Countless organizational change initiatives are happening worldwide. Despite positive intentions, many will not succeed. Several studies show that 60% to 70% of change initiatives fail to achieve their goals.
It doesn’t need to be that way.
Effective change depends on clear roles, an understanding of the target group and a strong project team, including both the team leader and members.
Clarifying roles
Effective change involves three specific roles:
- Sponsor: The senior leader (president, vice president or functional leader) who wants the change to happen and is accountable for its success. Sponsors provide resources, visibility and ongoing support throughout the change process.
- Team leader: Directs and engages the project team to create and implement an effective project plan. They need strong task and interpersonal skills.
- Change champion: An individual who actively and enthusiastically supports the change initiative. They influence others to embrace change and new ways of working.
When Alan Mulally became CEO of Ford, he personally sponsored the company’s turnaround. He also served as team leader, chairing weekly Business Plan Review meetings. Mulally required every senior leader to attend and support a new expectation: leaders must surface problems early and work together to solve them. He stayed involved week after week until the new behaviors became routine.
While Mulally was highly visible as the sponsor and project leader, he also empowered senior leaders to act as change champions. These leaders reinforced new behaviors within their own teams, modeling the expectation of surfacing problems early and collaborating across functions. They served as advocates, helping employees adopt the new ways of working.
Assessing the target group
The target group includes the people who need to change. For example, it could be 12 vice presidents, 45 middle managers or all customer support staff.
Key questions that require specific answers.
- What specific changes are needed? How should the target group behave differently? What should they stop doing and start doing?
- Is the target group able and willing to change? Do they have the necessary knowledge, skills, and resources? Do they possess the time, energy and confidence to follow through?
- What else needs to change? When a child changes behavior, parents must also adjust their own behavior. Likewise, managers must modify their behavior to support the target group. Additionally, changes to information, measurement and human resources systems may be necessary to support the new behaviors.
When organizations implement new software, frontline employees are often the primary target. Training and incentives can help make them capable and willing to adapt. However, success also relies on managers adjusting workloads, expectations and performance metrics. These changes support the new behaviors emerging in the target group.
Chartering the project team
The sponsor charters the project team and designates the team leader.
The project team should include representatives from the target group, key managers and other influential stakeholders. Their responsibility is to develop and implement a practical plan to ensure the change lasts. Here is an example.
North River Manufacturing (650 employees) experienced rising turnover among the production employees. The exit interviews highlighted ineffective supervision as the key cause.
Previous efforts to enhance supervision failed due to vague goals and poor follow-up.
The new change initiative was sponsored by the VP of Operations. This time, the initiative was more specific and better supported. Instead of aiming for “Better leadership,” they defined three specific behaviors required of all supervisors. These included a daily 10-minute huddle with production employees to review priorities and a safety policy, weekly one-on-one discussions with each employee and monthly recognition of top performers.
The project plan included training sessions, designated owners for each task, and weekly monitoring of behavior adoption. Additionally, the plan outlined specific expectations for the sponsor and change champions.
Your checklist for achieving change successfully
Every senior leader and middle manager must understand the essential elements of implementing change.
Before launching or continuing a change initiative, pause and answer these questions.
- Sponsorship: Who is the sponsor, and is that person actively involved in the process?
- Target group: Are they clearly identified? Have the necessary changes been described in observable terms?
- Project team: Are the right people on the team? Does the team leader possess the required skills and respect? Has an effective plan been established?
- Manager support: Do managers know what changes are needed to support the target group?
- Change champions: Who will take on this role?
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
____________________________________
Take advantage of SmartBrief’s FREE email newsletters on leadership and business transformation, among the company’s more than 250 industry-focused newsletters.