6 steps how transformation succeeds - part 1 of the blog series about change success
Wow-what a cool way to start an intensive day. We had eight hours. So I was sure there would be plenty of time for my and his continuing questions. After the intensive day, I decided to take my blog article readers along for the ride over the next few months. So here is the first stage - listening - my client listened to me.
Taking away from people, something familiar is hard. People love consistency; we are keepers at our core. This is what makes a change, transformation, so difficult in many cases. But people are also "herd animals" - they look at what others are doing, i.e. what does the board of directors exemplify - how do the managers behave, etc.? Here are six golden rules for success, and there are many more!
- The fish stinks from the head, and therefore the first and, in my experience, the decisive key is: The head = the board of management must authentically embody the change. Get all your colleagues together and, for example, dare to hold a provocative pain point workshop - 'Where does it stink with us?
- The second key is sustainability. Leadership must be clear that a transformation process is not a 100-meter run, but definitely a marathon and possibly even an ultra - that's 100 km! This means that it must be clear to all board members that we want to shape the next few years with this company - we are not just on call and then say "After me, the deluge" - we are committed to the transformation process and stand behind it 100%. Then the employees also start to believe in success. Instead of lip service, it's about authentic and long-term commitment.
- The third key factor is people. It's about bringing people along and really bringing them along. Invite all employees to accompany the process with their ideas. Ask: Where are your pain points? What do you think - what are we suffering from? What can we do better? Collect the ideas - not as pseudo-games on colourful flipchart walls with elaborate design thinking processes. Nothing against design thinking. It's a valuable tool if the philosophy behind it is right. What's fatal are workshop days that involve touching things - group-dynamic events where yellow slips of paper are posted and may not be photographed afterwards. It's also about transparency. Share what you learn with the whole company. Keep listening, take people with you, engage in discussion, hold out discourse, counter, question: why isn't it working? How does it work then?
- The fourth key factor is listening. Example: You invite employees from all areas of the company. Without a "guideline." Arouse curiosity and see who/how many respond - that's already the first insight step! Then take those who accept the invitation seriously and rely on their positive multiplier effect. Perhaps 80 employees responded in the first round. You then put them at eight tables, for example - 10 employees at a time - arranged randomly. Each table has the task of listening to the concerns and needs - developing ideas for improvement from them, asking and answering questions about the transformation, actively implementing dialogue and discourse to present the ideas, impulses, requests for the transformation process at the end of the workshop. A dialogue team then clusters these ideas and presented to the board - e.g. in a public online session. Now you know the pain points in the company. From this, you can then develop guiding principles for your company - 10 imperatives that show how you are positioning yourself as a company for the future - in terms of leadership, sustainability, etc.
- The fifth step is about Accountability. It is crucial to take responsibility and make the developed content usable. It is a matter of concrete implementation. To achieve Accountability and ensure sustainability, it is important to link board work with the guiding principles closely. One implementation idea is for each board member to sponsor three Guiding Principles, for example. In doing so, he or she is simultaneously responsible for the success of these guiding principles. "I (board member) sponsor this theme and make sure it runs." Of course, this "making it run" is easier said than done. At this point in the transformation process, I like to fall back on swarm intelligence in the company. Establish working groups that commit to success and ensure Accountability. The task: What can we do with the findings? What concrete implementation strategies do we develop? What are the quick wins? What are the long-runner issues? Such as employees and leadership. Leadership is a problem in many traditional, mid-sized companies. Many employees cannot lead - they still lead "the old-fashioned way" via fear and pressure. Now the question is: How do we want to lead instead? Here you must have a heterogeneous workgroup. It would help if you also had the brakemen, the preservationists, who often represent a large part of the employees. Only together will you succeed in finding a path toward better leadership. The next questions to ask are: How do you get the implementation ideas into the team? How can you anchor the new philosophy in the company in the long term?
- And last but not least (!), you need a strategy for the total resisters - a way to deal with people and their fear of change. That's where empowering employees to deal with colleagues, and their resistance is important, among other things. For example, make it clear, "we don't expect you to convert or fight the 'keepers' - you may continue to have a good collegial relationship - whoever doesn't want to join - that's super sad, and we're glad you're on a different path. If you need help, we are always there. If you feel like there are problems, let us know."
The coffee vending machine diaster
Money only works where it is a means to an end - it is not the only thing! This is illustrated by an example that "happened" to one of my customers before we developed the transformation process together: The biggest failure in the effort "to do something good for the employees" was the purchase of new, very high-quality coffee vending machines. After a complaint that nothing was being done for the employees - there weren't even any coffee machines - expensive equipment was installed, and five corridors were painted white. The management board was laughed at for this. The board, in turn, did not understand the world at first: "You wanted coffee vending machines, didn't you? But the call for coffee vending machines was only a pars pro toto.
Transformation is an attitude.
Transformation is an attitude that must be exemplified by the Board of Management and supported by the entire team. You have to want it all. If I really want transformation, then I look for and find exactly the opportunities to get it. That means really listening to the employees! Taking their fears seriously and communicating authentically that you understand. Developing transformation in the executive suite and then ordering the rest of the team to implement it - that's bound to fail. The crucial thing is to get as many employees as possible to help shape the future - then momentum will develop, and success will set in on its own.
"Let's look at the calendar - when can we start the Pain Point workshop for the entire board," was the spontaneous reaction of Johannes M. The journey could start. I am excited and will keep you posted - I promise!
[Translate to English:] Shutterstock.com | Artur Szczybylo