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A culture transformation change team I’ve been part of for several years experienced a significant milestone at the end of last year. We were asked to share our success formula with a federal regulatory agency that was beginning the process of upgrading safety regulations for the industry.
We met with them and told our story. At the end, one final question was asked: “We see organizations struggle with changes like these all the time. In fact, we struggle with initiatives like this ourselves. They start strong and then fizzle. How did you keep this program alive?” Our team members looked around at each other, and in a near unison shoulder shrug said, “we didn’t have a problem with that.”
In today’s organizations, it is common for so many change initiatives to be happening at once that people adopt a ‘wait and see’ stance as new things are launched. It’s the ‘new normal,’ but it doesn’t have to be. This change team didn’t face false starts because we actively managed that intangible, yet powerful force called momentum.
Five Momentum-Stalling Mistakes Great Change Teams Never Make
1. Forget to translate the long-term “vision” into what will happen over the next 90 days.
Breaking the initiative down into phases is an important first step. The second is communicating phase targets and successes. This works on several levels. It builds trust among executive sponsors and stakeholders. It builds the confidence and energy of the team as it makes progress. It also allows team leaders to manage expectations (and successfully say ‘not yet’) of executive sponsors and other senior stakeholders.
2. Skip executive sponsor updates.
It is easy for a team to talk itself out of holding regular executive sponsor updates. They take precious limited time to prepare for; and, they don’t seem necessary when things are going well. The problem is more about missed opportunities. Sponsor engagement is as important as employee engagement. Sponsors need regular updates on how they can actively support the initiative. It is also imperative when the proverbial curve ball comes at the change team. It is much easier to avert or manage a crisis when your Sponsor has a high level of awareness of what you’ve been doing.
3. Expect stakeholders to connect-the-dots between your initiative and the one launched last week.
Often a change team has so much to do that it forgets how much ‘new and important’ stuff its VIP stakeholders are exposed to each week (maybe each day). Momentum is created when your initiative is linked to the success of other important initiatives. Tethering communications for your audiences takes the burden off of them, so they can get to the business of operating in whatever ‘new way’ you are advocating.
4. Expect top performance from a team you spend no time ‘building.’
Research about high performing teams is clear and consistent – bringing a group of talented individuals together is not enough. Focused time on team process and alignment between personal purpose and team vision is vital. Change teams are not exempt; team members and processes must be cultivated to meet the demanding task of tracking and spurring momentum.
5. Take all the credit.
Very often a change initiative is started with a small team. As the initiative grows, the core team has ‘extensions’ made up of influential stakeholder groups who have agreed to assist in developing part of the solution. One of the best ways to build momentum is to highlight how the initiative continues to get bigger. Change teams that cite the contributions and insights of extended team members generate more ‘buzz’ because it gets people talking about what they are doing. The ‘new solution’ becomes ‘their solution.’
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