How to inspire effective change management: Jay Holstine workshop

You can devote time and budgets to changing strategy and processes, but in order to sustain the new plan, how do you get leaders, employees, and customers to actually change behaviors? Strategies for inspiring effective, lasting change were discussed in Jay Holstine’s Dallas CEO peer group, and the discussion delivered some strong solutions. “Our group of trusted leaders, from non-competing industries, bring perspectives from various industries, while sharing the common experience from years in organizational leadership. We tackle a lot of compelling challenges, and arrive at solutions that come from hard experiences, and are often incisive and new,” Holstine said. 1. Concentrate the effort, Don’t Dilute it. -- One company posted 7 core competencies and 9 objectives for employees to practice. The result: Nothing changed. When you have too many priorities, nothing is an actual priority. Multi-tasking fragments the focus. Concentrate the efforts on one behavior to change at a time. Then build a logical Sequence of more modifications. 2. Clarify Effective goals are concrete and measurable. Telling a team to “work faster” is vague and not measurable. Asking them to increase production by 10%, by 4pm, is concrete and measurable. "Listen actively" is vague and not measurable. Asking them to "listen and restate what was said to confirm understanding" is concrete and measurable. 3. A picture’s worth a thousand words. - A plant manager wanted to drive home the need for changes in the manufacturing process. When scrap and returned goods reports didn’t inspire senior management to approve the changes, the plant manager decided to save and display one week’s worth defect product. Once senior management recognized the mountain of defective product, the process changes were immediately approved. 4. Peer Influence. People are social animals. Evidence abounds that we keenly feel the influence of our colleagues’ expectations and behavior. Our incentives are boosted by the opinion and actions of those in our circle. Peer behavior can inspire us to catch up, or to refrain from counter-productive behavior. When a group’s success depends on all of its members working together in the same direction, peers will help each other accomplish the goals. 5. Reward the Early-Adopters and Influencers. – Those with the most connections are the ones who instigate group change. Embracing a new behavior follows a diffusion curve — early adopters, followers, late-comers. Key influencers are those to whom others listen, and look to for direction, the "bridges" in a company network. If your early adopters and influencers support the change, it has the best chance of succeeding. 6. Make it Convenient. - You could try to educate your workforce about safety or healthy food. Or you could alter the physical flow to make the right way the easier way. In a company lunchroom, people tend to choose what they see first. Relocate the healthier food to make it more convenient, or cheaper. Nudging people, by making it more appealing and convenient is more successful in encouraging change. 7. Re-frame, Re-order your problem-solving. Identify what the most critical part of a process is, trim off the outdated habits, the relics. Work the problem backward – with the important objective as the priority, and you will have a more effective, simplified process. You have removed the parts that didn’t work, without asking for an actual change. 8. Train for change, and support your workforce. Needed change often involves new skills. Many may not feel confident, despite being motivated. Leaders must enable success through opportunities to learn and practice the new behavior, with support. 9. Compose the right team that wants the new status. Hire and fire based on behaviors. Choose people who embody the desired behaviors and help those who do not help the team effort, find a better fit elsewhere. Match strengths to what the job requires. “By sharpening the goals, activating social forces, and modifying the situation, we can accomplish more effective change,” Holstine said.