It is an interesting time at my work. We are working to break a culture of "good enough." From a role in the quality department this is exciting as we are leading many of the changes. The counter to that is each change we implement must be sold to the entire team and both my team and I regularly run into stiff resistance to change.
Selling the change seems to be key as we move to improve. Communicating the "why" and getting buy in from your key team members will help ease the transition. Many times I see the resistance come from a feeling of management dictating what we will be doing moving forward.
As a manager or change agent you know who your key players are on the floor, get to them. Explain the "why," for the company, and for them. This communication is key, if they know why, they will explain it and sell it to their peers better than you ever could. Buy in at this level, followed by effective training on the change, leads to successful implementation.
Great post! The WHY is key. I mentioned Simon Sinek on my blog and how he believes everything should start with the WHY. It is at the heart of every successful organization.
ReplyDeleteI always believe there were 20% of any group that would buy in without question and another 20% that would complain and gripe no matter what you say. The key in my mind is to reach the middle 60%. I wish I had a dollar for every time I hear the phrase "that is not the way we have always been doing it". Change is rarely embraced, but if presented in a productive way it is possible to reach that middle group.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree too. Experienced first hand when I worked for Tropicana and our implementation of SAP. We did not have the floor level buyin on the changes that were coming and the training and communication effort was poorly executed. We suffered many undo consequences that could have been avoinded if a little more precaution had been taken and the key floor level players had bought in. Not to mention the amount of money that was spent on retraining and overtime trying to get it right the 2nd time.
ReplyDeleteI agree to that explain the "why" provides better buy-in.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to add that it's not only about explaining the reason for change, but also soliciting feedback. After all, if your employees are on the front-lines, it is likely they have insight into potential change that you haven't thought about. It would also allow them to feel you value their input, which adds to their perceived ownership.