You wouldn’t celebrate winning a race before crossing the finish line would you, so why do it when you’re running a change programme? The simple fact is that many companies do exactly that. Companies undertaking change programmes all too often make the mistake of thinking that the change is complete when; the new organisational design is in place or the new personnel management system is installed (when the project manager declares delivery of the product) when in actual fact, the most critical part of the change has only just started.
We often hear that the people are a company’s most valuable asset, yet in so many cases people are often the last to be informed or to be considered in change programmes. Even when training and communications have been taken in to account, many companies fail to “go look see” and measure if the change they have initiated is actually having the desired effect, choosing instead to declare that the change has been a success. This is known as celebrating too early and if not correctly addressed will result in all that hard work and effort delivering the physical aspects of the change being lost. By all means celebrate the delivery of your new IT system but don’t be fooled in to celebrating success until your most valuable asset has accepted and taken ownership of the change.
So what do you do? Firstly, understand what it is you want to achieve and ideally, decide on what good looks like. Secondly engage the services of someone who understands change and who is able to guide and support you through to a successful implementation. In most cases, this will include a review of your goals and your definition of what good looks like to ensure all bases have been covered.
This is where Belay can help, we specialise in providing support to companies that have decided to initiate a change and that may not have the capacity or expertise to manage it. We provide advice, training and support to measure the extent of change as it happens and help recognise when you have indeed crossed the finish line. As your trusted partner in change, we will be with you until you are in a position to go it alone but be reassured that we will always be there to provide a leg up when you need it.
