Monday, May 10, 2010

Fast Forward Change



You can't fast forward change in your organization. Well, you can but not without consequences. In the season of change we've been in lately, here are 5 lessons I've learned in the past few months:


  • The vision of where you want to be may be too much for your team to absorb in one setting, sometimes you need to think "bite sized" chunks when navigating change with your team
  • If key stakeholders are left without all the information, they can quickly feel like an outsider and shift into survival mode while filling in the blanks you're leaving
  • Have a clear message of the "win" in the change, be prepared to handle the "why" questions
  • Choose to collaborate vs. dictate on the options of change, usually there are a few different paths you can take
  • When roles and processes are fuzzy before the change, they'll be a flat-out blur afterwards... create plenty of space for conversations and clarifications before, during, and after the change

Chances are, for every hour you save trying to fast forward through change, you'll spend 2 hours on the backside picking up the pieces. So hurry up and wait for the process to works its way through...