Blog: Change management
What can you change in a 'morrow'?
My daughter's four and a half (don't dare forget the half!) and she measures things in 'morrows'.
So Grandma and Granddad are coming to visit, and she asks, 'Are they coming tomorrow?' 'No.' 'Are they coming the next morrow?' 'Yes.'
She's making a flag for them out of card and crepe paper, and it's going to take a while. 'How will you get it finished?', I ask her. Undaunted, she tells me, 'I'll start it tomorrow, then finish it the next morrow.'
There's a lesson here for big change - the kind of seismic change that is required when we are faced with the wrong shape, size or capability of organisation to satisfy our current and future customers. We need to break it up and make a start.
So if you are daunted by the scale of change you're facing, don't look for parts of the picture to cut back on or avoid. Instead, figure out what you can change in a morrow. (And not just any morrow - tomorrow!)
Customer experience matters
Customer experience can suffer when budgets are tight. But customer experience matters more when whole industries are facing cost challenges: if customers are being more picky about how and where they spend their money or time, it's vital to provide a memorable service and stand out from the crowd.
It pays off in spades, too. Great customer experience means increased revenues. Forrester research shows that a 1% improvement in customer retention for Federal Express resulted in $100m revenue.
The same report cited Dell prioritising cost efficiency over customer experience in their call centre costs during the downturn of 2001. As a consequence they struggled to build that capability back up as the markets grew, and were still struggling to handle 45% of calls 5 years later.
Finally, shifting attention away from the customer experience leads to missed opportunities. If others are cutting back and retreating into their shells, there is a great chance to be bold, invest and come out ahead - just as the advice on marketing is to hold or raise your spend when times are tough.
Painting a picture of change
In our last newsletter I wrote about commitment and the need to communicate the ‘why’ of process improvement. Now I’d like to consider how to make the ‘why’ stick. Knowing how to communicate the reason ‘why’ we need to change is one of the keys to unlocking commitment.
I’m often asked, “How do I get commitment (sometimes it’s called buy-in) from senior management to make the change?” Running a PI programme is all about changing the way an organisation works. So of course, a PI programme needs buy-in, if indeed, it is to succeed.
Let’s start with the people involved in change. Who do we need to get the buy-in from? Is it just the boss? Although senior management hold the purse strings and steer the company’s strategic direction, the truth is you need to get everyone’s commitment to change. Getting everyone to say, “Hey yes, this is a great idea. Let’s get on with it!” is of course no easy task. In fact it is often one of the hardest.
So how do we do it? The first thing everyone needs is a shared vision of a common goal, a picture they can understand. Individuals need to see where they fit into the picture, and visualise what’s in it for them. Then we must ‘sell’ the picture to everyone within the organisation.
The first ‘sale’ is to senior management. Getting them to believe in the goal is one of those key moments. They are either for or against. Those still sitting on the fence, I’m afraid to say, are probably against the goal.
The second ‘sale’ is to the rest of the business. Everyone needs to understand and believe in the goal and the value it will bring them. If we can address these issues then we’re 90% of the way to getting the commitment that is needed.
The second thing we need is a shared belief that the goal is achievable. For this, we need a robust process improvement plan or roadmap. What are we asking others to do and when? Everyone needs to understand the plan and how they each will contribute to its success. The plan needs to communicate, communicate, communicate what’s required and when.
If we can paint a picture that everyone believes in, then take that picture, plan its reality and let everyone know, you’ve just given your programme every chance of success.
Cyril Dyer
Getting commitment to change
Why improve your processes? How can you get commitment to change?
Let me start with the word change. Unfortunately, change for many signifies the unknown, and brings with it fear of the future. However, change must be viewed as the driver that moves us from one state to something better, and everyone involved must understand that the change is worth the pain and effort.
If we accept that to improve we need to change then let’s consider what we need to change. First, we need to get clear in our minds what drives our business. It’s these business drivers that determine what needs to change. Once we understand the drivers we can consider the processes we must change to enable us to achieve them.
Next we must convince everyone involved why we are making the change. It’s hard enough to sell the idea that we need to change but it’s much harder to sell the ‘why’. Fundamentally, each person involved needs to understand what’s in it for them!
Finally there’s commitment. We all use this word regularly, and in many different ways - the most common I note being senior management commitment. However, let me try a simple statement that can apply to all: ‘Commitment can only be given if we know what we are changing and why’.
I leave you with a few well-chosen questions. The answers will, I am sure, help you understand your commitment to change.
What are the needs of the business?
What process change is needed?
Why are we changing?
What are the tangible and intangible benefits?
Are we all agreed that we need to change?
Cyril Dyer
