have more resilience to overcome the challenges.

Let's face it: the hardest part about change is people's reaction to it. Building a trustworthy coalition to serve as ambassadors of change opens people's willingness to entertain the idea. Communicating often keeps people informed and part of the process. Making it fun lets people use their sense of humor to surmount the irritations change can bring. Work from this platform and change will go more smoothly.

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