Repositioning your company can be an invigorating move — it's exciting to take a fresh approach and go after new opportunities. But change is also risky and over time, the momentum behind it can wane. When that happens, it's not uncommon for individuals, units, or entire organizations to default to the old strategy. If your team relapses, how can you get things back on track and people re-focused on the new direction?
Start out right
The best way to prevent your team from reverting is to avoid the tendency to get your most senior people in a room to dictate what the rest of the company will do. Instead, include as many people as possible in deciding on the strategy, especially those who will be affected by the change.. Unfortunately, many organizations don't take this approach, and launch the new strategy to the organization when it's a done deal. Managers in these situations are often straddled with the responsibility of keeping a team focused on and motivated to implement a strategy that they know — or care — little about. To stop your team from rejecting the new strategy in favor of the old, try the following approaches.
Build the urgency
A frequent reason that teams revert back to an old strategy is they don't feel the urgency to change. Everyone in the organization needs to see the opportunity, not be told that there is one. If your team is stalled, engage them. Ask the employees what they would do to improve/modify/enhance the strategic direction so as to make it something in which they would have confidence — confidence enough to do something different than they have always done, Tradition is an unbelievably powerful force. They need to not only see the urgency of the need for a new strategy but also feel accountable for it. It all starts with enough people believing that there is a new opportunity and that they have a responsibility to pursue it.
Make everyone a choice-maker
Under the old models where "strategy" and "implementation" are separate, organizations are divided into two categories. There are the "choosers" — those that make the decisions — and "choiceless doers" — those that are left to implement. When you treat people as "doers," instead of as the actors that they are, they feel their work is devalued and aren't motivated to do anything differently. When your team members relapse to the old strategy, ask yourself whether they understand their active role in the new approach. Don't try to get buy-in — that implies you have an idea and you want them to agree. Instead, involve them in generating ideas for how to get unstuck. As much as possible, push decision-making down. Create a "cascade of choices" whereby you let your people know that the new strategy implies that everyone has decisions to make.
Create a "guiding coalition"
All change efforts include a "guiding coalition" — a diverse, cross-functional, multi-level group with different skills and strengths. This coalition is "not some dorky task force" but people who are excited about the change and ready and able to roll up their sleeves to drive it. If your team defaults back to the old strategy, consider bringing together a group of individuals who can take responsibility for pushing the change through. Choose the people who are most enthusiastic about the new direction and give them real work to do, focused on pushing the team forward.
Remove barriers and share successes
Many regressions happen because people perceive a conflict between what they've been asked to do and the best interests of the company. Take a look at the barriers that may be standing in your people's way. For significant changes, you will likely need to alter IT systems, compensation models, and performance management metrics. An ineffective team or a non-collaborative culture can often be the biggest obstacle. Ask yourself if team dynamics or even your behavior could be seen as barriers. Regularly ask employees what's stopping them from doing work in the new way and ask how they think they should be removed.
Change also stalls when people believe the new strategy is ineffective. Even good company people don't want to do what's not working. It's critical to share success as it happens. Find unambiguous and visible accomplishments that serve as evidence that you're making real strides.
Stick with it
Old habits are certainly hard to break. But to be successful with a new strategy, altering your routines is critical. Take this new way of acting, hold it in place until it becomes habit. When urgent business issues come up, it is all too easy to take your eye off the prize. Teams and individuals find comfort in an old strategy when crises come up. The best way to avoid this is to commit to staying focused. If you see the urgency beginning to slide, you need to go back and work on it relentless. Taking your attention away to tend to issues that feel more pressing can be a fatal mistake. If your new strategy can't serve you in all business situations, then it may be the wrong strategy.
Principles to Remember
You should:
• Push decision-making down so that everyone in the organization is making choices about how to act differently
• Ask your employees how to remove barriers to change
• Share successes as evidence that the new strategy works
You shouldn't:
• Think of creating and executing strategy as distinct tasks to be done by separate groups of people
• Assume that current systems and processes will support the new strategy
• Allow urgent business issues to distract you from your new pursuit
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