Archive for September, 2010
How To Enable Buy-in
According to the subtitle of “Beyond The Wall Of Resistance”, a book by Rick Maurer, “…70% of all changes still fail…” This should give all of us a jolt. How can this be? Why do projects fail? The rate of project failure should be much lower.
The problem is that people don’t always react the way that we might expect. To some, the first notice that a change will occur is enough. Others need to be told several times and to be convinced.
The items in the following list may be helpful in bringing your project to a successful conclusion:
1. Show how the change supports company and individual SMART goals.
2. Create a dialog on issues of concern.
3. Show how the customers, company and employees will benefit.
4. Solicit input from the start.
5. Conduct team building activities.
6. Use a MGPP for a gradual introduction.
7. Establish metrics for the As-Is state, which are to be compared with the results of the To-Be state.
8. Show how the change has worked in other organizations.
9. Focus on the results and benefits, not the features.
10. Develop trust through being consistent, predictable, and reliable.
11. Sustain gains to validate that the change was appropriate.
12. Gather data and report on metrics.
13. Explain what is likely to happen if the change is not made.
14. Ensure that plans for command, communications, and control are created and proven to be effective.
Perhaps we need to be better versed in persuasion or in delivering our message. The following is a list for additional reading:
Rick Maurer, “Beyond The Wall Of Resistance”, Revised Edition, Austin, TX: Bard Press, 2010.
Scott Belsky, “Making Ideas Happen”, New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2010.
Michael Beitler, “Strategic Organizational Change”, Greensboro, NC: Practitioner Press International, 2006.
Michael Hammer and James Champy, “Reengineering The Corporation”, New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993.
Stefan Devaux, “Total Project Control”, New York, NY: Wiley 1999.
John Kotter and Dan Cohen, “The Heart Of Change”, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2002.
Robert Cialdini, “Influence”, New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1984,1994,2007.
Douglas Hubbard, “How To Measure Anything”, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2010.
I am looking forward to the next step in my career. If you know of someone looking for a problem solver, I can be contacted at ronald.n.cooke@gmail.com or 1-815-579-5866.
