Powerful teams invest in process.
Did you ever play a game as a kid with made-up rules? The second anyone violated the elementary systems, chaos erupted. If the floor is lava only part of the time, the group stops playing together and starts playing their own way instead.
The same can be said for organizations going through change.
For example, productivity doesn’t improve simply because the business bought a new product. Improvement comes with adoption.
A set of rules and expectations around how to use the tool decides how the tool will be used to improve productivity.
When people start ignoring the rules - and there are many reasons why they do - the game’s integrity vanishes. If enough people stop playing fair, no one wants to play at all.
Leaders are the most important players because their example is so influential. If you want better alignment anywhere in the business, invest time in figuring out how to set up the game.
It doesn’t matter how good a tool or idea is if the group refuses to agree on its use, just like a soccer team wouldn’t fare well if the game suddenly switched from a soccer ball to a football.
Consider the following ways to build better adoption of almost any kind of organizational change:
1. Incentives Structure
Nothing kills morale faster than working toward an imaginary finish line.
When salaries and promotions are left to the discretion of someone’s judgment, odds are very low that they’re objective enough to be consistently fair. This drives people to operate in way that pleases their boss rather than achieving an organizational objective.
The incentives are misaligned with the direction of the group.
Change requires incentives too, which take many forms:
Recognition
The first and most obvious way to incentivize adoption is financial. Pay people for driving change forward, either as a bonus, salary increase, or an actual promotion.
Volunteer organizations don’t have the luxury of financial incentives, so recognition might be an acknowledgment of their achievements. You have to be careful with this one because some people prefer private praise over public spotlight.
Training
Almost every change requires a new process, even if it’s technology-driven. These are the rules of the game the organization wants to play by.
Providing training eases the learning curve by building a community of “learners” around the subject. It also offers a clear opportunity for adopters to help shape the approach and work out the bugs. Training incentivizes personal development.
Perks
Perks are the carrot, not the stick.
Offering non-monetary incentives to change makers can easily come off as manipulative if it isn’t done fairly and sincerely. Some things you can give include:
- Discretionary equipment allowances
- Flexible work arrangements
- Additional time off
Surprise and delight wherever you can. Change is hard. Use everything you can to ease the transition.
2. Pilot groups
Imagine if experimental drugs were immediately put on the mass market as soon as they were completed. Pandemonium. Drugs are developed and approved through a series of growing groups, usually not even starting with humans in some cases.
Change is a bit of a drug in that regard.
Attempting to roll change out the entire organization at once is a surefire way to create an unreasonable amount of chaos and suffocate any chance of success. Instead of firing the cannon and emailing everyone about what’s new, start small.
Find a pilot group. The size of this pilot group depends on the nature of the change, of course.
Test the new technology, process, or program for a period of time with a focused group. Reward and encourage them to think through the bugs and pitfalls, and make constant adjustments.
When it’s time to move on, use the pilot group as champions for the change. They are social proof of the change, advocates for its success, and its earliest adopters. Develop an internal case study of their work to sell the change to the rest of the organization.
3. Model citizenship & leadership
Napoleon won the hearts and souls of the men he led by fighting alongside them, occasionally being part of the front line that charged into battle.
In most organizations, successful change requires adoption and support from leaders. This includes leaders in both title and function. Leaders that put their money where their mouth is show they are playing by the same rules they want others to observe.
No one likes a hypocrite.
4. Allowance for public opinion
Allowing people to give feedback and have their voice heard is a totally underrated part of introducing change.
Too many things happen behind closed doors at the top of the hierarchy without input from the people responsible for executing it. People resent decisions made that impact their life when they don’t get to be part of the discussion.
Squash that by allowing the voice of the people as early in the process as possible.
This doesn’t mean agreeing with public opinion. It also doesn’t mean democratizing every process.
It means letting people feel heard.
If a decision doesn’t go someone's way, but they at least had a chance to legitimately talk about their thoughts and feelings on the matter, they can disagree and commit anyway. Lack of discussion doesn’t give them time to process and understand - it’s an order instead of a collaborative direction to move.
5. Solve a real problem
Don’t introduce change because you’re bored. Change for its own sake is a waste of time and resources.
If it doesn’t solve an important or obvious problem then stop. Strong bureaucratic systems have people in power who get bored and decide to chase shiny objects or new ideas, simply because they want to. They’re walking around with solutions, looking for a problem to affix it to.
Adaptation requires understanding your own problems and opportunities. Change is a solution for moving toward a more desirable state, which means identifying whether or not where you are is undesirable in the first place. ‘
Operators and people lower in the power hierarchy can easily suss out “bureaucratic change.” If it isn’t going to solve a problem they have, adoption is impossible. Resistance grows. Time and money are wasted.
Change is a game that requires the players to abide by the rules with integrity, especially the people who wanted to play it in the first place.