Weeks spent developing scenarios, weighing up options and finally making a decision. The hard work is done? Not quite. Making a decision does not mean that change will actually happen. In the third and final webinar in the Scenario to Success webinar series, Make Change Stick, Dorothée Laire and Rik Van Praet, management consultants at Möbius Business Redesign, explore how effective change management turns strategic decisions into lasting change on the front line.
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A decision is just the starting point
Traditionally, the process goes something like this: make a decision, communicate it, roll it out and move on to the next project. But that is where the real work begins. You need to keep communicating, listening and adjusting until the new way of working simply becomes the way things are done.
Rik, a passionate footballer himself, compares it to a football team: a brilliant tactical plan is worthless if the team cannot put it into practice together on the pitch.
Change never happens in isolation
From the leadership team's perspective, a transformation portfolio looks orderly: each programme has its own governance, milestones and business case. On the front line, however, all these initiatives land on the same teams at the same time. Employees simply see yet another new priority, without having been involved in the decision-making process. As a result, their trust in the next change initiative begins to erode.
Another newsletter or training session will not solve the problem. The real question is: does your organisation have enough capacity for change?
During the webinar, Rik brings this to life with the example of a coach who has planned everything to perfection, while his players are struggling with very different issues.
Four conditions for change that lasts
At Möbius, we always start with the why. People only change when they understand why it is necessary, and that message needs to be reinforced consistently.
We also identify four conditions, or enablers, for sustainable change:
- Stakeholders. No two teams are the same. Middle managers are ideally placed to sense the level of energy and readiness for change within each team. Working alongside sponsors, they can determine the most effective approach to change for each team.
- A systemic perspective. Do not ask people to adopt new behaviours that conflict with your KPIs, other change initiatives or your current approach to coaching and performance reviews.
- Leadership. Sponsors and middle managers are the driving force behind every transition.
- Monitoring. Be clear about what you want to change, and measure it.
Dorothée and Rik explore what these conditions look like in practice, as well as the role of change capacity and a dedicated change team, in the webinar replay.
About the speakers
Dorothée Laire has spent twenty years helping organisations navigate transitions and change. Rik Van Praet has almost ten years of experience in change management and leadership development. Both have supported numerous projects and draw on their hands-on experience of the different reactions to change and its impact on organisations.
Watch the webinar replay
Discover in just one hour how to turn strategic decisions into change that lasts. The webinar can be watched as a standalone session, so no prior knowledge is required.
Watch the webinar replay now →
