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Change Management - Gestión del Cambio

BEGINNING SMALL:
Creating change when support is scarce
by Mariano Bernardez, PhD.

It is very easy to change organizations when there is strong support. However, one of the most difficult lessons I had to learn as a consultant is one that they don’t teach at Harvard Business School (or at the Universidad de Buenos Aires): How to create change when support is scarce.

In many organizations, change is frequent, attempts fail, and the organization suffers

In such cases, although the need for change may be aknowledged, it still often encounters fierce resistance in the form of skepticism, defensiveness, and what can be seen as a "Dilbert-like" response to new change proposals.

But as far as we pay the toll for undelivered promises from large-scale change and "titanic" transformation projects (the adjective suits the subject) , a frustrating feeling grows among even the change promoters at the amount of time, effort and hope wasted and the next "toll booth" ahead...

Somebody has to face the problem and get things done,so we,as consultants began to develop alternative ways to obtain success that probably defies many of the consulting bibliography "rules of the thumb".

These "tactics" could be considered part of what Tom Peters (1) once called "the blinding flash of the obvious", and I suppose that for that reason have remain mostly ignored

The new approaches showed that a small project could actually create far more positive change than a larger,company -wide one while reaching more employees of all levels and silently breaking down barriers (2) between managers, employees and the organization.

What’s more, it was easily expandable and upgradable...by the same skeptical managers that ridicule or grimly smile at hearing the pompous announcements of the "Big Change"

I will proceed to explain what I’ve learned about change: I suggest you to use three powerful tactics for faccilitating organizational change:

Tactic # 1: "Guerrilla warfare"

A. WHEN :

Picture this scenario: your organization needs some important change but you, as a consultant, realize there is substantial resistance from top management to undertake it, for some of the following reasons (or others):

Senior management is not absolutely persuaded of the need to undertake such major change.

HRD (or any other Department advocating change) does not have enough power to start such change by itself.

No one has ever tried it before.

Other changes have failed, leaving skepticism in their wake.

Senior management puts forward a "Catch 22": In order to support performance improvement, they want to see some results first. .

A "Bottom line" orientation dominates.

Ready to quit?: you certainly would have some very good reasons to do so, but what if it’s a crucial change ?

If so, this I the moment to use a "Guerrilla Warfare" plan:

B. HOW :

Begin small: "just call it training".

While watching a broadcast of greco- roman wrestling an idea came to me: as it was with the contenders, the ground could be the best place to get started... Why not begin a long process "from zip" and just call it it "training" ?

This is what I refer to as "guerrilla warfare", starting your intervention with something acceptable.

That’s the firm ground you (like a good wrestler) can stand on- and expand into large-scale performance improvement. This is how the "Guerrilla Warfare" works":

Call it "training"to reduce the possible threat and fear of "rocking the boat".

Teach supervisors to be facilitators (training, assessing needs, coaching, evaluating performance, rewarding good performance personally).

Train supervisors to coach and measure performance creating "Hawthorne effects". (communicating individual and group results daily and together setting new standards for the next day as a positive challenge .This effect works as smoothly today as it did in Mayo’s times).(3)

Allow supervisors to express and resolve doubts and fears in the training context.

Include them in dialogues with higher levels of management.

At the beginning, not all the managers will show interest,but remember : you have a real interesting input for them: the reactions of front line personnel and clients.

With this approach in mind, you could try first with those middle managers whom you know beforehand that are needing to test the front line reaction to their products or ideas ( those in charge of EPSS ,quality , safety or customer satisfaction) and you will find them very willing to assist you.

Get each supervisor to create a Plan for Performance Improvement for people or teams they lead, which he/she may be able to apply in a few days and with no need for an OK from any authority.

Solving problems and questions by themselves, rediscovering the importance of the employee performance to the organization and making simple plans wil build lots of fun and interest in the process.

Let them know beforehand that there will be follow-up and communication of positive results to senior management.

Have follow-up meetings and publicize performance- improvement results (figures, testimonial videos, etc.).

Send data to Senior Management.

You will be then setting out the "bait" to gain the attention (and support) of top management for your "training project" without provoking fear or resistance (as training is seen as low-risk and motivationally effective, even by the most skeptical and die-hard enemies of change)

Our experience shows these tactics are successful: Supervisors get involved and communicate their enthusiasm to middle management, generating an interest in change (and a second way to send and explain "the good news" to the top management)

C. WHY IT WORKS ?

But, what is it that triggers action from supervisors and gets them involved after this kind of training ?

Why are their managers now interested in going further with change?

We found some powerful reasons on our journey:

People experience change as fun.

Fun motivates.

Fun changes the meaning of our every day work has for us (from routine to challenge).

Performance-oriented training makes supervisors rediscover their power to obtain and sustain good performance at the workplace.

Successful micro-changes make both supervisors and employees feel they own their work .

Even moderate failure doesn’t frustrate them if it is followed up with comprehension and interest to learn from mistakes.

Micro-changes show skeptical managers change is indeed possible.

Management loves (and listens to) problem-solvers.

Now we have the results to go a step further and increase the impact of our project.

With that purpose in mind, let’s look at Tactic # 2:

Tactic #2: "Waterfall Effect"

Each time the measured results of a successful, low budget micro-experience

of actual performance improvement reaches senior management, a "waterfalll" of contagious interest is put into motion , empowering further projects

A. WHEN:

The right moment for this comes when:

Performance improvement has been achieved end measured on a small but reliable scale.

Top management expresses its concern about the low motivation levels among employees.

You have the chance for casual discussion with organizational leaders.

B. HOW:

In order to stimulate a "waterfall effect" you should:

Informally publicize the performance results achieved.

Disseminate real-life testimonies (video, small meetings, visits,etc).

Make the performance improvement process look easy, relevant and motivating.

Bring other managers into "spreading" and leading the experience (by now many would be asking for "training"on how to "lead" their own performance impovement projects).

Gain sponsorship.

C. WHY:

You can’t create a "Waterfall Effect", the organization does it by itself for many important reasons:

In today’s business world, obtaining and sustaining high performance is so difficult to achieve that any proven performance improvement tends to be emulated (4)

The learning curve of previous experiences accelerates change by increasing ability and reducing anxiety to optimal levels, and by using as starting point the last and best performance results obtained by other groups.

Success in improving performance creates a growing demand for any process that created such success (like a "wave" of change).

Workable, viable , down-to-earth performance improvement processess allow top and middle managers to "surf the wave of change" instead of "swimming" against resistant currents

Managers are practical people eager to use sound, proven ,and reliable ways to solve problems and the "waterfall efect" will occur any time they discover some performance improvement process that meets these criteria

Now, let’s look at the key to sustaining change

Tactic #3: Afterburner follow-up

A. WHEN:

Even when everything is running smoothly, you need to re-energize our project in order for it to "take off" to a higher level

Performance improvement requires not only energy but constancy.One of the worries of experienced managers is that they are familiar with "entropy" (the inicial enthusiasm for any project tends to decay over the time) and they ask for something more enduring and "self-sustained" than the initial "Hawthorne effect"

That’s the time to start with the "Afterburner Effect".

B. HOW:

A documentary on aircraft carriers made me think of an interesting point:.In order to manage to take off on shorter runways, airplanes use afterburning, (i.e. re-use combustion gases, to increase their momentum).

How can you apply this principle to your projects ? Let us look at some ways:

Publicize successes throughout the entire company (conferences , videos, newsletters, follow-up meetings , etc.)

Stimulate internal benchmarking among middle management (exchanging successful "models", which triggers a friendly competition within the organization)

Use change-makers (supervisors and sponsor middle managers) as co-instructors in seminars for other middle managers and supervisors willing to learn how to enhance performance and motivation in the workplace.

Keep track records visible throughout the company

Provide additional seminars "up stream"- for top management- (using already proven models)

The results of this third tactic have been amazing.

Publicizing results (performance, profit, productivity, motivation), gets managers excited and involved in performance issues.

Some examples:

A Marketing Manager spontaneously developped and applied a survey based on the Dean Spitzer’s SuperMotivation model (5) which he found effective at improving the morale at the office

A Plant Maintenance Manager together with his engineer associates, developed an evaluation model based on shared values and used it to determine compensation

Supervisors in a large bank obtained a 102 % performance increase in their cashiers performance over more than one year using both on the job training and coaching methods

And many more

WHY:

The success of this tactic for sustaining high performance reveals some forces than drive the changes on th long run but are frequently understated (an underused) as "obvious":

Success energizes.

Managers find a powerful tool to reach their goals and grab hold of it.

Minimum standards go up as a side effect of the comparison involved in internal benchmarking.

An environment of "excellence" is achieved without actually calling it that.

Conclusion: small is beautiful

In this age full of those trying to sell "Big Plans" and overselling Change ,I have found that real success usually tiptoes in and sells better in small doses.

If you try the tactics described in this article you will see what I mean.

Bibliography Footnotes:

(1) Peters, Tom & Waterman - In Search of excelence , New York, Harper & Row, 1982
Peters , Tom & Austin, Nancy K. , A passion for Excelence,Random House , 1986
(2) Ashkenas,R-Ulrich,D.-Jick,T and Kerr,S - The Boundaryless Organization, Jossey-Bass,1995
(3) Spitzer, Dean - "Five keys to Effective Training" ,Training, September 1986
(4) Bassi,L-Benson,G and Cheney,S.-"The Top Tend Trends", Training & Development, November, 1996
(5) Spitzer, Dean - SuperMotivation: a blueprint to energyze your organization from top to bottom, AMACOM, 1995

Additional Bibliography recommended

Brill ,P and Worth, R.- The four levers of corporate change , AMACOM, 1997
Gross,S.- Compensation for Teams, AMACOM, 1995
Fisher,K.- Leading self-directed work teams, MacGraw-Hill, 1993
Ryan, K & Oestreich,D. - Driving fear out of the workplace, Josey-Bass, 1991
Blanchard, K. ,Carlos, J.P. and Randolph, Alan - Empowerment takes more than a minute, Boerret-Koetler, 1995
Gephart,M and Van Buren, M. - "The power of High Performance Work Systems", Training & development, October 1996
Gill, S. - "Shifting Gears for High Performance", Training & Development, May 1995
Galagan, P. - "Byond hirarchy: The Search for High Performance", Training & Development, August, 1992

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