Thinking FocusThinking Focus
+44 (0) 333 939 8606
hello@thinkingfocus.com
  • Home
  • Philosophy
    • Our Philosophy
    • The Leadership Model
    • The Thinking Model
    • The Actions Model
    • The Results Model
    • Transition
  • Solutions
    • Our Focus Areas
    • Productivity
    • Continuous Improvement
    • Leadership Thinking
    • Culture
    • Enabling Change
    • How we do it
  • Results
    • Results overview
    • Leadership Case Study
    • Productivity Case Study
    • CI Case Study
  • WWYD
  • About us
    • Our Story
    • Meet Ricky
    • Meet Richard
    • Meet Paul
    • Our influences
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

5 mistakes when implementing change

Posted On March 11, 2017 By Paul Hutchinson In Change /  

Do you wonder why organisational change feels so hard? Why do people react poorly? Why does the original business case for the change seem to get lost? Why has the scope changed so dramatically to the original plan? These are all too common questions in the world of organisational change. At the heart are five easily preventable mistakes.

The secret when implementing change in organisations is to recognise that it is your people who will determine whether your plan is a success.

1. Are your leaders aligned with the change?

All too often change can be undermined by senior leaders. They will be seen to lack enthusiasm; they may even distance themselves from the change or worse behave in a contradictory manner. People are great at spotting misalignment and even better at working out how to play it to their advantage.

2. What are we supposed to be working on?

Businesses are ambitious in their goals. Shareholders demand a return; executives have egos to maintain and a requirement to maintain or keep ahead of the competition. Add to the mix external stakeholders (government, regulators or similar) imposing their will on the business and how they believe it should operate. Confusion reigns amongst your people on what are the priorities and which are the important ones. Even worse when competing priorities emerge, the battle commences for essential resources.

3. Imposition or involvement?

Having made the strategic or tactical decision to change how you engage your people will determine your success. Business is both busy and demanding; it expected the results yesterday. It is all too easy to focus solely on the execution of the plan. Being able to tick off the task on the project plan is one thing, but the lasting effects can be both costly and ultimately fail due to the lack of adoption by the end user.

4. Why do we measure the wrong things?

We all know that businesses move at a fast pace. A symptom is failing to track the impact of the changes implemented. Success gets measured in the execution of the project. The reason for the change gets lost and the impact not measured. Ineffective change represents an enormous hidden cost. Benefits are unrealised due to lack of engagement, employee resistance, and worse, workarounds (the way we have always done it/the way we prefer to do it) are created.

5. Why does it feel like everyone wants a say?

It’s important to decide who you will involve, why you are including them in the process and how you will engage both internal and external stakeholders as getting this wrong can create landmines. Is there agreement on their level of involvement? If not, you will find yourself spending a disproportionate amount of time managing fallout and not advancing your project.

Tweet
What is the point of goals?

Categories

  • Article
  • Bias
  • Blog
  • Change
  • Coaching
  • Confidence
  • Continuous Improvement
  • Creative Thinking
  • Critical Thinking
  • Culture
  • Decision Making
  • Engagement
  • Feedback
  • Flip Book
  • Forbes
  • Goals
  • High Performing Teams
  • Influence
  • Leadership
  • Leading to here
  • Management
  • Metacognition
  • Mindset
  • Motivation
  • Performance Management
  • Podcasts
  • Problem Solving
  • Productivity
  • Psychological Safety
  • Reflection
  • Resilience
  • Sales
  • Sales Mindset
  • Stakeholder Management
  • The question is
  • Trust
  • Video
  • Webinar

Popular Posts

  • Building Resilience: Navigating Workplace Stresses and Strains April 15, 2025
  • Why Slowing Down is Essential to Speed Up! April 8, 2025
  • What Can I Do To Build Rapport Quickly? April 3, 2025
  • How can I create trust between teams that don’t get on? March 19, 2025
  • How to Make Informed Choices March 13, 2025

Archives

  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • June 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
© 2023 Thinking Focus Limited
All rights reserved.

Registered in England. Company Number 10151972
20-22 Wenlock Road, London. N1 7GU    +44 (0)333 939 8606
  • Privacy Policy