Why Change Efforts Fail

Change Management By Muhammad Ali

Why Transformation Efforts Fail

Organisation small or large introduce change for staying competitive Change effort is known by many names total quality management re-engineering right sizing re-structuring etc.
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Why Transformation Efforts Fail

Few have been failure , Few have been success and majority lie some where in between , being at lower end of expectations The most important lesson to be learnt is : Change is a continuous process Change requires considerable length of time for the implementation
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Why Transformation Efforts Fail

Skipping steps creates illusion Skipping one step can have a devastating impact on the other steps

Why Transformation Efforts Fail

Error 1 # Not establishing great sense of urgency Change effort requires aggressive communication Without motivation transformation will go no where and it will lead to confusion Managers underestimate that how difficult it can be to drive people out of comfort zone
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Why Transformation Efforts Fail

Error 1 # Not establishing great sense of urgency Having too many managers but not enough leaders Bad business results is a challenge as well as opportunity Reduction in revenue reduces chances of change
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Why Transformation Efforts Fail

Error # 2 Not creating a powerful enough guiding coalition.
Most change initiatives begin with few people and over the period of time the number of people involved in change grows

Some times not all members are onboard. In successful cases a wide variety of people covering number of titles and posts are involved in the change process.
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Why Transformation Efforts Fail

Error # 2 Not creating a powerful enough guiding coalition. Initially change might be a success . Sooner or later the coalition against change becomes quite vocal

Who to involve initially in change ? Managers or everyone ?

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Why Transformation Efforts Fail

Error # 3 Lacking a vision In every successful change initiative the guidingcoalition creates a change initiative that is easy to understand Without a proper vision an initiative can be a failure Vision is not just a 5 year plan. It clarifies the direction in which an organistion needs to move

Error # 4 Under communication of Vision

In a failed initiative there are plenty of plans, directives but no vision.
A successful vision delivery requires that executives should use all the possible channels of communication for delivering their message Communication comes in the form of words and deeds . Which is most important Word or Deed ?
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Why Transformation Efforts Fail

Error # 5 Not removing Obstacles to the New Vision Guiding coalition empowers others to bring about change but successfully communicating the new direction Communication is not enough , Obstacles can include Organisations structure ( too narrow job description ) , performance appraisal ( KPI , Balanced Score Card ) How can performance appraisal be an obstacle ?
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Why Transformation Efforts Fail

Error # 6 Not creating short-term goals Transformation requires time but Most employees wont wait for 12 to 24 months for transformation to be successful It will keep the motivation level of employee high if short-term wins are involved Short-term goals v.s. Long-term goals ?
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Why Transformation Efforts Fail

Error # 7 Declaring Victory too Soon Managers may be tempted that they have worked hard for months so they should declare victory , but Change should sink deeply in the organisation before the organisation can declare victory Setting short-term quantifiable goals can be helpful to overcome this problem
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Error # 8 Lack of sensitivity to organisational culture Every organisation has got its unique culture, one change initiative cannot be applied on another organisation. To overcome this issue People should be lead by example and told that how a certain change initiative can be successful . Next generation of managers should be taken along otherwise decade of hard work can be failure Change issues in Pakistan V.S. other countries ?
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Why Transformation Efforts Fail

Conclusion There can be other challenges but these are the major challenges that are faced while bringing about change In reality a change initiative is messy and requires people to accept it . Change has to be carefully designed by carefully understanding how a particular organisation functions.
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Why Transformation Efforts Fail

What errors can you identify in Welcome aboard case study ?

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