1. Organizational Culture

Imagine a day when your leader announces a major change to take place on Monday. You had no prior knowledge, you received no further detail, you had not been involved in the discussions and decisions leading up to this moment. The desired outcome and indicators of success have not been mentioned. You have no access to the reasons why the change is happening, nor what will be required of you. Due to this reality, it is likely your confidence levels would decrease when it comes to leading others through the change.

Organizational Culture can be a great source of resistance if this description typifies the way a company operates, and seems beyond the sphere of influence of middle managers.

2. Lack of Awareness and Knowledge about the Change

Adults are babies in big bodies. We know that a child will always ask ‘why’; so too an adult, as this provides the reasons for the need to change and also the consequences of not changing. Through receiving that information, a middle manager would also understand more about the nature of the change. Yet, even with Awareness (the ‘why’ of change), there is still a need for greater depth to Knowledge (the ‘how to’ of change). 

• Imagine a Chef who has been told to change the pie menu, yet not given the recipe nor an understanding of why the prior item is ‘off the menu’.
• Imagine an Accountant who has been informed by the CFO the accounting system is currently outdated and must change, yet provided no insights into its failings and what is required to close the gaps.
• Imagine the IT Officer’s app has just been scrapped, with no reasons being shared, and no idea or direction as to how to evolve to a higher standard.
• Imagine the HR Officer receiving a directive to change the company’s uniform with no understanding of the what, why or new priorities.

The ‘why’ and ‘how to’ of change is imperative for a middle manager as it will fill in the blanks, opening the pathway to clarity, and further action.

Lack of Buy-In

We’re back to middle managers being real people, with real human needs first and foremost. You are a real person too, and consciously or unconsciously filter any change requests through your values, opinions, background experiences, history and credibility of the sender, and the list goes on. When something does not align to your realm of reality, why would you accept to adopt any change?

A middle manager is almost superhuman, stuck between those above (often out of touch with what’s really happening on the ground) and those below (who depend heavily on the one closest to them for support). Being there for both parties is a balancing act for any middle manager – how long could you continue to serve all those around you, compromising the very core of what matters most to yourself? 

Many moons ago, my mentor taught me to behold resistance, grab it and serve it; after all, it is only showing up to be heard. It simply wants attention, answers and opportunity for  alignment. 

If you lead a middle manager:

• Anticipate, and provide for the needs of the manager during change, before resistance shows up.
• Provide the what, why and how of change, so the puzzle is as complete as possible. 
• Allow time for the manager to process and explore the WIFM (What’s In It For Me) factor.
• Walk alongside the middle manager during change, providing consistent and relevant support.

The post The Top Three Reasons why Middle Managers struggle with Change @ Work appeared first on business en motion.

Leaders are always curios about the need for Change Management. To appreciate the below insights, it would help to have full understanding of what Change Management is. 

• According to Prosci®, on a project level, Change Management is the application of a structured process and set of tools to achieve a desired outcome. On an enterprise level, Change Management is a leadership competency and strategic enabler. 
• According to APMG®, Change Management is an emergent profession and organizational capability. It is a business discipline focused on navigating change by exploring key questions which will influence the adoption and acceptance of change.
• According to a mentor, Change Management is a business profession that impacts business as usual.

Why structured?

• Structure holds things together. It provides strength. It arranges positioning for all elements to excel. 

Why a set of tools?

• Tools build items which cannot otherwise exist. Tools enable action. 

Why desired outcomes?

• Desired outcomes are what we aim for. They provide direction and make us feel great once reached. Desired outcomes are best when tangible and measurable.

Why 'the people side of things'?

• People are not machines that can be programmed, but rather are bodies of emotions that will create willingness and desire against their own criteria.

Why a competency? 

• Competencies provide evidence of performance, with strong capability, belief and conviction.

Why a business discipline?

• Discipline maintains consistency, demonstrating a degree of conviction to action. Business disciplines provide efficiency and effectiveness. In the case of change, this translates into 'faster and better' adoption of usage.

Is the need now clear? Without structure to hold change up or connect its elements, without tools to enable change, without desired outcomes setting a clear set of priorities, without discipline and conviction, people can and will take different paths, hold different priorities, work in different ways and drive the organization towards different destinations.

Any and all successful change outcomes are linked to a dependency on people’s adoption and usage. How does your P&L line reflect your need and priority for Change Management? How can your leadership survive without its capability?

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introduction

The words ‘our world is flatbread’ stood clearly and proudly on the façade of the shop, clarifying to all passing footfall what purpose the business served. The words left absolutely no doubt in my mind what their core business was, who it would serve and why they were doing that business activity. The slogan most certainly reinforced the motto ‘less is more’, clearly communicating their all-important message in four easy words.

Wearing my business consultancy hat, this precise positioning stopped me in my tracks. I wanted to jump up and down and shout from the rooftops ‘see, business doesn’t have to be difficult’, but instead I took one easy snapshot with my ever-ready phone camera. This was bound to become an example I could use time and time and time again, in so many parts of the planning process, be that the vision, the purpose, the positioning statement, the competitor analysis or many others. I could see additional creations in my mind’s eye; our world is comedy, our space is paper, our niche is based on apples, our future is twisted rope; and then, with one forward movement of my feet, my excitement plummeted quickly to despair.

I had walked inside and whilst becoming absorbed in the variety of flatbread concoctions displayed in mouth-watering, full-colour photographs, becoming one of those sandwiches myself, the biggest photo of all jumped out at me, obliterating the flatbread wonderland I was immersed in!. My eyes had fallen on the biggest, clearest and most prominently-placed photo of them all; a whoppingly-wide slice of carrot cake, with the thickest icing layer I’ve ever set eyes on! Is it any wonder my world fell apart? From a world of health, freshness and nourishment, one photograph transported me to a world of calories, sweetness and that ‘over-full’ feeling; worse still, it had taken me out of business clarity into business confusion. Thoughts invaded my peace: ‘but how could they do this to flatbread’, ‘are they truly in love with health food’, ‘real or fake business positioning’, level of transparency?

The rest, as they say, is history; what questions are triggered from this business example?

• What world does your business operate in?
• Which specific part of that world is your expertise?
• What positioning statement communicates your unique business proposition?
• Does the positioning statement help or hinder the business?
• How is your positioning statement maximized in your business?

Debbie Nicol, the managing director of Dubai-based ‘business en motion’, is a consultant working with strategic change, leadership and organisational development. Her motto ‘moving businesses and leaders ahead’

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introduction

According to the latest (2012) Best Practices Report by Prosci, the world’s leading research body into Change Management, active and visible sponsorship is the number one predictor of success with corporate change, whilst conversely, its absence is unfortunately also the number one predictor of failure.

Whether re-structuring, facing a merger, installing an enterprise-wide technology, entering a re-branding phase or any other of the myriad of corporate change scenarios, are you, the executive leader, setting it up for success to realise the intended benefits such as increased revenues, decreased costs, quicker inventory turnover and more functionality?

To do so, executive roles encompass two broad areas:

• Executive decisions
• Executive actions

Executive decisions are what executives feel comfortable with, passing on decisions about strategy, resourcing and dates and timing. The greatest challenge though is for executives to understand their role must continue beyond this, into executive actions. Executive actions include:

• Active and visible participation
• Direct communications
• Coalition Building

An executive is the ambassador of the change, and whether he likes it or not, all are watching to ascertain the belief level from the top, and the real reason for the change. Ask yourself; do I walk the talk consistently and regularly, do I represent the good that will come from the change on a consistent basis, and ultimately do I personify the change?

People will jump on the ‘change bus’ if they believe that the change will take them to a hopeful future. This basically means that they understand the reasons for the need to change and the consequences of not changing. This message needs to be delivered by the executive sponsor of the change as the ‘face’ of the change, and from this they will determine the level of yearning.

Through receiving this ‘business-case’ message in a myriad of formats from the top, they will then, and only then, be willing to work with their direct manager in finding ways to make the change a reality ‘on the ground’. Just as change is not an activity but rather a process, so too is the all-important ongoing and structured communication. This simply cannot be overlooked and whilst a change manager would be supporting an executive with this duty, these messages can only be delivered by the executive sponsor. Ask yourself; what messages am I sending, when and in what formats? How is my communication helping or hindering the change process?

Coalitions are forces coming together that add strength and value. With most, but not all, corporate change being enterprise-wide, an executive sponsor must build and nourish his team of change comrades, ensuring he has those that will facilitate the way forward. They will constantly represent the executive sponsor’s message, mirror the future at all times, allowing the sponsor to perform other duties. Ask yourself; who are my change coalition and how does their approach and competency assist the new future state? What would be the effect without each individual one?

With the 2012 Prosci research indicating that 50 per cent of executive sponsors were ranked as having only a moderate to low understanding of their role as change ambassadors, ask yourself one last question: what needs to change for me and my organisation in order to fulfill my roles of both executive decisions and executive activities, thereby facilitating reduced impact from negative consequences of change?

Debbie Nicol is the managing director of Dubai-based ‘business en motion’, and creator and author of the ’embers of the world’ series. As printed in GulfBusiness.com October 2013

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