In this blog, you can read about the different trends in change management. We also provide 5 tips that Esmee and Robert-Jan would like to use themselves to guide a change process.
“Change management is the form of management that deals with changing the structure, culture and way of working within organizations. In doing so, change management mainly focuses on the 'how' of change.”
Movement 1: Modernism in change management
The modernist movement is the most used variant of change management. This method is characterized by thinking in the established hierarchy. Management makes decisions and the rest of the team follows suit. The challenges are simplified, a change is always positive and you improve linearly. As a result, change is measurable and objective.
However, this does not provide the most support, so the change can be difficult. Or worse: that it doesn't happen.
Movement 2: Postmodernism in change management
Postmodernism comes into play here. In this way of change, the network of employees is central. A network is strongest among so-called reciprocal networks. You both indicate that you are in contact with each other.
You have the most influence up to two layers in your network. “Your friend's friend”, in other words. Your position in the network (deployment) is the key to change. After all, changes arise from this network and employees encourage each other to shape the change. This happens by having conversations and thus influencing each other.
However, a purely postmodernist approach also has its challenges. This way, you can give much less structure to change management. The change is difficult to measure, because 'influence' and 'communication' are not easily measurable. Postmodernism therefore goes against our current structures and ways of thinking.
Best of both worlds: Combining Modernism and Postmodernism
Both modernist and postmodernist change management have advantages and disadvantages. Fortunately, these two methods can complement each other. Here, you maintain the structure and goals of modernism, while deploying the (network of your) team in a postmodernist way. This is how you create space in the project for deploying the network. This ensures support for your P2P project and gives you measurable results. But how do you incorporate the postmodernist approach into your projects? Here are five tips to help you get started right away:
Tip 1: Focus on the why question
When starting a new project, a number of questions arise:
- Why does this project exist?
- How do we want to do that?
- What are we going to do?
By using Simon Sinek's Golden Circle, you can look at a project at different levels.
Esmee: “You often see that people start with the what question and only then think about why something is important. In our experience, it works better if you start with the why question. This way, you have a clear picture of why something is important. Your network responds to the question why. Then you can fill in how and what you're going to do that.”
Golden Circle - Simon Sinec
Tip 2: Involve stakeholders early in the project
It is important to involve stakeholders early in the project. Not only because of their formal influence, but also because of their informal influence. This is because stakeholders know more people than those they report to. They have a network of different employees or users in a system. Who do they all listen to? It's good to map that out. During the analysis phase, create a stakeholder mapping. Here you do not necessarily think in terms of the 'rake', but also in terms of informal influence.
Tip 3: As a project leader and project team, lead by example
“Say what you do and do what you say,” says Robert-Jan. By setting a good example as a project manager, your environment will also adopt the intended change more quickly. Of course, that also works the other way. Therefore, be aware of your role model as a project team or as a steering group.
Inspire your team with your behavior. After all, your team also has a network — and thus influence the people around them. Make sure that those involved are aware of this. This way, they can exert a positive influence on their network.
Make sure you are also clear about what behavior you expect from users. Do they need to work more via purchase orders? Therefore, be clear in which situations this is or is not the case. Make it as concrete as possible. This way, users know exactly where they stand.
Tip 4: Stay flexible in your approach and pace
Flexibility is very important in a change process. In our experience, working towards your goal in short periods of time helps. This way, you limit the impact of unforeseen circumstances and you can regularly test partial results with your customers. This keeps your stakeholders up to date and satisfied.
But on the other hand, don't be afraid to make decisions that have an impact on the outcome or the duration. Keep the project's why question in mind. That's how you make the right decisions.
It is also important to pay attention to a number of things. For example, the organization's ability to change. You can try to “push through” an idea or project, but that ultimately creates even more resistance. It is also good to focus on the here and now. With small steps, you will ultimately make a big impact. This philosophy is also reflected in the agile and scrum methods.
Tip 5: Pay close attention to your role as change leader
As a change leader, you have a lot of impact on the people in your team. Small changes from you can cause a lot of movement within the project. That's why it's important to be aware of your role as a change leader. You can do that in various ways.
1. Pay attention to management language.
As a manager, you probably use certain terms that are rarely or not used in the rest of the organization. By using understandable language, you can reach those around you more quickly. An additional advantage: the subject becomes more alive when more people talk about it. And that happens more quickly with understandable language.
2. Focus not on resistance, but on progress.
It's easy to focus on what's not going well. This is necessary to have a clear why story. Once the improvement plan has been made, focus on the things that are going well. This way, you have more (positive) energy left over.
In addition, when it comes to changes, it is good to look at the small steps that can be taken quickly. These are quick wins!
3. Facilitate interactions between professionals.
Networking is also an important tool for bridging possible resistances within your own organization. This way, you provide more people with the same ideas, so that they can take action faster and have wider support.
4. As a manager, connect to the primary process.
Of course, as a manager/steering group member, it is good to keep some distance from the project. But also dare to connect to the primary process! Walk into the department, ask people how things are going, what's on their mind. This makes it easier to collect and share information.
Want to know more about change management?
You now have a number of tips for successfully using change management. Want more information about change management? In our webinar, we delve deeper into modernism and postmodernism. We and the viewers also share tips on how we apply change management to P2P changes. You can view the review link here requests.
Feel free to app or call us if we can help you with anything! Call Robert-Jan on 06-22247008 or email rj@s2pmore.com. Esmee can be reached via esmee@s2pmore.com and 06-25315352.