The Change Journey – Your Organisation & Your People

by | Oct 14, 2019 | Change Management | 0 comments

leader of organisation steering his people towards change

When your organisation decides to make a change, especially a major one, the decision kicks off lots of activity. 

It will also kick off lots of emotions and reactions amongst your staff, managers, customers, suppliers and anyone else involved in your organisation.  This is the start of the change journey for your organisation and your people. 

Your organisation’s change journey focuses on how you will reach the desired future.  A well managed journey will move through the following phases:

The People Change Journey

The people change journey focuses on where the change will take them. How they will benefit or lose out because of the change. 

The change journey for each person will be unique. 

Some will move through the process faster than others.

A person’s change  journey will also be unique for each change they experience.  It is shaped by the personal impact of the change. How engaged and supported they feel through the change process. 

For example: One of your team may be supportive and positive of a change in office locations because it makes life easier for them e.g. it will reduce travel time. 

However, that same person may resist a change in computer systems because it means extra work for them.

One way to help bring your team along the change journey is to include them in various aspects of the change.

Returning to our example: If the team member is included in decisions about the new offices, e.g. layout and facilities, this will increase the potential for a positive change journey for them. Conversely, if they were excluded from providing input into the computer system’s selection or implementation plan, their resistance is highly likely to increase.

Connecting the Change Journey

By bringing your organisation’s journey and your people’s journey together, you will increase the potential that your desired future will be achieved. 

When mapping your organisation’s change journey, include what your people will need to help them feel engaged and supported as they progress on their journey.

Bringing in a qualified Change Manager will help you manage the change process. A Change Manager will work with you to lead, guide and support your people so their journey aligns with your organisation’s. And that will create your desired future as positively as possible.  

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Engaging with your people

At each stage of the organisation’s change journey, it is important to engage with your people.

Ask them:

  • What does the future look like?
  • What needs to change?
  • How could the change be made?
  • How can an even better outcome, for the organisation and the people, be achieved?

Giving your people a role in guiding the journey increases their engagement with the change. It increases their understanding of why the change is needed and how it will occur.

Your people can be a great source of ideas of how the change can be best designed and delivered. The input from those who resist the change helps highlight potential issues before the organisation’s path is set in stone.

In addition, including clear activities in your organisation’s change journey that support your people’s change journey will increase the likelihood of successfully achieving your desired future.

Integrating your people and your organisation’s change journeys can be a very nuanced process.  AccomplishBiz can guide you through the process to deliver your desired future.

Does your organisation need to implement a change?

We can provide practical help to define your future, design, and manage the changes required to achieve your future.

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Some of the best ideas for your business’s future may be in the minds of your staff.

But how do you tap into those ideas?

Over the years suggestion boxes in staff kitchens have worked to some extent. But these do not allow ideas to be built upon and expanded. There is limited visibility of suggestions by others in the business.

Staff engaging in the business by collaborating using a future wall.

Use a Future Wall

If you have renovated a house or built a new house you may have created a “mood board” with pictures, cloth swatches, paint samples etc that you might use.

A Future Wall is similar. 

It is a place, physical and/or virtual, where you and your staff post ideas about potential futures for your organisation. Whether it be pictures, articles, quotes, ideas, goals. 

Your Future Wall will be unique just as your business is unique.

No two Future Walls are the same. It will evolve and develop. 

For some businesses it is only used during strategic planning periods. While for others it becomes part of their day to day culture with a constant gathering of ideas to shape the business.

A Future Wall may be used company-wide or just in certain sections of the business.

Why Have a Future Wall?

Future Walls are a fun way to engage with your staff, especially during times of major change or planning.  It’s an opportunity for staff to think about your business creatively.

You might be surprised the talent that you will uncover.  Staff across the business can come together to share ideas and make suggestions that may not be in their “area”. 

This can help break down silos between teams.

A Future Wall can encourage continuous improvement and innovation. You can gather ideas that you and your leadership team may not have thought of. 

How Do You Create a Future Wall?

Your Future Wall can be physical, for example a pinboard/whiteboard in the staff room. Or it can be virtual. There are multiple online tools which can be used as forums. You can also set up a chat space on your intranet. Or you may choose to do both. 

The physical and the virtual Future Wall’s each have their own benefits. 

A physical wall in a location regularly visited by all staff keeps it front of mind. If you have multiple sites, you might have multiple Future Walls, one on each site.

A virtual wall is great for businesses with staff working remotely.  It also provides a place for staff to post materials they find on the internet. 

You might want to have both a physical and a virtual.

Making your Future Wall a success!

The key to the success of your Future Wall is creating excitement for participating and shared ownership of the wall across the organisation. 

  • In the early days this may be achieved with fun competitions. For example, offering movie tickets for the most creative, or most original idea. 
  • Encourage managers to include time at the wall in their team meetings.

  • Set up a team with people from multiple areas and levels of the business to gather and collate the information posted on the wall. This can then be communicated back to everyone.

    For the Future Wall to be sustainable staff need to see that their ideas are being considered and used to shape the future. Again, this can be by leadership stand ups at the wall and leadership communications on how an idea has been adopted.

     

Would you like to encourage your staff to become more engaged in the business and collaborate on how to build into an even better business than it is today? Create a Future Wall.

If you would like help setting up a Future Wall that fits your unique business give the E2E The Change Agency Team a call.

Let's start something new. Say hello.