Leading change in any organisation presents challenges. In large and often complex public sector organisations this challenge is often even greater.
Making one change, even what some might regard as fairly small scale or routine can often be a massive struggle.
In big organisations generally making change and realising the anticipated benefits of the change is not easy.
In some ways this is a surprise. After all there is no shortage of experts internally or externally who know about change and all the tools and processes for making change.
Or is it really a surprise. You can have the best laid plans, all of the tools you need but still not deliver what was expected.
Often the element that is missing when it comes to initiating and delivering change is the softer skills.
These are the skills that support the delivery of the change process. Things such as:
Involving People
No one likes to have change imposed on them as a matter of routine. People want to be involved. They want to have the opportunity to contribute to the change.
Listening To Concerns
We all have our worries, fears and anxieties when we are faced with the possibility of something being new or different.
People work through them in different ways. Sometimes people just want their concerns to be heard.
Leaders and managers who get the importance of genuinely listen to concerns and acknowledge others perspectives are more likely to make successful change.
Communicating A Lot
When people don’t hear what is happening they start to fill in the blanks. In other words start to make assumptions about what will happen.
With any change you can only ever under communicate in my experience.
Creating The Right Environment
If people try to do things and are blamed if they don’t work out as planned, what happens is that everyone just ends up staying in the comfort zone.
Unless the right environment is created where people know they will be supported and encouraged, they will never be proactive in driving change forward.
The Bottom Line: Change and improvement does not fail due to a lack of technical competence. Often it is simply down to failing to adopt the right behaviours.
Goals and Achievements work with organisations and leadership teams in the public and not for profit sectors to facilitate and support change and improvement.