Change Agent Central
The Change Management Payoff
Use fewer people to produce higher quality results. Reduce risks to on-time/on-budget delivery, accelerate project benefits, make better, faster decisions and reduce overall consulting spend by building your internal change management capability. If you are responsible for any of the above, you will find this section useful. If change management is your job, you may find it essential.
Time and The New Cultural Order
If you have a global company, you have most certainly observed that regions of the world do the same things differently. But have you considered that the way a culture experiences time may be one of the most powerful, behind the scenes drivers of these differences? Professor Phillip Zimbardo, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Stamford has studied, written on and in this fascinating animated video snippet, describes the effects of the different time perspectives.
The Secret Power of Time – Phillip Zimbardo 2010
Carrots and Sticks R.I.P.
Guess what? Carrots and Sticks don’t work. In study after study we are learning that giving employees more money, promoting them or punishing them for failing to reach goals, all miss the mark by a mile when it comes to motivating behavior at work. Let’s break it down:
Money – It’s table stakes i.e. necessary but not sufficient. You have to give people enough money so that they are not worrying about money and they can focus on work. Once they are focused on work, the level and quality of the work is dependent on non-monetary factors.
Position – (see Money) again necessary, especially for high potential employees, but not sufficient.
So what are the real motivators of innovation, of quality and of leadership in the work environment? ….drum roll please….
1. Autonomy – working with minimal supervision on things of your own choosing.
2. Mastery – the opportunity to get better at something that matters
3. Making an Impact – creating positive change
What does this mean for the overused change manager’s favorite excuse: resistance to change?
Change resistance comes into play when #1, #2 and #3 are neglected. In other words, we resist when we did not chose the change, when we don’t feel competent to execute the change, when the change does not matter to us, or when we don’t see any positive benefit from implementing the change.
All Change Management Methodologies must at a minimum address these three issues.
For an insightful and amusingly animated explanation of this concept you will not do better than to watch this short video from Dan Pink:
The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us – Dan Pink
Hearts and Minds: Passion or Logic?
If you’ve prepared your FAQs, your status dashboard is up to date and your weekly project communications go out on time and so you think your change management box is checked, think again. These things are table stakes. Ya gotta have ‘em. They don’t move the needle with regard to stakeholder buy-in. Feelings, not facts move the needle.
When we feel something strongly, we find the logic to support it. When we don’t feel strongly, data is interesting but it doesn’t move us to action. If you don’t think this is so, read Mark Lilla, Columbia Professor of Humanities and NY Times Author. His compelling piece looks at how passion trumps logic in politics, in history, and I may add, in business.
For our President, and for Change Managers everywhere.
The President and the Passions – Mark Lilla – 12/19/10
Global English is a Competitive Advantage
Women and men of the global econosphere please listen up! When you work with people for whom English is a second (or third, fourth or fifth language), do you:
- Speak softly even when people are conferenced in and listening to you via cell phones or speakerphones
- Establish subject matter mastery via sophisticated or technical words and complex sentence structures
- Talk at the speed of light either because you are under 30 (or want others to think you are) or because you think it makes you sound smart
If you answered YES to any of the above, PLEASE HEAR THIS!: YOU ARE THE RUDE CAUSE OF POOR COMMUNICATION – SO STOP IT!
We all know that failure to communicate is a primary cause of business failure to execute on strategy. For the sake of your expensive McKinsey strategic reports, your BHAGs and your visions of market leadership, it is time to learn and practice the rules of Global English. Do your L.A.P.S.S.S.!
- Loud – Speak loudly so people can at least receive the soundwaves.
- Attention – Look directly at the person you are speaking to. If you are not sure they are paying attention, use their name. If they are not awake, use their name plus rule #1.
- Pause – Many non-native English speakers are “translating in their head”. Give them the grace of a slow feed.
- Slow – Speak slowly . . . very slowly…with occasional pauses (see rule #2)….That’s…better.
- Simple – Use simple words. Native English speakers use over 5000 different words, but non-native speakers use 500 – 1500. If you have a native English speaker’s vocabulary, surely you can come up with simple synonyms in the interest of being understood.
- Short – Use short sentences. Do not speak in long, run on sentences, even if they are technically good english, because this will require the listener to catalog backwards to your earlier phrases to try to find the simple noun-verb-object through-line that will help them to make sense of what you just said. – Capiche?!
- Smile – If they can’t understand you, maybe you can make them feel comfortable enough to ask you to repeat it one more time.
For more specific examples of how to apply Global English go here:
http://www.webpagecontent.com/arc_archive/139/5/
Taming the Abrasive Manager
Today I met a very interesting guy with an even more interesting job. His name is Patrick Reilly and he has a coaching practice that specializes in managing abrasive executives. I left the meeting with a handful of his cards.
When Patrick refers to an executive as “abrasive”: he’s not talking about everyday dysfunctional executives. These are a dime a dozen and we all fit that bill now and then if we tell ourselves the honest truth. He is talking about the highly productive, highly valuable to the business executive who consistently exhibits borderline abusive, aggressive, or passive aggressive behavior.
What do you do if this shoe fits your boss, your client, or your co-worker?
Things to know:
- Acutely abrasive, successful people in business have survived being managed by other acutely abrasive people so they think this is a badge of honor, a sign of their tough skin and if they survived it, you should too.
- Acutely abrasive, successful people tend to be low on the EQ side. In other words they are clueless regarding the degree of negative impact they have on others.
- Acutely abrasive, successful people in business are motivated by business results. They are especially motivated by how their achievement of business results affects them. Therefore they will change behavior only in response to an imminent threat to one of the Three Ps:
- Position
- Promotion
- Pay
What to do:
If you have a very high EQ of your own and feel you have the @#!**s to go toe-to-toe with this person, you can try it. Go in with some examples in your holster and focus on shedding light on the negative perception created by the behavior.
If you are a mere mortal, or not well positioned to effect one of the three Ps, collect your evidence in the form of examples and reactions (yours and those of others in the line of fire) and bring them to the powers that be. This is most likely the boss of the offending executive or someone in HR.
My strong recommendation would be to also provide the name and contact information of a specialist like Mr. Rielly. If you or someone you know is finding their business objectives and quality of life derailed by the subject of this post, you may want to contact Mr. Reilly directly.
One last comment: Patrick seems to be an intelligent, cool calm and collected person. No small feat given that he eats abrasive people for breakfast.
May The Force be with you and with him:
Patrick Reilly: http://www.resourcesinaction.com/
Change Management Snowflakes
I have spent the last 22 years knee deep in large scale change initiatives. I have led, coached or rescued over 30 projects for Fortune 500 companies and 5 for non profits. So far, I have yet to see two that are alike. Therefore:
Change Management is Like Snowflakes
You will use standards and best practice methods and tools of course. However, your approach and the details of what you do and how you do it must be tailored or it won’t work. Your Change Management Approach must be customized to your company culture, to your business calendar, to your project cadence (more on cadence later). It must fit your team’s needs and abilities, your stakeholders’ appetites for information and your leadership style. You manage the project by phases, gates, milestones and metrics. You manage the adoption of new behavior by understanding the best and worst of human nature, paying close attention to nuance and knowing when to hold ‘em, when to fold ‘em, and when to walk away. Change Management is alchemy: one part science and two parts artistry. Done well, it turns today’s project elements into tomorrow’s business gold.
Word Magician
My client just sent me a note thanking me for helping rewrite a document for our project. She said, “Thank you for updating this. It is very good. You are a real word magician.”
Is this a good thing? Is this an added value for project management? I think the answer is yes…and yes. Using language clearly is very, very helpful on projects when you need to be sure you are saying exactly what you mean so that people in multiple locations can understand you. It is critical on global projects where English is not everyone’s native language. Words may or may not be your strong suit but either way, it is worth it to take some extra time to re-read your emails and your project documentation and make corrections. It is worth it to spend a moment to try to say what you mean. This should not require more than an extra few moments of focused attention. It is not about using descriptive language and big words. What is needed is almost always in the direction of simplifying and organizing your thoughts. Once you are very clear about what you do and do not mean, writing them down clearly is pretty easy and quick. So here is the magic ingredient for clear writing:
Think first, then write, then check what you wrote!
Now I am going to re-read and edit this post!
Role Forward
Do you think writing a detailed description of project roles is a boring waste of time? OK, maybe you are not that extreme. Do you think it is a good idea but not a top priority say, ahead of creating the project work plan? You are wrong on both counts. If you don’t do this up front and use it every time you introduce new team members, and if you don’t make sure that everyone is actually working according to their roles, you are sowing chaos into the fabric of your project. Does this mean that everyone has to ONLY do what is in their role? Of course not. There is always some overlap and always a need for people to pitch in and help on activities beyond their role. But if you don’t get clarity about each person’s primary responsibility, you are asking for trouble. So don’t wait. Just DO IT!
Herding the Executive Cats
How do you solve a problem called Executive Alignment?
They said they were on board. So why don’t they show up? And most importantly, why are their direct reports fighting you on the assignment of needed resources ? You’ve written a clear project strategy with clear objectives and a business case that demonstrates your project’s value proposition. So, why does everyone still seem so confused?
What’s Going On?
Imagine that each of your stakeholders is a magnet capable of uniting or splintering their extended network for or against your project’s objectives. The power of the magnets may differ, some are positively charged and some are negative but the ability to control their combined effect on your project is the single greatest lever in your change management toolkit. Are your stakeholders pulling towards a common objective or is your company’s management team its own worst enemy? Once the negative energy starts it will spread invisibly and swiftly and it will create havoc in the white spaces of your project.
Are your stakeholders impotent or worse?
- The VP who practices public support but behind the scenes bets against your success
- The Director who believes in the project but can’t commit any of her people to its implementation
- Your peer in a lateral department who led a similar project last year, knows you are underfunded but hasn’t told you he can help you find more money because he doesn’t want to insult your intelligence.
With these kinds of friends, who needs enemies?
What’s a Project Leader to do?
Executive Alignment uses project management, soft skills, hard data, simple logic, coaching and business acumen to help you get the support you need to succeed.
Sound easy? You’re right. It’s not. It’s really hard. That’s why most projects come in late and over budget, with all kinds of bugs and failures.
The Good News is if you take it step by step, it may not be easy but it is doable.
Shannon Solutions Launches a New Website
Shannon Solutions is pleased to announce the launch of this website on March 19, 2010. The new ShannonSolutions.com site features a clean, modern look and streamlined navigation.
The new format provides exceptional flexibility and enables me to use videos and podcasts as well as down-loadable content for registered users. I have also included a blog and with comments providing a forum for sharing best practices and war stories front.
This is my new global communication tool aimed at establishing a closer relationship with you.
I look forward to your feedback and to using this site to help you manage your projects and transform your business.
~Barbara Shannon