Success Strategies to Manage and Navigate Change

Monitor the Process with Data Gathering As you collect metric data and begin mapping processes, you begin to see the connections, connections in technology, connections between people. You see what your employees are actually doing, not what you thought they were doing or what their job description is, but what they're actually doing. And at this point, you may realize that the change that you decided to implement may not necessarily be the right change anymore. Now you have a critical decision to make.

Change the Change if Needed Are you going to stick to the original plan? Or are you going to be agile and adjust it? Most organizations don't have a team in place to tackle plan corrections midstream. Frustration sets in, and even management may begin to think this plan just can't work. They may consider stopping it. Or, worse, they may attempt knee jerk solutions without knowing how to properly react to the data points. Responses like these increase timelines and budget, and ultimately lead to never-ending change management that does not achieve the original desired outcome. Instead, expect these course corrections. Announce them for what they are. Do not leave the company at large in the dark to wonder why changes are happening to the original change plan. Their unsubstantiated pondering may lead to dark conclusions that sap enthusiasm and drag others down as well. Be as transparent and honest as you can be about why you are doing what you do. This approach builds and cements trust, a critical aspect of buy-in.