Nutshell: How to change

Change is hard. To maximise our chances of success, we need to plan and implement robust change-management processes.

If we can agree about anything when it comes to the 21st-century workplace, it’s that the rate and pace of change show very little sign of slowing down.

We live in times where change is a constant and ambidexterity and agility the order of the day.

For leaders, that means understanding what change is, what might trigger the need for change and how we anticipate as well as react to it.

And once we’ve identified a need for change – however large or small and whatever the context - we need to make it happen. We must actively manage it.

Change management is about keeping our eyes (and everyone else’s) on the big-picture prize while understanding how to manage the process for the best chance of success.

It’s about creating a compelling vision around why change is needed, its purpose; planning and executing effectively and using our very best collaboration and communication skills to enable trust, influence and persuade so that we can bring people along with us.

So, how do we do that?

Models of change management

Fortunately, there are a host of change management approaches, theories and models that offer a structured approach to help us implement change as effectively as possible.

To help us marshal these, let’s start with four key change management principles: 

1. Understand the change.

2. Plan for the change.

3. Implement the change.

4. (At all stages) communicate the change.

1. Understand the change

We may well already have started this process as part of our investigation into what needs to change in the first place.

As we start to think about the 'how', we need to develop a clear vision for the change so that we can communicate its benefits to others. We need to be absolutely clear about:

• Why we need to change and what that 'new state' we want to achieve looks like.

• What the benefits will be – to our organisation and our colleagues.

• How it will impact people – positively and negatively – and how we manage that.

• What everyone will need to do to make the change happen – and stick.

• What barriers and obstacles we’re likely to face.

• What might happen if we don’t make the change.

If we can’t make the case ourselves, it’ll be hard to convince others. People need to feel that the change will ultimately be worthwhile – and that there’s a clear direction of travel for how we’ll get there.

Beckhard and Harris' change equation

Based on an original idea by David Gleicher, Richard Beckhard and Rubin Harris first published their change equation in their 1977 book, Organizational Transitions. The equation suggests that some key conditions need to be in place for change to happen.

 Beckhard and Harris believe that there has to be enough dissatisfaction with the status quo before a successful change can take place. This provides the motivation for change.

But the feeling that things aren’t right as they are is not enough on its own. We also need a solution – a vision - that’s compelling, clear and understandable.

On top of that, people need to feel that the change is achievable. Good planning and some key, achievable first steps will make people feel that the change is practical and realistic, not just for our organisation, but for them as individuals too.

Even when all of these positive factors are in play, the equation also reminds us that we will almost inevitably meet some resistance along the way. 

When we’re in the understanding phase of any change management, the trick is for that resistance to be outweighed by the other three factors.

For example, implementing a new tech system is never for the faint-hearted. But if the current system is driving everyone nuts and we can create a clear and workable vision for a better alternative, with a good plan for implementation, with key milestones, along the way, then we’ll be well placed to convince everyone that the short-term pain will be worthwhile.

The equation won’t in itself make the change happen, but it’s a helpful checklist of the factors we’ll need to take into account. It can also help to keep us on track as we go through a change.

2. Plan for the change

As Beckhard and Harris’ equation shows us, dissatisfaction and vision will only take us so far if we’re going to beat any resistance.

We need a robust, workable plan to manage any change project or initiative. Plans will vary in complexity depending on the type of change we’re managing, but there are some key issues we’ll always need to take into account, including:

Who are the key stakeholders?

Who will be impacted by the change and how?

A stakeholder mapping exercise might help to identify them. Who will need to be on board to make the change happen? Do we have all of the expertise we need in-house or will we need to buy this in? Will people need training or additional support?

Who are our change champions?

Some people will be more positive and excited about the change than others. We need to get these people onside to sponsor and support the change – and help to secure buy-in from the more resistant.

If we can bring on board champions who have a connection with the resisters, this will be especially powerful as they see “one of them” leading the way.

What are the key stages, timelines and milestones?

Having a clear route map will keep us on track and can help to reassure the naysayers.

How will we communicate throughout the change process?

This is crucial, as we’ll see below. A change communication plan will stand us in good stead.

How will we know when we’ve got there?

Some change projects are more open-ended and ongoing than others, but identifying up front what success will look like at key stages, and how that will impact our people and organisations, gives direction, focus and helps to instil a sense of purpose.

3. Implement the change

We’ve laid the groundwork. Now’s the time to implement the change.

There are a range of strategies we can use to put our change into practice. Again, much will depend on scope and complexity.

All bear in mind the fact that change can be hard for many people; it’s no coincidence that a common change model, the Kubler-Ross change curve, is based on the stages people go through when they’re grieving.

And all of the models identify a series of stages we need to go through to move from our current state through that transition to our new state.

Kurt Lewin: unfreeze-change-refreeze

One of the earliest models for understanding this process was developed by psychologist, Kurt Lewin, in the 1940s. His three-step change process encourages us to think of change as analogous to changing the shape of a block of ice.

To change that shape, we first need to unfreeze it, so that it’s able to change.

Only then can we make the change by creating the new shape we want.

Finally, we have to solidify the new shape by refreezing it.

The model reminds us that, as well as creating the right conditions for change – the understanding and planning phases - and making it happen (implementation stage #1), we also need to embed it in our organisations.

Even when change is ongoing, it’s important to refreeze along the way to build confidence in the change and make it real for people.

John Kotter’s eight-step process for leading change

In his 1985 book, Leading Change, Harvard professor, John Kotter, created one of the most enduring change management models of all time.

In many ways, it’s an expansion of the Lewin three-stage process, but is more nuanced to anticipate and take into account some of the key challenges we’ll face along the way.

 Kotter’s eight steps are grouped into three key phases: 

1. Creating the climate for change.

2. Engaging and enabling the organisation.

3. Implementing and sustaining change.

Within these stages, we’re encouraged to follow the eight steps to build momentum for change, make it happen and then make it stick. Although originally conceived as more linear steps, these days the model is more likely to be shown as a cyclical process:

Step 1: Create a sense of urgency

Kotter suggests that, for change to be successful, 75% of a company’s management needs to buy into that change: momentum is everything. That’s why he encourages us to start our change process by creating a sense of urgency, a case for why change needs to happen that can build and feed on itself.

This may be a matter of using market intelligence to assess risks and opportunities; opening up discussions about change, perhaps using an action research project, garnering the views of stakeholders. This is a crucial first step.

Step 2: Create a guiding coalition

We’ll need to gather our change champions around us if we are to convince people that change is necessary.

Managing change isn't enough; we have to lead it.

Step 3: Create a vision for change

An easy-to-grasp vision will help people get on board with the change.

Link this to organisational values and purpose where possible, so that people can consider the change in context. Develop a short summary or statement about the new reality we’re aiming for and create strategies to make that a reality.

Step 4: Communicate the vision

Stay on message and use every opportunity to reiterate the vision, amending and adjusting our messaging for different stakeholder groups and/or for those with different communication styles. 

Listen to and address people’s concerns openly and honestly. Don’t just communicate in big set-piece meetings, but talk about the change in everyday situations too.

Step 5: Remove obstacles

Stay alert to obstacles and barriers that threaten to derail the change, whether these are structural, cultural or around individual resistance.

Step 6: Create short-term wins

Making progress and being successful is motivating. Plan for some “quick wins”, those change equation first steps that will help people to build on that success and keep going.

Step 7: Build on the change

Kotter argues that many change projects fail because we abandon our change processes too soon.

Real change takes time, and those quick wins are only the start, especially with change that’s more transformational. Keep iterating and improving to really make the change stick.

Step 8: Institute the change

This is about making the change part of our culture, an integral part of who we are and what we do.

4. Communicate the change

Communicating well, and often, is at the heart of all stages of any change-management process, whether we’re generating ideas, setting a change vision or overcoming resistance.

It’s not just about information exchange; we need to listen, engage and persuade; set the right tone; adjust our style and the media we use depending on our different audiences.

Most of all, we need to be alert to people we may be in danger of leaving behind. We’ll need to develop and implement a comprehensive communications plan as part of our change management planning.

The ADKAR® Change Management Model

One way of keeping the need to communicate front and centre is to bear in mind the ADKAR® Change Management Model.

Created in the 1990s by Jeff Hiatt, then leader of the Prosci research organisation, ADKAR® provides a clear communication goal for each stage of a change project. By focusing on these stages, it reminds us to do everything we can to engage people about the change.

This means achieving five successive knowledge-sharing goals as the project proceeds:

1. Awareness (of the need for change).

2. Desire (to participate in and support the change).

3. Knowledge (of how to change).

4. Ability (to change; support as the change is implemented).

5. Reinforcement (to sustain the change).

Ideally, we need to achieve each goal before we can move on to the next. That starts with making people aware of the need for change right through to the skills, training or coaching they’ll need to get to the reinforcement stage.

Some people will move through the stages quite quickly; some might need more support along the way.

For others, progress isn’t linear and they may move back a stage at times.

The model reminds us that we may have spent an age thinking everything through and planning meticulously – but that won’t be the case for everyone else. We need to share our workings.

The model can be used when planning how and when we’ll communicate; when we’re assessing the project mid-change and if we need to regroup and change tack.  

The bottom line is that it’s pretty much impossible to over-communicate when it comes to change. Plan, execute and adjust accordingly.

Change is hard. It’s perhaps unsurprising that research puts the rate of failure of change initiatives at anywhere from half to two thirds.

Whatever the odds, though, change is unavoidable; it’s simply a fact of organisational life. So, we need to give ourselves the best chance of success by understanding what change really means and having in place the thinking and processes to make it a reality.

Some of the change models outlined here might seem like overkill for smaller-scale change. But even where the need for change is clear to us and the path to achieving it set out, we still need to make it happen and bring on board the people it will impact.

Having a range of strategies at our disposal will help us to do just that.

Test your understanding

• Explain why the “refreeze” stage of Kurt Lewin’s change model is so crucial.

• Describe the three phases John Kotter’s change management model.

What does it mean for you?

• Think about a change project you’ve recently been through, or one that is coming up. How might focusing on a four-stage change management process (understanding, planning, implementing, communicating) help that change to happen and stick? Identify two or three things you might have done/do differently as a result of that focus.