Wikipedia defines organizational change management (OCM) as, …“a collective term for all approaches to prepare, support, and help individuals, teams, and organizations in making organizational change.”
Such a simplistic way to define an activity that requires such considerable foresight and attention. I decided to write this so that I could share some of my experiences with OCM and offer a few insights that I found helpful and conversely those that I did not find so helpful. I’ll try to keep this entry short and to the point, basically the tl;dr (too long; didn’t read) version. I’ll continue to add updates as my understanding and experience evolves. First I’ll cover a couple of anti-patterns that should be avoided, then I’ll cover a couple of positive patterns that, if followed and you are persistently promoting and supporting, should yield positive organizational results with enough time and support.
I’m not sure how egos go in other industries, but in tech, lets just say everybody has one and some try to exercise it way more than others. Thus the first anti-pattern, ego can stop an effort before it begins. Think about the Dunning-Kruger effect here, “it is a cognitive bias in which people wrongly overestimate their knowledge or ability in a specific area.” It is particularly alarming when a plan or solution is presented as well thought out and finalized but lacks the proper feedback, input, and socialization from teams and stakeholders. Even if somebody has the experience and technical chops, the manner in which you formulate a plan and socialize it matters. Solutions that are presented as final or perfect are often far from the implied status, especially if the solution does not include broader perspective and context from teams other than the one leading the effort.
Opaque collaboration and communication leaves teammates and stakeholders feeling void of any value in the future decisions and direction of the organization. Thus the second anti-pattern, a lack of trust and empowerment in your team. Not involving your team and broader stakeholders in developing a new process or direction clearly communicates a level of distrust that devalues individual effort and damages overall morale. It’s also not an environment that attracts or retains top talent, or any talent.
If ego is an anti-pattern, then the first positive pattern are characteristics indicative of someone with a good understanding of their strengths and limitations and is comfortable with accepting that they are probably not the only qualified person whom should be informing the solution. We are not always so lucky to have a subservient leader on the team, so in those situations it’s more beneficial to positively influence perspectives and convince the person(s) that they helped develop the best approach as opposed to debating against the inadequacies of their solution - because any debate would probably not be based on merit and technical understanding but rather it will be driven by emotions and pride.
Is our understanding of OCM driven by people’s unwillingness to evolve or is the unwillingness actually a lack of inclusion? As with the ego anti-pattern, inclusion and empowerment go hand-in-hand. Thus the second positive pattern, trust your team and empower them to perform. Pull your staff into the conversation and pull in other staff as well. You want to make it clear that your staff know they have a place in the new organization and that their contributions are invaluable and relevant to the end goal and future success. Give your team time to adapt to new processes, learn new technology, and build rapport with new team members. With enough time and momentum the team will be performing without the need of your influence at each step.
In summary,
- be transparent,
- trust and empower your team,
- give people the opportunity to contribute to the new direction, and
- give people time to embrace the changes we are asking of them.
Just as you will encounter speed bumps along the way, you will also be surprised to see whom on your team emerges from the smoke and helps to pull others out as well. One by one, as these leaders begin to emerge and people are given time to figure out their new surroundings, you will find yourself pivoting from focusing on OCM to focusing on mission and customer challenges.
References:
- Wikipedia - Change Management
- Conversations with Nick Pekular and John Arundel
- Subservient Leadership Wiki
- Picture by Aga Putra @agaputrantara
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