What’s
in it for Me?
Takeaways
“Change is
a lot more difficult when a business is doing well.” Jack Welch
What’s in it for Me?
What it Means
From small
reorganizations to massive paradigm shifts, internalizing the impact of a
change is what every individual does if the change matters to them. Since
making a change mean leaving a comfort zone unless you, as the change leader,
can effectively communicate a compelling argument for the change, then you will
be constantly struggling with people who “just don’t get it” and your change
initiative either won’t happen or it won’t last.
Why it Matters
·
Many
initiatives fail because there isn’t a shared belief that the change is
necessary.
·
Generating
passion for a cause spreads the ownership for driving forward.
·
Since
change is happening in the world anyway because of customers, competitors,
technology, and a variety of other forces, it should go without saying that
some of today’s practices and solutions simply won’t be the right ones to
survive the future.
“To get
ahead of the competition, a change leader must create urgency and a need that
isn’t obvious to the general population.” Jack Welch
Action Plan
What’s in it for Me?
In this
module, I’ll cover how to develop and communicate a shared need for change. We’ll
also delve into where to get the date to create that compelling story. The
activities that follow will focus on helping you to:
·
Articulate
a shared need to create a “burning platform” (even if the crisis isn’t evident)
·
Conduct
an analysis to determine what really needs to change. This includes:
1.
Internal
Benchmarking
2.
Industry
Benchmarking
3.
Innovation
and Best-in-Class Benchmarking
4.
Data,
Demonstration, and Demand
Your Starting Point
1.
What
are your customers saying about your “current state” of the things you are
considering changing? Are they happy or unhappy with what you’re delivering
now?
2.
What
are your competitors doing in this space to change the game?
3.
What
is the likely outcome if the change is abandoned?
4.
Is
anyone demanding this change? If so, who are they?
5.
Is
there feedback from the organization’s associates that the change is needed?
6.
If
all the previous answers indicate that the change isn’t necessary, what is the
compelling reason to do it (i.e., economic forecast, environmental, regulatory)?
Quick Wins for Managing Change
The
following three simple actions are a
great first step that can help define a need for change.
1.
Conduct
a focus group with a small number of employees from areas in the organization
who will be impacted. Ask for their opinions and ideas about your reasons for
change. Be open to their suggestions and have at least three options or
scenarios for them to consider.
2.
List
three positives that will result after making the change and three negatives if
the change is not made.
3.
Run
industry-specific internet searches on what your competitors are doing in the
area of your change initiative. There is a lot of information that is
publically available, and if you’re not keeping up with what your competition
is doing on a regular basis anyway, this is a perfect opportunity to get your
team up-to-speed.
Note:
In this
and in many other change initiative activities that you will be undertaking,
you will need to rely on the support of others, and that can mean asking people
to take time out of their busy schedules to lend a hand. Be sure to thank
anyone and everyone who helps with their effort. Simple things like a
hand-written note, buying lunch for the team, or (depending on the hierarchy) sending
a note to the person’s boss (with a copy to the associate) praising the support
you have received can go a long way.
Building a Compelling Need for
Change
Helping
others understand the underlying need
for change generates support for new behaviors, but truly effective change
leaders create “passion” around the
ultimate objective and energize the organization to want to reach beyond the status
quo.
A shared
need for change should:
·
Be
understandable by everyone affected
·
Explain
the rationale for change
·
Address
the “what’s in it for me?” question
·
Clearly
communicate the danger if change isn’t made
·
Be
based on facts, or a strong case to back it up
When
explaining the need for change, everyone in the organization should be able to
relate to it. Be sure to include what could happen—both good and bad—if the
change doesn’t occur. This is necessary to help associates voluntarily step out
of their comfort zone.
What is a “Burning Platform” and
why does it matter?
To make
the point resonate, a “burning platform” can be used to instill passion and a
shared need for change. If the urgency is apparent, such as major government
spending cuts or technology leapfrogging, then the burning platform is easy to
build. If the urgency isn’t obvious, then the change leader must paint the
picture of the storm coming and show what the future will hold if change is not
embraced.
Note:
Remember,
that rationale for change can’t just be opinion; the more objective and
irrefutable the data that all associates can relate to, the stronger your case,
and the easier it is to win support.
Benchmarking
The wheel
only had to be invented once. Finding an emulating practices proven to get the
best results is much easier than constant innovation.
There are three types of benchmarking that are
used to collect data to show the potential of what change can bring as well as
to show what competitors are doing to change the playing field.
1. Internal
Benchmarking
Internal
benchmarking occurs with your entire organization and it’s an important place
to start since the information and data are credible and should be easy to
access. For internal benchmarking, there are three questions to consider:
·
What
are the best practices related to the change that can be replicated by other
parts of the organization?
·
What
lessons learned from past projects can lead to better decision-making in the
future?
·
Are
there any parts of the organization already embracing the change, and what are
the early results?
2. Industry
Benchmarking
Industry
benchmarking is focused on the competition and like institutions. Using competitive
intelligence find out:
·
What
are your competitors doing well?
·
What
do competitors do better than you?
·
Do
your competitors have “best-in-class” approaches you can adopt?
3. Best-in-Class
Benchmarking
Innovation
and Best-in-class Benchmarking look at best practices wherever they are found.
This can be easier to get than industry intelligence because there is no competition,
so information is often shared from the source. Seek out:
·
Who
is known for best-in-class in the area of your intended change?
·
What
is different about their approach, look and feel, or process than other
organizations?
·
What
do they do differently than your organization does?
·
What
do they measure to evaluate (and maintain) their level of excellence?
Data, Demonstration and Demand
Too much
information can be as challenging as not having enough. It’s sometimes
necessary to categorize the evidence for change to determine in where to focus
first or to identify what’s missing.
The 3-D’s,
allows you to summarize the information you may already have or need to get:
·
Data can be collected from both
internal and external sources. In short, data can be tracked, calculated, or
measure. Data highlights trends, measurable performance and benchmarks to
support the need for change. In creating a shared need, you can be pretty sure
that the majority of people you need to win over will need hard data to be
swayed.
·
Demonstrations are examples of best practices or
evidence of new behaviors in your organization. If one field office is already
demonstrating a certain behavior and their results are superior to the other
filed offices, it provides proof of concept and demonstrates the real value of
the change.
·
Demand is about the expectations senior
leaders will communicate regarding the change. An organization striving to be
more customer-focused benefits when leadership demands new metrics and
behaviors that are based on the viewpoint of the customer.
Game Pages
What’s in it for Me?
Your Starting Point
The 3 D’s
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Summary of Evidence
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Data
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Demonstration
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Demand
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