From our experience working with some of hundred of organisations large and small we have discovered the two biggest reasons why implementing change fails
Reason One
Leaders believing that all the people involved are aligned and engaged – only to find out that they were not:
- Just because leaders see the need for change, they assume their people will too.
- This means that the reasons for the change are not explained in a way that people fully ‘get’.
Doing this effectively is specialist work (i.e. Sewells, not your internal communications team)
Reason Two
Leaders confuse announcing the change with implementing it:
- People resist being controlled more than they resist change.Too many change efforts start with leaders and managers getting together behind closed doors deciding what should be done.
- Leaders almost never think to explain to people why the change is necessary and canvass people’s opinion on the best way to implement.
- If you’re not sure of this one, think British Airways and the Terminal 5 disaster.
This too, is specialist work – and a project plan with the answer! It’s not a project!
Here are some of the results that our clients have experienced as a result of the programmes we have introduced into their organisations.
