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A Technology-enabled Change Revisited

In my last newsletter I mentioned that after I spoke at the bi-annual Colorado Human Resources conference, I attended a Colorado Information Technology conference. I was impressed by the speakers at the technology conference that stressed the importance of engaging their employees to be successful. I was particularly curious about one presenter who was discussing a software tool that helped her people connect with one another and with their internal clients. I suspected that there was more to this story than the software, so I made arrangements to meet with her privately and want to share what I learned.

I suggested to her that my impression was that the technology was both and enabler to and a means to measure the connectedness of her Information Technology employees to the rest of the business. She agreed. I said that I had felt that the technology alone would not make a marked improvement in the performance of her people in their jobs. Again, she agreed. She stated further that the internal clients provide feedback, via an annual survey on the performance of the IT individuals, so the success was not artificially inflated.

The Challenges

I observed that it seemed to me the challenges included:

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Ensuring people use the technology to increase their connection to their clients.

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Not being satisfied with mere connectedness, but providing better service to them.

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Getting people to complete the surveys.

She explained what she had done to ensure the success of this change over the last six years, including so many of the basics that I know are important.

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She ensured that the leaders across the organization were holding their people accountable to complete their surveys. This required each of the leaders, and their subordinates to understand and play their roles. This required some learning on their parts.

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They provided recognition and reinforcement (not necessarily money) which included some fun and added a competitive element as well.

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One year they did minimal communication, and as predicted, they discovered they must follow up on their communication plan’s effectiveness, discovering where additional communication was needed and responding to those issues.

The Keys to Success

While she was trained in one of the methodologies in which I have been certified, she relied on her instinct and experience to pull it off. Regardless of the methodology chosen, success was very dependent on the leader.

What strikes me about this situation is that it underscores the contrast of reality with frequent perceptions.

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Success was not about the tool, or the technology

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It was not about the particular change management methodology or checklist

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It is about experience, confidence and commitment to do what is needed, even if it takes a long time and repeating the learning, communications and reward processes.

A Caution

We discussed the fact that she was successful with her changes, but the rest of the enterprise has yet to figure out or attempted to try to leverage it. I offer that if this organization wants to experience the successful change capabilities of their IT organization, they will need a methodology. Unless the process is repeatable, one can not measure, much less manage it, or teach it.

Please contact ECM Expert Change Management if you,

or someone you know, would like to discuss the above.

Speaking Topics:

Bob’s recent and planned speaking topics include:

• Financials, Strategic Thinking and Change Management

• Maximize the results of your Consulting by Managing the Resistance to Change!

• Managing People’s Acceptance, Adoption, and Sustainment of Change

• Developing and Implementing Strategic Ideas; From Seeds to Harvested Results

• The Critical Requirement for Leading, as well Managing, Change

Bob Dodge can be reached at 303 550-0101

bdodge@expertchangemanagement.com

Visit www.expertchangemanagement.com for more information about ECM

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