Half of Change Projects don't Deliver - Part One
Article by Malcolm Anderson
In our survey of the effectiveness of change management in Australian organisations, almost half of senior executives admitted that their change initiatives did not achieve their objectives. Middle managers took an even stronger view with nearly 60% reporting that change initiatives were ineffective in reaching goals.
Given the level of resource, time, effort and human stress invested in change projects, this statistic must give conscientious managers major cause for concern. Add to this the continuous harping of management gurus on the theme that change is here to stay, and the increasing impact of the global market on Australian organisations, it indicates a serious problem in need of a solution. So what is the nature of the issue?
In our survey, 55% of non-managers reported that in their opinion the organisation was not good at turning plans into action. Yet these are the very people whose behaviours change plans are supposed to target. Taking it a step further, 56% of senior executives believe they do turn complex problems into structured plans, but 56% of middle managers believe this does not happen! Ignoring the degree of confusion revealed here, this means that half of managers don't effectively convert complex problems into deliverable plans.
Root Causes not Band-Aids
To complete this disturbing picture, only 27% of middle managers were able to agree that root causes were analysed before solutions were put in place. So ¾ of our time is spent creating band-aid fixes that will have to be reworked when the same issues arise once more, a little way down the track.
And why is this so? Well, we at changedrivers would argue that in order to define root causes and identify the right solution, managers need a group problem solving process that is understood throughout the organisation. But of that same middle management group who are typically given the task of working out how a problem will be solved in the workplace, only 35% said they had an understood group problem solving process.
Figure 1: Changedriving: The Basic Process
As Figure 1 reveals, the basic process of making change happen (or 'changedriving' as we prefer to call it), is very simple. But as our research above shows, it's much easier said than done. So what are the critical success factors (CSFs) for sustainable change? And how can changedrivers help you avoid the huge cost of resources, time and effort in failed change?
CSF #1: Understanding the Demands of Successful Change
The only reason to attempt change is because you wish to make a sustainable difference to how your organisation performs. You must therefore have evidence that performance is inappropriate, and that the chosen change will have the required impact.
Make no mistake change will be ineffective if you do not carry the key stakeholders with you. As a minimum, customers, managers and staff must be fully committed to making the change happen or it will not stick. To build and maintain 'buy-in' you must identify the WIIFM (what's in it for me?) of the key stakeholder groups. If you do not, they will not change their behaviours, and why should they?
In order to achieve sustained change the behaviour of your managers and staff must be permanently altered. It is not good enough to change systems or processes alone, although this must be done to provide a controlled basis for the change, and to reinforce the behavioural change. Changing peoples' behaviours is not something that can be decreed from above. It requires subtle planning, a comprehensive approach, and the stamina and commitment to see it through to its conclusion.
Click here to read Part 2 of this article.
For an understanding of essential elements for change, click here.