Challenges of a Change agent
What are the major challenges and how to address them when implementing best practices across the organizaton like Six Sigma, Lean, etc? Specific cases will be appreciated.
Good Answers (2)
Doug H
Supply Chain Operations and Procurement Professional
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Experience has taught me that there are bags and bags of challenges. I'll list a few and what I've doen to overcome them.
1. Companies don't really want change. They say they do because it sounds progressive and fresh. Most only change when they have to. When you hear leaders preaching the gospel of change, make sure they mean it. Maybe they do mean it and your they guy to lead it. The key here is having the most senior management support of any kind of change implementation you are undertaking. Without this support, you'll have a difficult time with change.
2. The people and their processes that you are trying to change probably don't want to be changed. They are comfortable, they know what's expected of them and their paycheck is secure. Often, you'll encounter strong resistance, especially if there is no senior management support. I have overcome this by showing the "change victims" what the benefit is for them- making their contributions visible to management, promotion/ growth opportunities, the chance to expand their knowledge and increase the expertise in the very work that secures that paycheck. Always being positive, never critical of the current work being done and never threatening anyone's security.
3. Get the people engaged and involved. I've found people much more willing to work on projects in which they have a say. It's not a democracy, but involvement is necessary.
4. Honesty and candor about the the new processes being implemented and why. Not only does this clear up the "eery" feeling people get when they sense change but don't know what it is, it gives people and sense of direction and knowing what to do. This is huge.
5. Train, train, train. The people being asked to change are comfortable now because they are experts in what they do. Keep it that way so they deliver with confidence.
Hope this helps.
Doug Hoffman
Yogesh
That's a big question and I truest some of the recommendations so far have helped you. My two cents on one or two specifics...
Be agile, a dogmatic approach to implementing these methodologies should not get in the way of balancing benefit and chopping off the bits that don't add value
I think someone may have already pointed out that the biggest challenges to a Change agent is out an out resistance. Be aware of where this resistance comes from and take time out to map it.
It may be cultural, "we've never done it like that before, don't want to start now" - need to demonstrate the benefits
It may be political, "this change threatens my power base, influence etc" - examine the organizations structure and make sure roles and responsibilities are always realigned, especially to incentives.
It may be technical, "I don't understand what it is I am supposed to do or change" - look carefully at the business processes for stress points and undue complexity
The last thing from me would be does the organization really need the level of change involved? Are there simpler ways to solve the business problems if they are really understood?
And finally, is the change appropriate for the stage of business model development of the organization?
A lot of these concepts are very developing/mature and require a robust infrastructure to implement successfully. Maybe the business is not ready for such a big change programme but could benefit from "cherry picking" principles as tactics to immediate business issues.
Just some thoughts
Good luck
More Answers (6)
Vinit M
Founder, Infysol.com and webdatacapture.com. Expertise in Web Solutions, QA and Software Testing Solutions
Human mindset and there toughness to do something out of organisational framework.
Eileen B
IT Professional, Information Security Quality Assurance Operations & Administration / President, CMU SEI LI SPIN
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Hi Yogesh,
A difficult, challenging and rewarding role! In my experience, the most difficult challenge is overcoming the resistance to change, largely, dealing with fears that the change will somehow bring about an unpleasant and unwelcome result - loss of positions being the most common. This may be a secondary result of the failure of management to adequately support publicly the change agent, simply due to lack of sincerity or realization of the issues at hand.
I have had the good fortune to witness both situations, one very recently in where the entire team left the organization due to, in my opinion, lack of communication and failure to involve the whole team in the transformation. I won't name this one, to protect the innocent & the guilty :)
I have also seen very positive results in where gaining the buy in and respect of the team led to a very strong team whose confidence and loyalty to the organization could not be shaken. The vast majority of those team members joined in the support of the change, helped those who were struggling and the entire organization grew and benefited. Hats off the the Eaton Corporation Cutler-Hammer Division for a job well done!
Eileen
Lk M
Management Systems Auditor,Trainer and Standardization Expert
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Major Challenges of a Change Agent
• Lack of Executive Commitment
• Limitations of Existing Systems
• Resistance to Change
• Lack of Executive Champion
• Unrealistic Expectations
• Lack of Cross-Functional Teams
• Inadequate Skills of the Team and Users
• Technology Users Not Involved
• Narrow Scope
Developing Political support and influencing key stakeholders will address these to a large extent.
Angela Y
Management Advisor at BAE Systems
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I can't agree with Eileen more. The resistance to change is always the biggest challenge for a change agent. However, with propoer communication, a change agent can convince and help people throughout the change process. Under most circumstances, things fail or people resist to change because there is very little communication which might reflect that there is no executive management buy-in or support.
Kevin B
CIO / CTO, ITIL and IT Governance Consultant @kevinbehr on Twitter
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Just ask anyone who has invented a better process or method moustrap. It's the complex social/anthropological /tribal factors that outweigh and are often in inverse proportion to the genius of the new behaviors required.
Read Great Boss Dead Boss..this is the best work on this ever IMHO
Tim M
Cost Reduction and Management Consultant
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Yogesh,
There is great book from William Daniels call Change-ABLE Organization that covers this topic. It gives spcifics on how to structure an organization for change and processes to facilitate faster change and greater success.
Tim Meuret
