Make your change project stick

As a regular contributor to LinkedIn collaborative articles, I recently added my insights regarding the question “How do you embed and sustain change?”. This is a worthy question given the financial and reputational implications of a failed transformation.

One action step in particular resonated with me: defining the desired states (when the change project has been successfully implemented) and using the current state as the baseline for this.

Every time I ask my clients whether they have established KPIs and OKRs for a change initiative, I get a blank stare.

It is crucial however to establish a baseline and work from it. This in turn enables your client (the Board, the Head of Communication, Head of Strategy…) to measure progress on a regular basis. Taking stock can happen on a monthly or quarterly basis.

The more you treat change like any other project, and demonstrate progress, the more you will be able to get the skeptics / naysayers on your side.

It doesn’t stop with KPIs and OKRs. They are only as effective as the organizational environment they are embedded in. According to the logic “organization as politics”, stakeholders have impact and determine how projects unfold. To better understand an organizational environment, I recommend to map the key stakeholders — including the official and hidden agendas. I explain the intricacies of stakeholder analysis in my recently published article “Stakeholder analysis — a strategy game that neer gets old”.

Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash

It’s commendable to have a change management project plan. I always kick off a project by reverse-engineering the business transformation.

Again, the stakeholder analysis and role attribution is key.

I typically assign the following roles:

1. Executive champion — the most senior executive(s) supporting the change initiative

2. A change committee — comprised of key stakeholders that will push the project ahead; needs to feature mid-level managers in addition to change champions

3. Change agents / ambassadors — employees at all level of the organization that support the prospect and spread the gospel.

I will dive into this in a separate article.

…

For the time being, keep this in mind:

• Treat your change management project like any other well-thought out project

• Establish a baseline with your client (ideally, the Board)

• Define the KPIs / OKRs that need to be achieved and their regular measurement

• Be diligent when you conduct a stakeholder analysis — include potential hidden agendas

• Attribute roles that have proven effective in business transformations — appointing a change executive champion, a change committee and change ambassadors is key.

Your input is highly appreciated: Which other aspects need to be included? I am only one person. Any change of perspective is valued. Thank you.

Sources:

Leeron Hoory, Cassie Bottorff for FORBES: “What Is A Stakeholder Analysis? Everything You Need To Know”. Published online on 07 August 2022.

LinkedIn collaborative article: “How do you embed and sustain change?. Published in September 2023. Changes ongoing.

Caroline-Lucie Ulbrich, Medium: “Stakeholder analysis — a strategy game that neer gets old”. Published online on 11 April 2023.

WalkMe team: “Change Management KPIs: A Crash Course”. Published on 15 March 2021.