Here are several good resources on the impact of CM and some best practices:

McKinsey study (called Helping Employees Embrace Change and was published in Nov 2002) highlights the impact of effectively managing the change by looking a value delivered by strategic initiatives according to how they were managed. The study showed the ROI was:
•143 percent when an excellent change capabilities (performance management and change management) are part of the initiative;
•35 percent when there was a poor change capabilities.

The 11 most unsuccessful companies in the McKinsey study had poor change management, which showed up as the following:

•Lack of commitment and follow through by senior executives;
•Defective project management skills among middle managers;
•Confusion among frontline employees.

The 11 most successful companies in the study had excellent change management:
•Senior and middle managers and frontline employees were all involved;
•Everyone's responsibilities were clear;
•Reasons for the project were understood and accepted throughout the organization.

Results of a study by Boston Consulting Group that examined 100 large companies found the following: 52 percent reported achieving their business goals 37 percent could point to a tangible financial impact for their projects.

A study entitled Six Ways IT Projects Fail published in Darwin (2001) revealed the reasons were due to the following: Lack of executive sponsorship Lack of early stakeholder input Poorly defined or changing specs Unrealistic expectations Uncooperative business partners Poor or dishonest communication These studies and others are listed in an article on the link below. Good luck. And, if you want to discuss approaches to building change management capabilities, feel free to reach out to me.

Links:

• http://gbr.pepperdine.edu/063/change.html

posted May 20, 2009

You could apply fundamentals from ADKAR model (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement) developed by Prosci that describes the five required building blocks that should be developed sequentially both on an individual level and into an organization to ensure the success of a project that introduces transformational change in an organization. The building blocks of the ADKAR Model include:

- Awareness (of why the change is required)
- Desire (to support and contribute in the change)
- Knowledge (how to change. The rational behind the change)
- Ability (to implement new skills, attitudes and behaviors
- Reinforcement (to sustain and consolidate the change)

Based on my professional experience in managing implementations of SAP, Knowledge applications and implantation of standards, I have identified that the following steps should be followed to ensure that an implementation with the potential of impacting the organizational climate and culture will succeed with minimum trauma and fuss:

1. Identify and communicate the need, convenience and relevance of implementing a new operational framework, an updated quality standard or a system for the enterprise, to gain competitiveness, improve operational efficiency and/or reinforce customer satisfaction.

2. Make sure that CEO and Senior Managers are fully committed and are accountable during the project life cycle, and have the willingness of assuming the role of being enthusiastic supporters and executive sponsors to ensure the successful implementation of a new methodology, an updated operational framework, or a quality standard.

3. Communicate systematically the progress during the phase of implementation by using a simple language to minimize uncertainty and don´t hesitate in making an opportune reference to quick wins that are being achieved during project execution to reinforce employee´s morale, motivation and commitment.

4. Take advantage from the commitment of the owner of the business process to integrate a team with experienced proactive professionals who might assume the role of change agents in helping to the progressive diffusion and acceptance within the whole organization of a new framework, methodology or standard.

5. As a mean of maintaining a climate propitious to achieve goals and thereby maintain a higher morale in the team players, is advisable reinforce with an innovative system of incentives and celebrate with the team, the landmarks and goals that are being achieved progressively during project execution.

6. If we have the suspicion that the project of implementation will have a profound transformational impact within the organization is advisable hire expert consultancy in change management and apply managerial coaching whenever it would be necessary to reinforce managerial commitment and achieve the meaningful learning that is imperative to ensure the success of this project.

A Chief Management Officer, is a role increasingly supported and encouraged in managing the transformational processes of change with the potential of having profound repercussions on the culture, organizational structure, business processes and employee´s morale.

Being so, a CMO should have a great visibility into the organization, be empowered by CEO to lead processes of change and enjoy from enough influence on both the CEO and the Board of Directors to take business decisions relevant to ensure that the processes of transformational change will be seamlessly inserted into the organizational culture with minimum risk, impact and disturbance.

Such a role should work in tandem with Human Resources to minimize the repercussions of the change process on the organizational climate; make team working with CFO to ascertain from a risk management perspective the financial issues relevant to transformational projects; work coordinately with Public Relation representatives to articulate an effective communicational strategy.

Octavio

Links:

• http://www.linkedin.com/answers/management/organizational-development/MGM_O...
• http://www.linkedin.com/answers/management/organizational-development/MGM_O...
• http://www.linkedin.com/answers/management/change-management/MGM_CMG/367768...

posted May 20, 2009

In the last 2 years my position is exactly changing mindsets in my company and applying new technologies and solutions. What I learned?

1. Start now. The secret of getting ahead is getting started now.

2. Explain it all in plain English. Check commoncraft.com

3. Don't stop. Just push it. World is changing. Business is changing. Your company MUST change. And better if you change it yourself then someone else.

Good luck!

posted June 6, 2009

There are far too many “best practices” to identify in this forum so I will focus on the top two as I see them.

To effectively manage change in any organization one needs address employee resistance and the overall method and content of communicating the change.

Leadership needs to engage every employee through one-on-one and team discussions. The objectives of these discussion are to effectively communicate the change, the business reasons for the change, and to solicit feedback on best practices to implement the change.

We can go much deeper on both of these practices, and others if you wish to.

I hope this helps.

Mike

posted June 6, 2009

That change can not work well if pushed. Change (and technology) works better when pulled. The organization is set up to make decisions top-down. People won't react well to having decisions or improvements about the work they do by executives or technology companies that don't understand the work. I have always found a better way is to begin with "check" understanding the customer demands, purpose, value and flow. This allows for the redesign of work from a perspective of knowledge and not conjecture. Adaptation and adoption is easier because it is pulled by the people who understand the work.

AP Sloan (1930s - GM) seperated the decision-making from the work. By putting decision making back with the work we liberate method by making the worker relevant again. Instead of checking their brains at the door, we have engaged thinking workers that are full of ideas and innovation.

Tripp

Links:

• http://blog.newsystemsthinking.com/blog/bryce-harrison/0/0/changing-culture...

posted June 6, 2009

You can't change other people's mindset. You can give them the opportunity to change their own mindset. Same goes for skills, practices, and behaviors.

"Mindset" is quite a leap, actually. Be careful. Maybe the guy who doesn't embrace your new technology or technique is right - maybe it doesn't help at all. That's not a mindset problem. So, better to stick with behaviors and results and ask them why they don't leap on board. Better, involve the people who will have to change up front, and ask them "What will it take to make this work?" You'll learn something.

Consider "using a new technology or applying new techniques." Doing anything in a new way results in a period of reduced, variable performance. So, it could make sense not to change right now. You don't see a champion tennis player changing their swing right before a tournament, for example. Or, if you want change to happen, part of the solution is allowing for that period of reduced, variable performance.

If you're looking for "best practices" the Satir change model describes exactly this performance hit from change. Another resource is Piaget's learning theory. Especially for adults, learning involves forming new mental models, then practicing to learn to apply them. There's a rhythm to having a novel experience, then reflecting on what didn't make sense, to form a new theory. Meanwhile, organizations are systems. Chris Argyris work is a great starting point on the human systems within organizations. Other sources of insight into organizations as systems are the NTL, and Barry Oshry's Power and Systems labs.

I'll say the key learnings are:

Change is a process. If you are a change agent, you are asking other people to go through this, not you. You have the easy job, actually.

If you want change to happen, your job is creating a context in which others can change and supporting them as they do so. Having the big idea is the easy part. You might even want to create the context, then ask them what they might change.

Links:

• http://www.satirsystems.com/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget
• http://www.actionscience.com/index.htm

posted June 6, 2009

First, learn deeply what attitudes and mindset are present. Do this with objective, outside attitudinal research. This research will reveal where there are gaps in the people's KNOWLEDGE, what MISPERCEPTIONS are present about the situation, DAILY PRACTICES which keep the existing behaviors in place, CREDIBLE people in the organization (from the point of view of the people you want to change) and approaches to change the audience finds amenable.

Design an initiative to resolve the issues that includes these facets:
A. Identification and adaptation of rules, polices, practices and informal protocol that reinforce "old" behavior, actions and attitudes.
B. Education and training to correct misperceptions and fill the knowledge gaps.
C, Aggressive, regular communications that build credibility, inform the population of progress and celebrate movement.
D. Events that build enthusiasm, participation and promote the creation of informal, collaborative relationships.
E. More measurement to identify the progress that has been made and specifically, where to focus the effort next.

Changing attitudes, behaviors and actions sounds easy. We all know what we need to do to lose weight, but few people actually lose it and remain fit. You are changing deeply engrained, and often unconscious attitudes. It requires a sustained, scientific effort or the organization will snap back to its original shape about 10 seconds after you turn your head in another direction. That's why outside experts are necessary.

Look at major cultural changes like the shift from a smoking majority to a vocal, non-smoking one to see this model in action. Cultural change is not common.

Contact me at smcphail@ideaologists.com if you'd like a complimentary subscription to Ideaology's Quote du Jour for Innovators, a daily message on cultural change I write and disseminate to an exclusive group of inventive leaders.

Regards,

Sue McPhail, APR
Ideaology

posted June 8, 2009

From my experience in PM, Communications and Relationship Management are the key to success. Especially so for Change Management. Change is always painful, with majority of the stakeholders. The only constant we can achieve there is communication and maintaining good relationship, which would facilitate easy passage through the 'rough tides'. Without that, when the communication channels are closed, when the relationship suffers, no amount of expertise in change management would get us through. However the converse is almost always true and leads to success.

posted June 11, 2009