Leading Change. Part 1

First step in becoming a successful change leader is to fully understanding your organization and matching the initiative to your organization’s real needs. This means not just adopting the latest management fad or implementing solutions for the sake of implementing new and emerging technologies.

Recognize that bringing about useful and meaningful change is fundamentally about changing people’s behavior. It is not primarily about installing a new system or business process. If people in the end do not behave and work differently, then the money and time spent in “doing stuff” is wasted.

How do you go about becoming a change leader?

(1) Focus on needs of the business. Understand the business (environment, business processes, business strategy, business needs (current and long term). Don’t assume anything, especially when considering technological solutions.
a. Is your proposed change important to the organization?
b. Why is it important?
c. How does it support the strategy?
d. What are the benefits? ROI
e. What is the cost impact? From an implementation perspective as well as from impact to resources, training, time to come up to speed and execution to previous levels
Help the business to succeed

(2) Focus on alignment: Competing messages from the people at the top is the kiss of death for a change initiative. Important change initiatives will always cross the boundaries of groups, departments, and divisions. Creating and sustaining agreement among key leaders may be one of the most important factors for successful change
Help the leaders manage their business, ensure that they are successful

(3) Focus on stakeholders. The stakeholders are the resources who will have to adopt and execute the change.
Don’t underestimate stakeholder management! Socialize the idea first, gain their acceptance and then engage them throughout your project from requirements gathering, design of business process/systems, get ideas on how they could make your change better, training needs, method for delivering training etc. this engagement will ensure that they feel that they are the customer and that this change will indeed help improve their day to day functions.
Help the organization (resources) to succeed

"Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are my own only and in no way represent the views, positions or opinions - expressed or implied - of my employer (present and past) "
"Please post your comments - Swati Ranganathan"