None of us could have predicted Coronavirus and its impact. The disruption is here. You have done what is necessary to make it though the crisis., But is your organization ready for the recovery?
These are not regular circumstances and times. Usually we are the masters of our change programs. Not this time – we have no choice but to adapt. You will need to be focused on the recovery. Anything that prevents you from being focused on your most important work is not acceptable, and anything that stands in the way of your top performance must be addressed.
Think of the recovery as a major change program. You didn’t start the change. Covid-19 and the related government directives did that. But you will need to finish the change so that you can be as successful, if not more successful than before the pandemic.
Here are the four most common mistakes you can make in your change program
Challenges of Organizational Recovery
A true and complete organization recovery requires a transformation change. In order to stay competitive, transformational change has become a must. Being a leader in this innovation age requires good organizational change management. Today, the Owner?CEO’s role is more important than ever, so be sure that you don’t make these common mistakes.
Being a poor role model
Too many leaders think that organizational change management is not in their job description. But a good leader must transform new ideas into action.
This gap between intent and the concrete steps to make your transformation happen can’t motivate change. By not getting involved in the change, CEOs send a message to coworkers that the change is not important enough for their time.
Instead, choose to be the main role model – be the first to showcase the company’s desired behavior and mindset. This sends a positive message to your team to follow your lead.
Lack of clear vision and communication
Too many CEOs don’t know how to explain their vision for change. Without this clarity, leaders will fail to inspire employees to get behind the company’s vision.
If the change is not built on the organization’s unique values and strengths, it won’t last. Communication with your team must remain constant and consistent.
Clarity and repetition are essential. Employees have so many things going on in their daily work that they don’t always have the time to stop and think to internalize your vision. This means you need to set the time aside to have a discussion with each of your executives. They must be clear in their minds as to what is expected of them during the change process. And you need to have their honest feedback of what will work, what may not work, and possible trouble spots.
This is managerial leadership work that you must do with each of your team members.
Not building a quality management team
You have a whole team of executives around you to help navigate the transformation. Use them.
It’s up to you to ensure that the team is made up of quality people. Surround yourself with visionaries who are willing to invest in change. It’s vital to evaluate your team in the context of change management.
Are these people resourceful and motivated enough, and ready to implement the change? You must ask these tough questions and make the right choices.
One of the main complaints I hear from clients, is that they are not able to focus on their most important work. The main reason for this is that they are being drawn down, into the organization, to do work that their executives should be doing. Ensure that you have capable people on your team, that you can count on to be focused on the right work.
Not highlighting success
There’s nothing more powerful for a company’s motivation and morale than success. However, celebrating success is rarely a priority for leaders.
When employees listen to success stories, they can see what a transformation can achieve and gain confidence in the new mission. People are driven by the passion for succeeding and ambition, not by highlighting mistakes. You must celebrate what your employees are doing well and find ways to leverage those successes to boost the desire to continue excelling.
A change process is a marathon – not a race. Your early adopters (every organization has some) will be supportive and will show results early. Celebrate this early and hard to start building positive momentum. It will encourage others to adopt the new way of doing things. It will also help to convince the naysayers. Yes, every organization has some of them as well.
Not recognizing the challenges connected with digital change
Organizational change management is filled with stress and frustration. Employees must learn to complete tasks in a different way while using new, and to them, complex technology.
All changes take time. Digital transformation changes may take even more time, especially when it comes to people adopting them. It’s important to acknowledge these challenges and provide the necessary resources to manage these changes effectively.
Given the events in the past months, one thing we can be sure of is that the pace of change will continue to increase. We need to be ready for it.
The Root Cause Issues
However, most organizational changes take longer and cost more money than anticipated. Why? This is the result of a culture that’s not aligned with the mission, not communicating a powerful vision, lack of participation, not enough resources or training, and so on. But a crucial roadblock standing in the way of a change in fatigue. Change fatigue can be the result of many elements, like past failures or the sacrifices made during the tedious change process. When a transformation is poorly performed, fatigue can quickly appear.
There are many symptoms of root cause issues in an organization. They prevent you from a full organization recovery, and certainly from being as successful as you can be. You will recognize several of these in your organization:
- Poor communication
- Poor collaboration
- Conflict
- Too many meetings
- Silos in the organization
- Lost opportunities
- Duplicated work
- Decisions not made
- Work not done
Leaders usually tackle these issues directly: courses, meetings, team building, communications training, and so on. But the same symptoms re-appear because the root cause has not been resolved. Before tackling a major change program, take a snapshot of your organization by investing in the Resilient Organization program.
The Resilient Organization Program
Think about obtaining an objective assessment from a world-class expert. It will help you streamline your organization, get everyone focused on their work, and leave you time to focus on yours.
If you are the leader of your organization, and this sounds like something you might need, the Resilient Organization program is for you!
- How do you identify the issues at the root cause level?
- How do you find the tools to make your irritants go away?
Typically, assessments can seem intrusive. They can create fear among employees as they think that a consultant is coming in to find problems and blame them.
We offer you a completely virtual assessment program. It’s a combination of virtual interviews of you and your executive team, a document review, and a short survey. The assessment is not intrusive, yet you will get an overview of your organization’s key issues.
After working with many companies around the world, we have come up with a method that helps you identify the key root cause issues and the tools to resolve them. You and your team can do the biggest part of the implementation of the change yourselves – not by working more, but by simply working differently. And we’ll show you how.
You will get a road map from us on how to work differently throughout the organization to achieve success. Many companies choose to implement changes on their own or with some selective coaching. You can also choose a full suite of implementation tools with customized levels of support from Dwight.
Learn more about The Resilient Organization Program. Also check out how to be a better and more effective manager through the eLearning resources we offer to organizations. Or contact Dwight if you have any specific questions
