Embedding great ideas is a challenge. Without a focused, collaborative, and structured approach to change, your efforts are bound to fail and you’re unlikely ever to deliver the constant improvement that your business needs for its growth.
What can you do?
Too often in business, change is devised by a group of senior influencers who are looking for a quick fix to a business problem. Rarely do they consult with those who will actually drive the change. So pull together a group of key influencers in your business and create a workshop to begin to plot out the change. Start with the key objective in mind and ask for insights about ways to address business needs. Plot out change in a collaborative way to ensure that you are embedding effective change.
Human beings need to understand what is being asked of them. Communicating your idea effectively, helping your team understand the thinking and logic behind it, and showing them the direct benefits they will experience, will increase the likelihood of your team evaluating the idea positively and this will reduce the resistance to change. When you have agreed on the specifics of what you need to change in the organisation, create a clear communication plan that includes the why as well as the what.
All too often businesses share their ideas for change with the team and expect them to immediately and proactively change their behaviours in line with new expectations. Expecting complete and immediate uptake from the team is a recipe for failure. Don’t do this.
Organise a series of group and individual sessions that break down the impact of the change on individual roles. Ensure you can set clear expectations ‘ for them and for you. Making sure your team is given guidance around what is expected is a really important step in your change programme.
Another common issue when embedding great ideas into an organisation, is the ability to evaluate what impact the change has had. When you are devising the plan around your new idea, build into it your assessment and evaluation measures. Place these at regular intervals from the date of the change you need to be tracking and measuring to see if the change is being delivered in the business. Without tangible tracking of the process and outcomes, it is impossible to know for sure whether the change is having real and positive influence on your business.
You also need a clear structure for feedback to ensure you can guide people to success. Behavioural change is about recognising successes and being confident in giving critique.
Making clear at the beginning of the change programme exactly what measures will be in place, and exactly when and how feedback will be given, will ensure that everybody understands the positive recognition they will receive if they effectively embed the idea and the consequences if they have challenges around changing their habits.
By following these steps, you will ensure that your brilliant ideas move from being just a plan to becoming daily practice in your business.
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