Drive change Flashcards
5 most important ways of managing change from the top:
Show commitment Involve employees in change management Establish champions and change management leaders Avoid cognitive biases Fight the fat smoker syndrome
Show commitment
Management’s actions are a visible sign of its commitment to change initiatives in the employees eyes. Employees hate to support change until they are sure that management is behind them. It is very important it comes from the top (with top down implementation).
Involve employees in change management
Make sure that employees are directly involved in change management (actively shaping the process).
A CEO should get commitment from there team.
An effective strategy to develop innovations is to involve employees from all levels within the company. The good news is that you can influence motivation. The bad news: it is a lot easier to destroy motivation than building it up.
Establish champions and change management leaders
You can make the pioneers or vocal change resistors champions. The strategy of turning victims into active participants can save a lot of time. In each situation, you will need to evaluate how much time you want to spend on convincing your opponents of the merits of your ideas.
Avoid cognitive biases
There are some reasons why the analysis and selection of a new BM regularly shows some errors and wrong decisions. Our emotions play a considerable role in decision making and our gut feelings are more important than we would like to believe. Managers are human beings to and have cognitive biases like everyone else. Systematic mistakes in choosing between ideas can have a variety of causes:
Status quo bias (wanting to keep it the way it is)
Centre stage effects (likely to go with the middle course) Anchoring (like with marketing) first seeing 1000$ shirt, then 100$
Sunk costs
Frequency validity effect. (the more times you hear it, the more likely you are to believe it)
Zero risk bias (we are risk averse)
Bandwagon effect (peer pressure, wanting to follow the rest)
The 5 whys technique will help you uncover the root cause of the problems and help you make more informed decisions.
Fight the fat smoker syndrome
It is easy to underestimate how long it takes to implement a new idea. Many companies keep holding on to paradigms that have long become obsolete as a result of market, technological, consumer and competitor developments.
Fat smokers: employees that are aware of the health risks and have a strategy to solve the problem within their grasp, but lack the determination and discipline to keep their promises.
David Maister has explored the fat smoker syndrome in depth and sees management’s responsibilities here: leaders must develop energy, discipline and focus to resist short term temptations and do what is good for sustainable business.
Types of cognitive biases:
- Status quo bias
- Center stage effect
- Anchoring
- Sunk cost
- Frequency validity
- Zero risk bias
- Bandwagon effect
managing change:
Define a plan of actin Define structure and goals Build capabilities Develop a vision and Earn a few quick wins Set the structure and define goals Select the right team
Build missing capabilities:
- Develop capabilities internally
- Partner with others
- Buy capabilities of business
Establish a culture of innovation.
- Employees show initiative
- Employee diversity
- Serendipity
- Communication, communication, communication