Sep 5th, 2008
Management 103: Change Management
Few years ago, I read this book by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan. Like most management books, they distilled common senses into operational principles and thought guidelines. This book has profound influence on my managerial style and even career choices. It is one of the books I kept on my shelf. (My standard practice is to donate them to friends or library.)
Over the years, I gradually developed my own execution skills, much of them based on Larry Bossidy’s book. I wrote two blog entries on this topic: Management 101 and Management 102.
Most worthy changes involve many people. As a general rule, people do not want to change themselves, they just want others to change. Almost all people will flatly deny their resistance to change, yet their behaviors betray them. The best, and sometime the only, way to change people is to convince them to change by themselves. Once people understand the needs and benefits, and they have accepted the stress, they change willingly.
The tricks are simple: after designing the change, allocate sufficient time to socialize and communicate. When doing so, put yourself in their positions. Focus on explanation. If things make sense, people embrace the change. Otherwise, they stonewall.
Socialization and communication is more effectively done in person. There are many modern ways of communication. Almost all of them remove personal contacts to certain degree. Supplement your socialization and communication with those tools. Avoid using them as primary channels.
What if you are in a hurry and there are too many people to visit? You will be surprised how much difference a voicemail would make. Rehearse and practice your voicemail. Keep it short, keep it personal, stay on point.
Give people time to internalize and express their thoughts. There are two benefits: being heard speeds up the acceptance, you may also learn something valuable.
Next topic? Managing time. (Not time management)