Changing Tracks Effectively

develop a vision and share it with the rest of the organization

Anytime you are introducing a change there are some steps that will help smooth the process. Some of those steps are:

• Have a clear strategy - develop a vision and share it with the rest of the organization, to help employees feel ownership of it.
• Set clear targets - Giving people clear goals and milestones will help them feel more confident about changes.
• Encourage involvement - By allowing participation early in the change process, you ensure commitment to it and improvement in design.
• Invest in Training - Training is important for developing skills, continued improvement, and in creating a change-oriented organization.
• Be supportive - Create an atmosphere in which individual concerns can be aired, and ideas within the organization used positively.
• Communicate Actively - Communication should be active, open, and timely (before the change occurs), and able all, two-way in practice.

ACTION POINT: Use strategy, targets, support, training and communication to keep change on track.

Getting People on Board

There are two types of resistance to change:

Change management is about understanding that uncertainty about change is natural, and dealing with the sources of that uncertainty.

There are two types of resistance to change:

• The type you can tackle directly (by training people in new skills, for example)
• The type that is emotional and maybe irrational.

If someone feels their job is changing for the worse, that will shape the way they see the change, whether they are correct or not. You can address this only by creating a supportive climate where your employees can discuss and come to terms with their concerns.

ACTION POINT: Create a supportive climate to help your employees understand change.

Managing Change

It is important to understand the reasons for this resistance, and manage changes to minimize user uncertainty.

Implementing innovation means changing things, and many people are resistant to change, especially in their working conditions. It is important to understand the reasons for this resistance, and mange changes to minimize user uncertainty.

Not everyone is against change--some view it positively, while others resist any change at all. This could be due to several factors: they do not see the need for change, they are scared it will require them to do things of which they do not feel capable, they are worried about losing their jobs, they fear they will lose control over their work, they do not see what is in it for them, or they feel overloaded with what they already have to do.

ACTION POINT: Understand the reasons change is often resisted.

Using Creative Tools

there are many tools available to help you tackle the stages of the problem-solving cycle.

The good news is that there are many tools available to help you tackle the stages of the problem-solving cycle. These can be used by individuals, but most are more useful as part of a general meeting to encourage ideas.

Identification

• Fishbone (or "cause and effect") diagram-exploring the root causes of a problem and its contributing factors.

Redefinition

• Goal orientation--restarting the problem to focus on what you are really trying to solve.
• Perspective--looking at the problem differently.

Exploration

• Brainstorming - pooling ideas from a team.
• Radical ideas - encouraging wild thinking.
• Random link - forcing a random connection.

Selection

• Voting - a simple vote to choose the idea.
• Implement-ability matrix -- plotting your ideas on a chart to compare the payoffs they offer.

Implementation and Review

• Measure and compare - reviewing an innovation project once it has been implemented to measure its success.

ACTION POINT: Use the creative tools to work through the problem solving cycle.

Enhancing Creativity

Allow creative thinkers time and space to consider problems at length.

There are a number of proven strategies to enhance creativity in your organization. Building diversity will ensure that you have several perspectives available on a problem. Allow creative thinkers time and space to consider problems at length.

Provide spaces for employees to develop their ideas--quiet rooms where individuals can concentrate, and group discussion areas where staff can gather to explore problems. And make sure that you give your staff a sense of freedom to try out different ideas, even if they don't always succeed.

ACTION POINT: Use diversity, space, quiet concentration and open discussion to enhance creativity in your employees.