Tragic Photos: Can Change Management Theory help drive action?

A few days ago, I saw a post on Humans of New York that highlighted the work being done by Melissa Fleming in the UN Refugee Agency. In the story, she says, "I don't think I anticipated how difficult it would be to make people care." (Click here to see the full post on HoNY.) This caught my eye, as I'd recently been thinking about a similar topic - Why don't the tragic pictures we see of natural disasters and refugees move more people to action?

With Facebook, Twitter, and 24-hour news sites, we are constantly inundated with heart breaking pictures.  As a mother, the pictures of children in war-torn countries especially move me.  It's impossible to see these pictures without imagining your own children in these situations.  And yet...
Despite feeling awful when I see these pictures, I've never taken action.  I took a very personal look at why, and here's what I discovered.

Yes, these pictures make me aware of the tragedy that is occurring, and I feel terrible thinking about the people suffering.  But the problems feel so big, and I don't really know what I can do to make the situation better.  Which makes me feel helpless, and my inability to help makes me feel guilty, and so I quickly move on to the next article on CNN, hoping it will take away these feelings of sadness, and helplessness, and guilt.

Let's pause there and move from the emotional to the theoretical.  If we assume that as least a few people feel the same way I do when looking at tragic photos in the news, then from an ADKAR perspective, what we have are lots of people who are Aware of the issue, and have a strong Desire to help, but have neither the Knowledge nor Ability to take action.

For example, if you see a picture of a natural disaster, your first inclination might be to donate money.  But to whom should you donate it?  Which charity will make the best use of your money?  Or if you'd prefer to give your time, whom do you get in touch with to volunteer?  What if you don't have the skills they're looking for - how else can you help?

You could do research, find rankings of the best charities and look up the phone number of your Senator so you can call and encourage them to vote for releasing emergency funds.  But this all takes time and effort, which brings us to our second Change Management theory (and, admittedly, one of my favourites) - the Rider, the Elephant, and the Path.  Published by Chip and Dan Heath in their book, Switch: How to Change Things when Change is Hard, this theory suggests that when our will power to do something runs out, and continuing to change isn't our natural inclination, then we need to find a way to make change easy.

Which brings us to the question I finally arrived at, when examining my own reaction to tragic photos...

How can we make it easy for people to respond to tragic photos by supporting a cause when they don't know what action to take?

How do we smooth their path to action by giving them the knowledge and ability they need to make a change?

I don't have the answer, and there are definitely lots of people out there with much more expertise in this area than me, so I'll share my rough idea below, but I'd prefer to hear your thoughts on the topic in the comments.

My idea: What if every time you saw a tragic photo on Facebook or a news site you could click on it, and a list of 2-3 actions you could do to support the cause would appear.  One might be a "Donate Now" link, that would allow you to donate to a charity that had been pre-vetted and approved by a neutral and trustworthy third party.  Another link may say, "Get Involved," and link you to an organisation in your area that coordinates volunteers.

These links would let people quickly and easily take action, and now, instead of feeling helpless and guilty and quickly moving to the next article in an effort to alleviate those feelings, they feel empowered and proud, which hopefully leads them to search out the next photo and click to learn more about how they can drive change.

What do you think?  How would you help drive action?  Leave your ideas in the comments section below.

Two Consulting Myths that can Cost Millions

Nine months ago, I left the world of consulting. Now that I sit on the other side of the table at sales meetings, I often find myself listening to a sales pitch and thinking back on some of the biggest myths that surrounded major consulting projects. 

For anyone who is thinking about entering into a large-scale system implementation, keep these myths in mind the next time you find yourself in awe of a glossy PowerPoint presentation.

The 10-Month Myth: "Sure, we can implement a full ERP system (SAP, Oracle, take your pick) across your entire organization in 10 months." No. Just no. I've walked on to multiple projects with a 10-month project plan. Most of them ended up running from 18-36 months. No one implements an enterprise-wide system in 10 months. Starting with a 10-month plan simply means that you will end up spending extra money in change requests and hiring additional resources, not to mention the stress of explaining to your organization why the project is running months or years behind schedule. This myth is largely perpetuated, though, by myth two...

The Vanilla Myth: "We can implement your system in no time if you go vanilla." "Going vanilla" means that you don't customize the system. You use it exactly as it is designed. Most companies think, with the absolute best intentions, that they can implement a system without making any changes. Six months into the project, they realize they can't. Now, not only do they need to do a lot of re-work to make all of the customizations that they should have been making from the start, but they've also just wasted 6 months of time and money trying to implement a system that was never going to work for them.

Tell me what you think. Has your project suffered because of these myths? Have you been on a successful 10-month ERP implementation?

The One-Step Change Method

I've been thinking about Change Management quite a bit lately, and I've decided that behind all the methodologies and acronyms, behind the research and tools, there is one thing that drives successful change.

Commitment.

Organisational commitment and personal commitment.

Commitment of time and commitment of resources.

Commitment when the change is hard.

Commitment when everyone else has given up.

Commitment when the newest buzzword, or trend, or shiny object tempts you.

Commitment to sustained change over easy fixes.

Behind Kotter's Eight Steps, ADKAR, the Elephant and Rider, and the mice chasing their cheese is someone who is committed to the change.

And Now on Amazon!

As I mentioned in my last post, my book, Practical Change Management for IT Projects, is now available!  And for those of you in the U.S. and other Amazon countries, it's now available on Amazon, as well!  Click here to go directly to the book on Amazon.

For anyone who does buy the book, I would love your feedback!

This will be my last promotional plug for the book on the blog.  Next post is back to all Change, all the time.

Thanks to all of you for your support in making this blog and the book possible!

Sincerely,
Emily

If you enjoy the blog, you'll love the book!

Dear readers,

I'm extremely excited to announce that my book, Practical Change Management for IT Projects, will be published next week and is now available for pre-order.  Just click here to order your copy now!

Like the blog, the book is focused on providing practical advice on implementing Change Management.  It's full of templates and exercises that will help you create a Change Management plan.  Based on the Five Pillars of Change, with chapters dedicated to Sponsorship, Stakeholder Management, Communication, Training, and a section on Organization Design, this book provides a comprehensive beginner's guide to Change.

And don't be fooled by the name.  Practical Change Management for IT Projects will be relevant for anyone implementing Change Management on organization, culture, or process projects, as well.

Thank you to all of my loyal readers for making this book possible, and I hope you enjoy the book as much as you do the blog!

Happy reading,
Emily

Change Management and Human Resources: So Happy Together

I was recently invited to participate in an interview with the Change Management Institute about the growing intersection between Change Management and Human Resources.  A transcript of the Q&A is below.  You can also view the original article in the Global Change Management Institute Newsletter by clicking here.

What were your initial training, education and background?  How did you come to be interested in Change Management?  
I joined Accenture straight after graduating from Pennsylvania State University and worked on an SAP project doing Change Management and became hooked! From those first years in Accenture’s Human Performance practice, through my time in IBM’s Strategy and Change division, to my current work in Talent2’s HR Advisory team, I have had the opportunity to help thousands of people navigate through their change journey.
 
When do you think that Change Management began to be recognised as a management discipline? 
Although Change Management was regularly included in large IT projects, up until around five years ago, it was hard for Change Managers to get a seat at the leadership table.  However as more business leaders experience first-hand the benefits Change Management,  practitioners now influence and collaborate with the Project Management Office across functional and technical teams, serving as an adviser to project Sponsors. 
 
How Does Change Management support HR?
One of the main trends we are seeing in recruitment is evolution of HR departments becoming more strategic.  Whether it’s building Executive Sponsorship for change in an organisation or empowering managers to shift some of their attention from their “day job” to their HR responsibilities; we are seeing HR take on more of a leadership role.  And this leadership is often exercised by taking responsibility for communications to ensure that the staff understands the nature and reason for the change; by implementing intensive training program; providing managers with the skills to deal with employee relations issues; engage with all levels of the organisation to get people on-board and implement change.  Change Management practice has supported HR departments achieve their vision of becoming a strategic voice at the C-level.
 
How has the rapid pace of change in organisations influenced HR in regards to how they select candidates? 
The ability to drive change through an organisation has become a significant consideration for selecting and evaluating leaders.  When we conduct leadership assessments for clients, one of the key capabilities we measure is “Leading Change.” 
 
For front-line employees, if you read through job descriptions, you’ll often find that companies explicitly state that a candidate must be able to work in a “fast-paced environment” that is “constantly changing” with the ability to be “self-directed” and adapt to “changing priorities.”  These all paint a picture of a candidate who is ready and able to change with the organisation.  Whether it’s formal or informal, Change Management is starting to become an integral part of most positions across an organisation.
 
How does the role of Change Management differ across companies?
I have worked with large, multi-national companies that actually have entire Change Management teams with detailed methodologies, processes, and tools that are applied consistently to all changes across the organisation. 
 
Other large organisations have one or two HR professionals that are dedicated to Change Management who work as internal consultants to provide guidance to large projects.  Many large and mid-size companies will partner with a company like Talent2 whose specialist HR service offering provides for Change Management methodology and deep experience. 
 
However in smaller organisations, Change Management is often left to IT Managers and Project Managers to juggle with their “day job.”  This is where I most often see companies struggle.
 
Would you advocate for more professional training and accreditation? 
As the demand for Change Management increases, it has become increasingly difficult to identify and select a well-rounded Change Manager.  I think it would be fantastic to have more professional training, as well as a consistent set of standards that people must meet to be accredited in Change Management.  I think the Change Management profession is at a point where it is ready to follow a similar path to maturity that Project Management took, which culminated in professional standards and accreditation such as the Project Management Institute and Prince II, as well as the inclusion of Project Management in projects being considered a “must have,” rather than a “nice to have.”
 
What do you think are the future trends and forecasts for Change Management Practice?
I’ll go back to the connection between Change Management and HR.  Traditional Change Management has focused on five key areas: Executive Sponsorship, Stakeholder Management, Communication, Training, and Organisation Design.  I think more and more, we’re seeing that in order to really embed change in an organisation, Change Management needs to touch a large range of HR functions, as well. 
 
This includes building changes into the performance management process so that people understand the new behaviours that are required and are subsequently measured on whether they demonstrate them.

New Blog Feature: Introducing Polls!

Dear Readers,

I read a lot of articles on Change Management, and I talk to a lot of clients about their Change Management needs, but I've always wanted to gather more input about what people think about Change.  So, I have added a new feature to this blog: polls!

Every couple weeks I will post a new poll question.  It's to the right of this post.  Go ahead, take a look.

Found it?  Good.  Now go ahead and select an answer.

After every few questions, I will post a summary of my findings.  As with all research and surveys, the more responses, the better the data, so please share with your friends and colleagues so that we can get a good sample size for each poll.

Every time I put up a new poll, I'll post about it, so that those of you who subscribe to the blog will be automatically notified.

I look forward to seeing your thoughts about Change Management!

Kind regards,
Emily

Change Management Checklists: Organization Design

Back when I was part of the Human Performance team at Accenture, getting an Org. Design role was the holy grail of Change Management projects.  This was largely because they were rare.  And they were rare because many companies simply don't want to tackle this messy topic while going through an already difficult change.  I would argue, however, that Org. Design is part of ensuring that the change sticks.

Instead of detailing here a checklist of top 10 Org. Design activities, for the last Pillar of Change I'm going to list instead 10 questions you should ask yourself about Org. Design when your company is undergoing a change.

Top Ten Organization Design Questions

• Do I have the right number of people to perform the work after the change is implemented?
• Do my people have the right skills to work in the new world?
• If not, can I upskill them?
• If they can't be upskilled, can I move them into a different role in the organization, or do they need to be moved out of the organization?
• Do the current job descriptions need to be revised based on new job and role responsibilities?
• Do we need to do a remuneration review to ensure compensation is still appropriate for new responsibilities?
• Does the overall organization structure still make sense?
• Do the new and/or existing teams need to change the way they interact?
• Does the reporting structure support the change?
• Have you reviewed the positions you are currently hiring for to ensure they are still required/appropriate in the new world?

Let me know: Does your organization address Org. Design as part of Change Management?

Change Management Checklists: Training

Training is a huge topic.  It encompasses training analysis, training development, training delivery, training evaluation, and infinite variations on those topics.  Narrowing this down to 10 major activities is difficult, but I think I'm up to the challenge.

Training Activities

• Collaborate with the corporate Learning & Development department (if your organization has one)
• If you think something is self explanatory and doesn't require training, think again.  Never assume that people will be able to "figure it out."
• Conduct a training needs analysis
• Remember that training comes in many shapes and forms.  The best approach to training is often blended learning.  Learn it, love it, use it.
• Create a training curriculum
• Training development takes a lot of time.  A LOT.  In the words of scuba divers everywhere, "Plan the dive.  Dive the plan."
• Develop the training
• Deliver the training
• Create a sustainable training plan that will allow you to deliver training on an ongoing basis to people who may have missed the initial training (e.g., people on vacation or maternity leave, new hires) or who need an occasional reminder
• Evaluate the training...and improve it, as appropriate

Let me know: What are the main activities you consider when planning a training program?

Change Management Checklists: Communication

You could write an entire blog dedicated to communication (in fact, I believe there may be one or two out there).  I'm going to try to condense all of that information into my top 10 communication activities. Read on...

Communication Activities

• Collaborate with the Corporate Communications department (if your organization has one)
• Conduct a vehicle analysis
• Conduct an audience analysis
• Determine the review process for various types of communications and vehicles
• Create a detailed communication plan
• Write communications - keep them short, simple, and relevant
• Spell check, grammar check, and have someone else do a second review
• Develop and monitor feedback channels - remember...communication is a two-way activity!
• Update your communication plan based on feedback you receive
• When you think you've communicated enough, communicate more

Let me know: What is the most effective communication you have ever received at work?

Change Management Checklists: Stakeholder Management

I'll get right to it.

Stakeholder Management Activities

• Conduct a Stakeholder Analysis
• Develop a checklist of behaviors stakeholders should demonstrate by the end of each project phase
• Identify how far along the change curve you want each stakeholder group to be at specific points throughout the project
• Create a Stakeholder Management plan
• Conduct a Change Impact Assessment
• Create a plan to involve stakeholders in the project
• Remember that project team members are stakeholders, too
• Prepare to help stakeholders through the inevitable performance dip that accompanies a change
• Work with Human Resources and your organization's leadership to identify ways to motivate your stakeholders to adopt the change
• Celebrate every time a stakeholder group successfully adopts the change

Let me know: Do you agree with this list?  What else would you add?

Change Management Checklists: Sponsorship

My apologies, Readers.  I have slacked the last two months with updating this blog.  Keep your reading glasses handy, though, because I plan to become much more prolific.

In my last post, I listed what I consider the Five Pillars of Change.  Here, I'll provide a list of activities to keep in mind as you create the Sponsorship portion of your Change Management program.

Note that not every Change program needs to include every item on the list.  Based on the size of your organization, the complexity of the change, and your company's culture, you can pick and choose the activities that will provide the greatest value in helping people adopt the change.

Although it is important to have a comprehensive Change program, and skimping on necessary activities can adversely impact the adoption of the change, including too many activities just for the sake of checking them off a list can be harmful, too.  Carrying out activities that don't add value:

1. Causes people to question the value of all Change Management activities - even those that are essential for success
2. Overwhelms your stakeholders and can lead to burn out
3. Pulls resources - both time and money - from activities that deserve the most focus

With that said, I hereby present a list of Sponsorship activities for your consideration.  This list is not 100% comprehensive, but it will give you a good start in developing a Sponsorship plan.

Sponsorship Activities

• Identify project Sponsors
• Establish project Governance
• Build a Steering Committee
• Develop a Change Agent plan
• Create a Change Agent/Super User Network
• Involve all sponsorship groups in relevant areas of the project early and often...gather and incorporate their feedback, as appropriate
• Develop consistent communications to keep Sponsors and Change Agents informed
• Provide early training for members of all sponsorship groups
• Say, "Thank you" - often and with sincerity
• Be available to help and support all sponsorship groups as they carry out their sponsorship activities

Let Me Know:  Do you agree with this list?  Is there anything else you would add?

The Five Pillars of Change

While I thoroughly enjoyed writing the last few posts as part of the Virtual Book Club, I'm now feeling the need to get super practical.  So, my next set of posts will focus on the actual activities that make up a Change Management program.  I won't be able to include every activity (it's a very long list), but I will provide a fairly comprehensive set of check lists that will get you started in creating your Change Management plan.

I'll be breaking the check lists down based on what I call the "Pillars of Change."  They are:

• Sponsorship (about which I have very strong feelings)
• Stakeholder Management
• Communication
• Training
• Organization Design

As far as I'm concerned, all Change Management activities fall into one of these five pillars.  When you create your plan, you pick and choose a set of activities from each pillar based on the needs of your project and organization.  You then create a timeline based on when each activity is due (based on the larger  project plan) and how long it will take to complete, and voila!  You have the beginning of a Change Management plan.

Coming up first: Sponsorship activities

Let Me Know: Do you think these five pillars cover all Change Management activities?

And Then a Miracle Happened

Welcome to the last installment of Practical Change Management's Virtual Book Club (VBC).  The discussion question I posed in my last post was:

The Question
On page 36, Chip and Dan discuss solution-focused therapy and begin to talk about the Miracle Question: "Suppose that you go to bed tonight and sleep well.  Sometime, in the middle of the night, while you are sleeping, a miracle happens and all the troubles that brought you here are resolved.  When you wake up in the morning, what's the first small sign you'd see that would make you think, 'Well, something must have happened - the problem is gone!'?"  How can the Miracle Question be used to improve overall projects and Change Management programs?

My Answer
Have you ever seen a presentation where someone describes the problem in great detail, lays out all of the wonderful benefits you'll see when they solve the problem, then in the middle where the actual solution should be they just have a big cloud with the words, "And then a miracle happened?"

I certainly have, and I find that people typically aren't very impressed with this image.  I think, though, that this slide relates back to the Miracle Question posed in solution-focused therapy, and I believe there is a legitimate place for it in projects.

I have seen so many projects grind to a halt because of "Analysis Paralysis."  The team faces a complex, overwhelming problem.  They want to make sure they develop a comprehensive, well-designed solution that will completely resolve the problem in a way that makes everyone happy.  To do this, they start doing research.  They begin to design the solution, but they aren't sure it's the best solution.  So, they do more research.  They tweak their design.  They're still not sure it's perfect.  So, they do more research.  They make some more updates.  They still have some doubts about the solution.  So, they do more research...

The cycle can continue indefinitely.  Eventually, they just give up, and instead of at least having a good solution, they're just left with the original problem.

This is where miracles come into play.

By posing the Miracle Question, "What's the first small sign you'd see that would make you think...'The  problem is gone!'?", the team can move from trying to solve a complex problem in one fell blow to focusing on the most visible, important part of the solution that they want to achieve.  All they have to do is create a solution that will bring about that "first small sign."

Focusing on this one piece of the solution will:

• Narrow the scope of the problem they're addressing
• Reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed, increasing their confidence in their ability to successfully tackle the problem
• Focus their research and development efforts
• Break the Analysis Paralysis cycle

Once the team has achieved the "first small sign," they can go back and ask the Miracle Question again, deciding what the next "small sign" would be.  

They are once again in a cycle, but now, instead of being in a research cycle that leads to the ultimate demise of their project, they have entered a "doing" cycle that will lead them step-by-step to a full and successful solution.

Let Me Know: How would you use the Miracle Question to make your project successful?  Do you think it could help your team break out of the Analysis Paralysis trap?

Looking for Bright Spots: A Case Study

Welcome back to Practical Change Management's Virtual Book Club (VBC).  The discussion question I posed in my last post was:

The Question
Beginning on page 27, Chip and Dan use the story of fighting malnutrition in Vietnam to highlight the concept of bright spots, defined as "successful efforts worth emulating."  How would you use "bright spots" in a difficult situation or project to help bring about change?

My Answer

I promised you a real-life case study from one of my past projects.  To protect the innocent (and myself), I have changed all names and will not be disclosing any details that might identify the client.

The Situation
Many years ago, I was working on a software implementation at a large company.  Over the years, this company had acquired smaller companies that they now considered "business units."  Each business unit (BU) kept it's unique software, business processes, and culture.  Perhaps just as important, each BU kept its own budget, and the parent company was not in the habit of telling them how to spend their money, or forcing changes on them.

The project I was on was implementing new software across seven of the BUs.  Because each BU was so unique, we had set up Change teams at each BU made up of employees who could help us navigate the culture and implement the change.  It quickly became apparent, however, that not all of the BUs were equally committed to the change.  Their commitment ranged from full, enthusiastic support to grudging participation.  Because they had so much independence in deciding whether to participate in and provide budget to the project, we had to find a way to get and keep everyone on board.

What We Did
We appealed to their riders: One of the first things we did was an analysis of how the new system would impact each BU.  What we found was that some BUs were getting a huge benefit from the implementation, while some were breaking even and others were actually losing some functionality and autonomy.  Using this information, we created charts and graphs, did some data analysis, and basically explained that the organization as a whole would see a net gain in benefits, even if some BUs were feeling a bit of a loss.

We appealed to their elephants: In an effort to build some positive peer pressure and appeal to everyone's competitive nature, we set up a competition.  Each BU could earn points by implementing Change activities and by sharing success stories that could be scaled and used to help other BUs achieve success.

We cleared the path: We recognized that many people weren't sure how to support a change effort, so we produced a monthly toolkit that explained what needed to be done that month, provided step-by-step directions on how to do it, and included any necessary templates.

Doing It Differently with Bright Spots
While all of our efforts certainly helped drive the change, we still found ourselves faced with a BU that really resisted the implementation.  Looking back, I would have spent less time focusing on why that BU was so negative about the change (they told us on a regular basis - it wasn't a secret), and spent more time focusing on why one of the BUs was so positive and so proactive in supporting the change.  This BU was our bright spot.  I think that if we had better understood why our main change agent there was putting so much effort into driving the change, and understood how he was in turn spreading this positive attitude throughout his BU, we could have used this information to help turn around our resistor.

As it was, despite the success of our change program, I think I missed an opportunity to learn from this bright spot and gain a better understanding of why some people support change.  This understanding could have informed all of my future change programs.

Let Me Know:  In the comments section, tell me about a time that you were able to identify a bright spot and use it to improve your change program.  Or, if your story is more like mine, tell me how you would better harness the power of bright spots if you could do it again.

Next Discussion Question:  On page 36, Chip and Dan discuss solutions-focused therapy and begin to talk about the Miracle Question: "Suppose that you go to bed tonight and sleep well.  Sometime, in the middle of the night, while you are sleeping, a miracle happens and all the troubles that brought you here are resolved.  When you wake up in the morning, what's the first small sign you'd see that would make you think, 'Well, something must have happened - the problem is gone!'?"  How can the Miracle Question be used to improve overall projects and Change Management programs?

The Elephant in the Room: Making a Boring Project Emotional

Welcome to the first meeting of Practical Change Management's virtual book club (VBC).  Hopefully, a few of you had a chance to pick up the book Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, by Chip and Dan Heath.

As mentioned last week, our first discussion question centers around the "Glove Story" that is told on page 12.  In this story, a company has a huge opportunity to save costs by streamlining their purchasing processes.  The man advocating for the change does all of the sensible things.  He gathers data showing how much money they can save.  He creates graphs and presentations.  He makes sure the powers that be understand the opportunity.  He puts in all of this time and effort, and the executives nod in agreement, but the change never moves forward.

Finally, as a last resort, the employee has a summer intern gather a sample of a glove used in every facility, along with the price paid for it.  He ends up with a pile of hundreds of gloves that have been bought separately by different departments.  Despite being identical gloves, the cost of the gloves ranged from less than $5 to more than $15!  When he invites the executives in for another meeting, he piles the gloves on a table, each tagged with the department that bought it and the price paid.  Suddenly, confronted with a startling visual of the money being wasted by ineffective purchasing, the executives throw themselves behind the need for process change.

The Question
This brings me to our first discussion question: How would you create an "elephant presentation," which is a presentation designed to work on people's emotions, for a relatively boring project?

I decided to look at this question for a project type that I'm very familiar with: an Oracle ERP system implementation.  Really, it just doesn't get much less sexy than that.  Having worked on this type of project for years, I can assure you that very few people get excited about big system implementations.  And outside of the IT department, there is often very little sense of urgency around the need to do the project.  So how, exactly, could I create a presentation that would get your average person fired up about a project that will be long, hard, expensive, and boring?

My Answer
I would create a video that follows the current process, focusing not just on the steps in the process, but also on the impact it has on employees along the way.  Consider, for example, the purchasing process.  Let's take a company that has a computer-based, but not ERP-style automated system.  Executives might think the current process works just fine.  The purchasing department might think the process could be a bit faster, but feel that overall it fits the company's needs.  Meanwhile, the average user is pulling his hair out.  The video would look like this:

Open with a shot of someone (we'll call him John) filling in an online form.  Once he finishes it, he e-mails it to his boss for approval.  We see John on the video the next day knocking on his boss's door.  John wasn't sure if his boss had seen the e-mail, and wanted to make sure the purchasing request got reviewed.  John's boss hadn't noticed the e-mail, but promises to look at it before the day is done.

Another day goes by, and we see John back at his boss's office checking on the purchasing request.  John's boss informs him that he wasn't sure if he had the approval authority for such a large request, so he forwarded the form to the next level of management, just in case.  The video follows John as he goes to see his boss's boss.  There he meets the administrative assistant, who informs John that her boss insists that the forms be printed out so that she can review them on paper, rather than in an e-mail.  The admin points to John's printed purchase request at the bottom of a large inbox pile.

Another day goes by.  It's now day four, and John still doesn't know if his purchase request has been approved.  We watch him go back to the administrative assistant, who informs John that her boss has left for a four-day weekend.  John asks if there's someone else who can approve his request, but unfortunately, the boss didn't leave a delegate.  The video ends with John walking back to his office in defeat, resigned to at least four more days of waiting for his request to be reviewed and approved. 

Every issue John ran into in the video could be addressed by the implementation of an ERP system.  This is something that people know going into the implementation at an intellectual level, but creating a video that shows one of their actual colleagues suffering through a common problem - a problem they have probably encountered themselves - drives at their sense of empathy and helps build a sense that this is an urgent problem that needs to be addressed.

Let Me Know: Do you think this presentation would work to build an emotional response to a "boring" intellectual problem?  What presentation did you come up with for a "boring"project?  Let me know in the comments section below.

Next Discussion Question:   Beginning on page 27, Chip and Dan use the story of fighting malnutrition in Vietnam to highlight the concept of bright spots, defined as "successful efforts worth emulating."  How would you use "bright spots" in a difficult situation or project to help bring about change?  I'll be sharing a real-life case study from one of my past projects.

Change Management Virtual Book Club Starting Next Week - Join Now!

I recently finished reading Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, by Chip and Dan Heath.  As I read, I made a list of topics that hit home for me that I wanted to discuss on this blog.  The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that I didn't just want to analyze the book and put out a one-sided article.  What I really wanted was to have a dynamic conversation with other professionals about ideas that can impact the way we approach Change Management.

With that in mind, I am kicking off Practical Change Management's first ever Virtual Book Club (VBC).  There are no fees to join, no mandatory conference calls, and if you don't keep up with the reading, I promise not to send a note home to your parents.  All you have to do is pick up a copy of the book and start reading.  Check back here regularly to find the current topic of discussion, read your peers' ideas, and add your own.  If you're not good at remembering to check back, you can click here to "officially" sign up.  Send me your e-mail address, and I'll send you a reminder each time a new post is added (And don't worry, I won't sell your e-mail address to anyone.  I wouldn't even know who to sell it to.).

In each post, I will include the discussion topic for the next post so that you have time to read that part of the book and think through how you would handle the situation I'm discussing.

I look forward to discussing this book with you!  Please feel free to invite others to join the conversation, as well.  Expertise in Change Management is not required...just a passion for reading and discussing excellent books.

Many thanks,
Emily

First Discussion Topic: Chip and Dan use the concept of the rider, elephant, and path as the core theme of their book.  On page 12, they give the "glove" example as a classic elephant appeal (Look!  You only have to read a few pages to join the first discussion.).  This made me think: How would I create an elephant presentation for a "boring" project, such as an IT system implementation?  What would your elephant presentation be for a "boring" project?

In the next post, I'll let you know what I came up with for an elephant presentation around an Oracle ERP implementation.

Building Your Trusted Advisor Reputation: A Research Proposal

In my last post, I talked about how your sales approach could be hurting your bottom line, and discussed a few ways to address this issue.  One of the recommendations I made was to mine your company's historical bid vs. actuals data to help ensure that you're not underbidding on projects.  Today, I want to look more closely at what this research would entail.

The Sample
While this research would be especially fun if you could get your hands on data across multiple firms, it's more realistic to assume this would be an intra-company study.  Start by selecting which segment(s) of your business you want to study.  You could do it by monetary size, industry, software type, etc.  For this example, let's say we're going to look at all ERP implementations.

Gathering the Data
Once you have selected the projects you want to study, you can begin to gather data.  For each project, you would gather the following data twice.  First, you would gather it based on the bid.  Second, you would gather it based on the completed project actuals.

1. Budget
1. Overall project budget
2. Budget by team
3. Budget by customization
4. Contingency
5. Initial bid vs. final negotiated bid
2. Timeline
1. Overall timeline
2. Timeline for each project phase
3. Major milestone dates
4. Adjustments to timeline based on client request
3. Resources
1. Total number of resources
2. Number of resources per team
3. Number of client vs. consultant resources
4. Proposed level of each resource

The Findings
So, what do I expect to find using this data?

1. Budget
1. Looking at the bid vs. actuals for the overall project budget, you will be able to see how accurate your bids are to what the projects actually cost.  Are you off by 5%?  20%?  50%?  This will give you an idea of how much your future bids will need to change.
1. To set the new baseline for future bids, you can look at the aggregated results of your actual data to determine what would be a more accurate bid that will save your client from potential budget overruns.
2. Comparing bid and actual amounts for budget by team and budget by customization will also help you pinpoint if there are certain areas where your sales team is really having a hard time coming up with accurate figures.  You can use this data to adjust your pricing model.
1. For example, you might find that you are always running way over budget on form customizations.  Armed with this knowledge, you can work with the developers to determine what you should really be bidding for customized forms based on their level of difficulty.
3. Are you using up all of your contingency?  How early in the project do you need to tap it?  Many clients are uneasy about the concept of contingency, but having data can help support your argument for including it in your bid.
4. Finally, looking at your initial bid vs. what you finally agreed to after negotiations will help you determine if clients are consistently haggling you down from an appropriate bid to a budget that won't cover the full cost of the project.  This data should help your sales team adjust their negotiating tactics.
2. Timeline
1. In my experience, clients always want the project done faster.  Use your overall timeline comparison to show them how long it truly takes to complete the type of project they want to implement.  This will set realistic expectations.
2. Breaking your timeline data down by phase and milestone will also help you determine if there are certain parts of the projects that are taking longer than conventional wisdom would suggest.  Your methodology might say the test phase should take a month, but if it consistently takes two months, it's best to bid based on the actual time required.
3. Resources
1. Clients often see cutting resources (and by resources, I'm talking people) as a quick way to save on costs.  You don't really need 3 people to develop training, do you?  Use the data on actual number of resource per project by team as a baseline for how many people you need to complete the project on time.
2. This data should also help you find the right resource mix.  Look at the projects that came in closest to their timeline and budget.  What allocation of client vs. consultant, junior vs. senior, on shore vs. off shore did they use?  Find the winning combination, then replicate it as appropriate.

Using the Data
So, how does all of this data actually help you during the sales pitch?  Imagine being able to walk into a client and saying, "I know our bid is 10% higher than everyone else's.  We have the data, though, that shows that our budget and timeline are accurate for this type of project.  Not only does this mean that we are most likely to come in on time and on budget, but this also means that three months from now, you won't be standing in front of the steering committee asking for more money and a schedule extension.  Instead, you'll be standing in front of them each month with a status report that shows the project on track."

This helps move your people from being just a sales team to becoming trusted advisors.  And as word spreads that your company provides accurate bids that save companies from overruns, and individuals from embarrassing meetings with Executives, more and more clients should see the benefit of a higher up-front cost versus lots of hidden surprise costs along the way.

Caveats
The one main caveat I want to include here is that if your consulting firm has a culture of ghosting hours, your actuals will be off.  The research is still worth doing, and should still improve your bid process, but don't be surprised if your bids are still lower than the reality.


Let Me Know: Do you know of any firms that have done this kind of research?  How has it improved their bidding process?

How Your Sales Approach is Hurting Your Business

Every consultant has experienced it: You walk onto a client site, and within minutes you can tell.  The project was underbid.  There aren't enough people, the timeline is too short, and you have about 2/3 of the budget you need to do the work properly.

Now, I understand that sometimes companies purposely underbid on a project just to get their foot in the door.  It's part of a strategic plan where they assume that the money they lose on the initial project will be made up for on future projects that they will surely win once the client sees what an outstanding job they can do.  As long as the consulting firm is willing to provide the necessary resources to do the job right and write off the loss, I'm fine with this approach.

Where I see a major problem is when consulting firms consistently underbid work as their main sales strategy.  They go in with a good feeling of what the client is willing to spend on a project.  Even if this budget isn't enough to cover the work the firm is proposing, the sales team will still enter a bid that fits the budget just to win the work.  The rationale I often hear is that this lets them get on the ground.  Then, once they've started the project, they'll work with the client to adjust the budget, resources, and timeline to be more realistic.

The Consequences

1. First, and foremost, this approach decimates client trust.  Many clients start large-scale projects without any idea of what they entail.  They are relying on the consultants they hire to provide them with advice and guidance.  When the very first interaction between the client and the consulting firm is based on underbidding that will lead to delays, budget overruns, and upset bosses, any future advice will be viewed with caution.  Consider, as well, the long-term trust implications.  If word begins to spread that your firm consistently underbids, you stand a good chance of losing future clients. 
2. Another consequence is the development of a major rift between your salespeople and your consultants.  Often, once the sales team has sold a project, they have nothing else to do with it.  This means that by the time your consultants are on the ground and in the throes of suffering through an underbid project, the sales team has already moved on.  These situations can quickly lead to an "us" vs. "them" mentality, which can cause a divide in your workforce.
3. The last main consequence I want to talk about is consultant burnout.  When a project is underbid, the firm has three options.  They can ask the client for more time, money, and resources.  They can eat the lost cost.  Or, they can work their consultants harder to get more work done in less time with less people.  When the firm chooses the third option, they burn out their consultants, leading to poor work quality, disgruntled employees, and high turnover.

All of these consequences of rampant underbidding can directly impact your firm's bottom line, as well as its ability to win new work, and obtain and retain top-rate consultants.

Practical Steps to Take
Even if underbidding is already a part of your selling culture, you can still take steps to change it.

1. Adjust your compensation model: A lot of salespeople I have met receive their pay when the work is sold.  What if, instead, they only received a portion of their pay at this time?  Consider a phased approach that would have a second payout when the consulting team hit the ground and verified that the budget, resources, and timeline that were sold are appropriate for the project.  It could even be possible to have a third payout partway through the project, when the consultants are achieving successful results.  This model gives the sales team some skin in the game.  I can already hear the argument, "What if the consulting team doesn't do a good job and that's why they don't meet deadlines or need more money?  Why should the sales team have to risk their pay based on whether the consultants do a good job?"  But consider that this is already what the consultants are doing.  Every time they walk onto a project, they are risking their reputations based on how well the sales team bid the work.  These two groups need to become a cohesive team.  Which leads me to my second point...
2. Involve consultants in the sales process: I'm not talking here about having them just show up at orals to give a presentation and answer some questions.  Rather, when drawing up the bid, ask the functional experts how long it will take to do blueprint based on the scope of the project.  Ask the technical people how difficult it will be to code the customizations the client is requesting.  Making the consultants an intimate part of the sales process should drastically increase the accuracy of the bid.  Leading us to...
3. Stay facts based:  Every firm should be able to look at historical data for comparable projects to use as a baseline when bidding on new projects.  If past projects of similar scope cost $5 million, but this client says they only have a $3 million budget, instead of bidding $3 million just to win the work, consider having a serious conversation with the client to ensure they understand what they're getting into and the risks they're facing by not setting aside enough budget.  If they really want to do the work right, they should thank you for the honest discussion.  Which brings me to my final recommendation...
4. Become a trusted advisor: I was always taught that the main goal of anyone in the consulting industry is to become a trusted advisor to the client.  By taking the opportunity during the sales process to have the hard conversations with the client; by choosing long-term success over short-term payouts; and by becoming known as a best-in-class team that delivers spot-on bids that reduce schedule and budget overruns, your team has the ability to change from being a sales team to being trusted advisors.  And when they're the first impression a client has of your firm, isn't that goal even more important?

Research Proposal
In my third recommendation, I suggest that firms stay facts based in the sales process.  This has led me to thinking about the type of research that could really help the sales team provide accurate bids every time.  In my next post, I'll lay out a research proposal that can mine data you already have to increase your future success at both sales and becoming a trusted advisor.

Let Me Know: How does your company handle the sales process?  How does the approach impact the every day project work?

Keep it Simple: The Art of Making Difficult Concepts Easy to Understand

Recently, I heard of a web-based tool called The Up-Goer Five Text Editor.  It is designed to help you turn difficult concepts into easy-to-understand language.  Basically, you type a sentence into the editor, and the tool compares each word to its list of the one thousand most used words in the English language.  Any word that is not on the list is underlined in red.  It's then up to you to find a substitute word.

It sounds easy.

It is very, very hard.

I decided to try it out on Change Management.  I started by using the definition of Change Management, as defined by ProSci on their website.  It reads:

Change management is the application of a structured process and tools to enable individuals or groups to transition from a current state to a future state, such that a desired outcome is achieved.

There are 33 words in that definition.  Thirteen of them did not make the cut.  That meant I had to find a way to change 42% of the words in order to meet the tool's criteria, without substantially changing the definition.  This was going to be especially difficult given that the word "management" isn't on the list.

The definition I came up with is below.  Before you read it, though, I challenge you to go to the site and try to come up with your own version of the definition.

My Definition
Try as I might, I just couldn't get rid of the word "tools."  That said, here is the revised definition I created:

The business of the Change team is to use a carefully considered set of steps and tools to help people or groups to change from the present state to a new state, such that a wanted end state is realized.

Let me know:  Did you use the tool to create your own version of the definition?  Share it by posting it in the comments section.

My attempt at using The Up-Goer Five Text Editor to simplify the definition of Change Management.