The 6 Secrets of Successful Change Management
6. MAINTAIN THE CHANGE
Change management is not as simple as preparing the workforce for the transition that is about to be introduced. It has just as much to do with ensuring that workers don't revert to outdated and inefficient methods as it does with ensuring that people begin to use it. "Managing resistance is a process, not a series of events," Randy Wandmacher, managing director of Accenture Strategy, says.
Because it's a process, managers should be very careful to communicate the fact that the improvements might not come all at once, but rather in small increments.
Incentives can also act as fruitful aids in encouraging adoption. For this very reason, gamification apps have been gaining popularity because they allow employees to compete against one another and display to the rest of the company how well they have done by showing off their achievements.
Hurt emphasizes the importance of building employee confidence and a positive environment. One way she goes about doing this is setting specific event days to encourage the use of the new technologies. Typically held once a month, these are known as blitz days. The idea is to set aside a time period during which everybody is forced to use the technology in a fun environment. At the end of the day, the users share those results. "The goal is to say that if this can be done on one particular day, why can't it be done every day?" Hurt says, adding that, over time, the benefits could be substantial.
Another thing to keep in mind, Arussy points out, is that change is ongoing. As time goes on, the window for change for technology is becoming much narrower than it used to be, with updates occurring far more frequently. For some people, it might seem that just as they are getting used to one change, another one is on the way. "We need to create an infrastructure that better supports that," he says.
Associate Editor Oren Smilansky can be reached at osmilansky@infotoday.com.