Starting a change initiative

How to get started –
managing a change
initiative

www.maventraining.co.uk І 020 7089 6161

Introduction
• This is a guide is aimed at those responsible for managing a
change in their team, department or organisation for the first
time
• It is based on a simply four step business change lifecycle:
— Assessing the change
— Planning the change
— Implementing the change
— Embedding the change
• The guidance identifies:
— The most important steps for starting the change
— The most common mistakes and how to overcome them
• To access a related white paper on change management:
http://www.maventraining.co.uk/whitepapers/
2 © Maven Training 2011 www.maventraining.co.uk І 020 7089 6161

What is change management?
• Change management is all of the actions that we take to
control how we move from one state to another
• These actions include:
— The ability to explain what the change is, why it is needed and the
benefits that it will deliver
— The ability to influence, motivate and persuade others to see the change
in the same positive light that you do, and to willingly become involved
in its implementation
— The ability to break the change into all of the activities that need to
happen, and prioritise and resource them

• For more information:
http://www.maventraining.co.uk/change-management-
explained/


Business change lifecycle
– Impact of the change is understood from different perspectives
Assessing the – Vision of the change that describes the ‘new world’ has been developed
change – Compelling stories that explain the results of the change have been
developed for different audiences

– Activities to implement the change are identified, resourced and scheduled
Planning the
change – Activities to communicate with and engage the support of stakeholders are
established

–Activities to make the change happen move from planning into action
Implementing the –Change teams are formed to resource the activities
change –Individuals experience the change and move through a range of emotions as
they adapt to the change

– As change is accomplished, achievements are celebrated
Embedding the
change – Those still working through the changes are given support to help them
make the transition to the new ways of working


Common change management
mistakes - Planning
Mistake:
• Creating a rigid plan of activities without allowing for:
• The impact of peoples reaction to change
• The identification of new and better ideas as the change
evolves
Impact:
• Continuing to pursue activities that are no longer
relevant to the change, or falling behind in the
implementation of the change as additional activities
take place that were not on the plan as individuals strive
to make sense of the change in relation to their work


Change management solution -
Planning
• Create a high level plan of how the change is to
be implemented, but leave the detailed planning
to those undertaking the activities:
— Define what needs to be accomplished and
concentrate on delegating the responsibility for this
accomplishment to those closest to it, but do not
define how to achieve it
— You cannot know every aspect of every job and those
doing the work often have a far more detailed
understanding of how to make the change work in
practice than those planning the change so empower
them to use this knowledge


mistakes - Communicating
Mistake:
• Believing that because you have announced the
change:
— Everyone heard your message
— Everyone understood your message in the way that you
meant it
Impact:
• Only a small proportion of those that you have targeted
with messages about the change have engaged with
them
• Too few people understand the change or the benefits
that it is designed to bring so positive involvement in the
change is limited
• Resistance to the change has built up in those that have
not understood the change

Change management solution -
Communicating
• Those impacted by the change will hear your messages at different
times so be prepared to repeat the same information over and over
again
• Tailor your message to the needs of different audiences:
— Attitudes to change:
— Innovators and those who seek out change – explain how they can become
involved in making the change a reality
— Those willing to become involved in the change as long as it is relevant to their
job – clarify the relevance and the benefits of the change
— Those that resist change – explain the consequences if the change does not
take place
— Communication preferences:
— Visual preference - create diagrams and pictures of the change
— Reading preference – create user guides, research papers and detailed
documents explaining the change
— Physical preference – create


mistakes - Implementing
Mistakes:
• Failing to organise the involvement of those impacted
by the change, assuming that people will fit the change
activities into their day to day work
Impact:
• Without a structure, reporting of progress, issues and
risks is unlikely to be of sufficient detail or in a timely
manner
• Without specific responsibilities people will contribute to
the change using their own interpretation of what is
needed, which might not meet expectations
• Without an agreement on how time is allocated between
change activities and business as usual tasks, conflict is
likely and change activities will often be superseded by
more pressing business issues

Change management solution –
Implementing
• Agree with each change participant what you need them to
accomplish to make the change a reality and ask them to
identify the activities they will need to carry out to achieve
this
• Ask them to identify when in their working day/week these
activities need to take place and agree what they will have to
stop doing in order to have sufficient time for the change
• Agree how any shortfall in time can be addressed:
— Delegate important business as usual tasks to other colleagues
— Hire temporary or contract staff to tackle business as usual tasks
— Agree a lower service level agreement with customers/users during
the change to reduce the pressure on business as usual activities


Call today on 020 7089 6161 to discuss
your requirements or visit the Maven
website for more information.

www.maventraining.co.uk І 020 7089 6161

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