Although the people think you don’t care, at least the

Our business lives have become more pressured over recent years – computing and telecommunications have a lot to answer for in that the mobile phone has led to instantaneous communications wherever you are in the world, and email has lead to more interpersonal communications than ever. Computing power and complex software has lead to more questions being asked that would never have either mattered before or have been capable of being answered. A little test;

Rank the following 5 statements in the order that they apply to you;

Depending on your role, 2-4 will be in the middle in any order, 5 will be at the top and 1 at the bottom. No empirical data of course, but we all know the realities. Whether this is right or wrong is the subject of a whole different essay!

Given all of this increasing pressure, managers are required to continuously improve productivity, grow or contract their operations, outsource or insource, new system here, manage the legacy system there, acquire and dispose. The working environment is continually changing inside organizations, and for our customers it isn’t any easier.

There isn’t always a willingness to accept the reality of change inside organizations, but since it’s a reality why do we always make it as hard as possible for ourselves. The key is that although we communicate more than ever, we aren’t good at managing the people-impacts of change. Picture the scene – you’ve been having sleepless nights since your boss asked you to install a new system. You’re no IT guru, but you know you are going to have to get new hardware, software, and train people. You’ll need consulting help to get it all done on time, select the software, implement, test, and make sure all the processes work.

Well, your sleepless nights are set to continue. Where did you think about the people affected? What do they think, feel? You recognize that you will have to train them, but have you thought about what they’ll be worrying about, how they make the current systems work with undocumented workarounds, how they’ll feel with a new flat screen monitor where their fluffy toys will fall off of the top! The people will be worrying about the ‘business case’ – new system = greater productivity = fewer jobs is the normal way these projects are justified isn’t it?

I could go on. Managers tend to think about processes, and good managers tend to think about people. There’s middle ground somewhere, but when you wonder during a sleepless night why your project is failing you’ll come to the following conclusions;

Although the people think you don’t care, at least the

Depending on your role, 2-4 will be in the middle in any order, 5 will be at the top and 1 at the bottom. No empirical data of course, but we all know the realities. Whether this is right or wrong is the subject of a whole different essay!

Given all of this increasing pressure, managers are required to continuously improve productivity, grow or contract their operations, outsource or insource, new system here, manage the legacy system there, acquire and dispose. The working environment is continually changing inside organizations, and for our customers it isn’t any easier.

There isn’t always a willingness to accept the reality of change inside organizations, but since it’s a reality why do we always make it as hard as possible for ourselves. The key is that although we communicate more than ever, we aren’t good at managing the people-impacts of change. Picture the scene – you’ve been having sleepless nights since your boss asked you to install a new system. You’re no IT guru, but you know you are going to have to get new hardware, software, and train people. You’ll need consulting help to get it all done on time, select the software, implement, test, and make sure all the processes work.

Well, your sleepless nights are set to continue. Where did you think about the people affected? What do they think, feel? You recognize that you will have to train them, but have you thought about what they’ll be worrying about, how they make the current systems work with undocumented workarounds, how they’ll feel with a new flat screen monitor where their fluffy toys will fall off of the top! The people will be worrying about the ‘business case’ – new system = greater productivity = fewer jobs is the normal way these projects are justified isn’t it?

I could go on. Managers tend to think about processes, and good managers tend to think about people. There’s middle ground somewhere, but when you wonder during a sleepless night why your project is failing you’ll come to the following conclusions;

Although the people think you don’t care, at least the

Well, your sleepless nights are set to continue. Where did you think about the people affected? What do they think, feel? You recognize that you will have to train them, but have you thought about what they’ll be worrying about, how they make the current systems work with undocumented workarounds, how they’ll feel with a new flat screen monitor where their fluffy toys will fall off of the top! The people will be worrying about the ‘business case’ – new system = greater productivity = fewer jobs is the normal way these projects are justified isn’t it?

I could go on. Managers tend to think about processes, and good managers tend to think about people. There’s middle ground somewhere, but when you wonder during a sleepless night why your project is failing you’ll come to the following conclusions;

Although the people think you don’t care, at least the

I could go on. Managers tend to think about processes, and good managers tend to think about people. There’s middle ground somewhere, but when you wonder during a sleepless night why your project is failing you’ll come to the following conclusions;

Although the people think you don’t care, at least the

Although the people think you don’t care, at least the flat screens leave more room for fluffy toys on the desk. Result!

People stop change. Systems are inanimate, buildings couldn’t care who occupies them, processes will operate if the right inputs are delivered….but people are a whole different matter. ‘Command and control’ regimes are not de rigueur and will not work in the modern business, so its no good expecting to ‘tell’ people what to do. They’ve got brains, personalities, and egos and all need nurturing.

People stop change. So what are you going to do about preventing them stopping your change programme? Talk, communicate, email – this is where we came in – use the technologies that you have available, involve people-affected in the decision processes, ask them what they think and believe.

Back to your sleepless night. If only I’d;

You need people to go through the whole process of shock and anger, denial, understanding, challenging and (eventually sometimes) commitment to the change, whether it’s a new system, location, process, PC or business acquisition. Getting over the questions of ‘what does the change mean to me’ or often ‘what’s in it for me?’ is often time consuming and painful, but getting it right is always worthwhile.

There’s huge debate amongst project management professionals about whether its rigorous project management practice and procedures that deliver successful projects, or whether its ‘change management’ that delivers success. People stop change, make change happen, deliver successful projects, and provide you with business results, so focusing your management effort here is likely to derive most value. It won’t always be easy.

So you want an easier life…focus on the people aspects of change – it will pay dividends in both your sanity and business results terms.