Change management for content strategy projects

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Kirk
16 years working in a large Crown Corporation - ICBC
- project communications, where I started to see first-hand what a difference managing the people side of change could make to the success of a project.
became accredited as a change management practitioner
immediately able to put some of those practices to use in my role bringing in a new intranet as a foundational project for a multi-year transformation program – and the changes just kept coming
Andrew
Worked at ICBC for almost 28 years in various roles including business analysis, business case writing, project management, and of course change management.
Strong writing and corporate communications background and have supported many corporate projects in various roles. I tried various roles and enjoyed all of them, but what attracted me to change management was that the people side of change is often glossed over or completely overlooked when organizations implement new systems or procedures. Kirk and I want to tell you more about the change management practice and why we feel it’s an important part of any corporate initiative.

Kirk
Keys to successfully managing change
Analysing the environment
What is the climate for the change? Are people likely to be enthusiastic? Or not so much?
Carefully planning the change approach, as part of the overall project plan
Setting up your critical sponsorship network
Identifying and managing resistance

Andrew

Andrew
The sooner staff can adapt to changes in a company, the better it is for them and the organization. We know some people can do this easier than others; most people can adapt but some need more assistance and time than others.

Kirk and Andrew:
Kirk: Change management is what makes the difference between a technical installation, and a successful implementation that considers the human factors for success.
Andrew: (explain the engine metaphor)
If you think about a car engine, you eventually need to replace parts that no longer work. There is no human element involved; you simply remove the old part and install the new one.
When you’re implementing a new system in a company, the technical solution is only part of the scope of the project. You also need to get people using and embracing the new way of doing things. Therefore, a successful implementation also considers and addresses the human element by giving people the support and tools they need to change.

Kirk:
Organizations historically focus on installation. As Andrew says, this doesn’t recognize the people side. Whenever there is a new process, system, or change in org structure and responsibilities, the day of “installation” is just the beginning of a successful implementation, where the business objectives are achieved.
Why is this shortsighted? Without proper attention to the human side, the investment of time, resources and $$ that has gone into the change is at risk. Unless the people involved are onside with the changes, it will take a much longer time to achieve your business goals, or you won’t meet them at all.
It’s like the difference between measuring output, and measuring outcome. In content strategy lingo, if you have a new CMS for product offerings but the people inputting the metadata or writing the product descriptions don’t do an effective job, you’ll never meet the business objectives of making the product easy to discover and purchase. (Tangentially related case in point… Target-in-Canada fiasco)

Andrew

Andrew
Here are the stages of grief, applied to business change. (from slide)
Through this process, there’s often a lot of “bad” behaviour:
sulking
doing things to undermine the project or process
Gossip
Rumours
Etc.
Through proper change management support, however, you can help move people along the curve must faster to “acceptance” and “moving on”

Kirk
Start with…

Kirk
The first step is analysing and defining the change, and planning to manage it.

Andrew
First off, need to have a clear understanding of what the change is.
Examples of differences: new applications, procedures, org structure, etc.
Reason: what is the impetus/motivation for the change?
Benefits: important in terms of people&apos;s acceptance (WIIFM?)
Measurement examples: how quickly people adjust to new application, processing time, decommissioning of old system, etc.
Kirk
CS example of type of change:
Establishing a customer journey approach to content that requires previous silos, like the marketing department and product development teams, to work in a more coordinated way

Andrew
Assess the environment and the team or company’s readiness for change.
Different groups could have a very different state of readiness. Helps determine where you’ll put your focus and effort. Change plan is tailored to meet the needs of individual groups.
Factors that could adversely affect a positive outcome: (on slide)
Other changes at the company
Other major events (annual planning, budgeting)
Upcoming technology changes
Poor change history
Ask yourself who needs to be involved. Make sure all the stakeholders who can or may influence – for good or bad – the outcome of the project are consulted and involved.

Andrew
In general, there are lots of misunderstandings about change management - what it is/isn&apos;t, and what&apos;s involved
CM plans and efforts are scalable based on the specific needs of each project (i.e. degree to which various stakeholders are being impacted)
Just like project plans, change plans are, &quot;living, breathing&quot; documents that get modified as needed throughout the course of the project
Change plans are incorporated into the overall project plan

Kirk
Effective sponsorship is the most important success factor for change management.
In a hierarchical company, sponsorship has to work its way down, without any gaps, through each level of management.
On Click: And to Andy Warhol’s point: the sponsor has to take an active role. Sponsors have to walk the talk. They need to be present throughout the change.

Kirk
To establish a common way of describing the “players” in the change scenario, we talk about 3 different roles:
Sponsors
Change Agents
Targets

Kirk
Sponsors must:
Authorize, legitimize and demonstrate ownership for the change
Personally influence peers and targets
Have enough organizational power and influence to:
Commit resources in the form of $$ and people
Reinforce the change at local levels
The type of discussion you’ll have with sponsors:
Here’s the plan: do we have your blessing?
Do you think this will fly with the other execs? If not, what do we need to change?
We want to start this series of meetings with key stakeholders. Are you ready to run interference with your peers?
We’d like to get this done by Christmas. Do you see any impediments?

Kirk
There are three ways that sponsors can demonstrate support for the change (sponsor alignment)
Important to reach people in may different ways to ensure understanding.
Talking the talk (least effective, but still highly useful when used appropriately)
Town hall – Emails - Webcast/Podcast - Public statements
Walking the talk (second best)
Decision making (not procrastinating or delegating)
Participating in setting priorities – and establishing the change as a high priority
Allocating resources
Their own daily observable behaviour
Reinforcement (most powerful and effective) through:
Recognition (personal and public) – “thank you for your leadership, focus and dedication to this change”
Rewards (promotion; new role; pay raise or incentive pay; development opportunities)
Consequences (making it harder for people to do the “wrong” thing)
Metrics (measuring the new, desired behaviour, such as X # of people are now using the new online form to request content updates vs calling the department)
Performance management
Reinforcement is also an important way to manage resistance, which Andrew will talk about later.

Kirk
Change agents:
This is typically your role.
The change agent is the person responsible for doing the planning and carrying out the plan. The ideal change agent will:
From slide
Have a network within the company and be seen as a strong contributor with proven leadership qualities
Be knowledgeable about the field; believe in the project
Have credibility with key sponsors & target groups
Be knowledgeable about the business and company strategy
Common roadblocks
Change agent is assigned based on availability rather than suitability
Technically proficient but lacking implementation experience and relationship-building skills
Are expected to focus on change management in addition to standard full-time responsibilities

Kirk

Kirk and Andrew
This is a simplified view of what a cascading sponsorship model looks like. (Walk through slide).
Andrew: Authorization
Street cred – of immediate supervisor/manager – all have to deliver the same message. Also, staff follow/believe messages from their leaders versus from the Change Management resource.

Kirk
What happens when the sponsor is not treating their immediate reports (directors, then managers) as targets – that level isn’t able to reinforce the change.

Kirk
Content Strategy example; we talked earlier about a hypothetical case where a company is establishing a customer journey approach to content that requires the marketing department and product development teams to work in a more coordinated way.
This change is initiated by the Marketing Manager. So first the mktg manager needs to convince the Director (1st target) , then the VP Corporate Affairs (2nd target).
VP Corporate Affairs becomes the authorizing sponsor, and needs to convince the VP Operations that this new, consistent approach to the customer’s experience will result in significant business benefits.
They then cascade the sponsorship roles down through their directors and managers to the end-targets – the people who will be living the change most directly: the copywriters, videographers, digital comms specialists, social media specialists, product engineers and technical writers.
And the Directors and Managers will need to actively take on a sponsorship role – that’s the key. They need to talk the talk, walk the walk, and reinforce the change through performance management, training, consistent messaging, etc.

Kirk
So, we’ve talked about how change affects people; the importance of a strong cascading sponsorship model. Now let’s talk about resistance.
When people go through the whole Kubler Ross roller coaster of emotions surrounding a change, they’re not willing participants. Here’s the really weird thing. Even if they view the change as a positive one, they will still feel some resistance to it, which will have to be managed. Why?
Because resistance is not a function of liking or understanding the change. It is a function of disruption.
People carry around a sense of inertia and most people’s initial reaction to change is resistance. So a lot of change management efforts go into understanding and managing that resistance. Even if it’s perceived as a positive change, there’s work to do.
The question is not whether we will or will not have resistance, but rather how much, how will we manage it, and how will we pay for it?”

Andrew
Resistance is (from slide)
Inevitable
Natural
Manageable
An attempt to protect the individual FOR
A sign you’ve touched on something important
A desire to control the change

Andrew
Resistance is not… (from slide)
Logical
A sign of disloyalty
Something to overcome or combat
Personal
Designed to discredit your competence
Indicative of poor performance
A sign that the change process is out of control

Andrew
It’s vital to expect, plan for, and address resistance head on. Be explicit.
Explain the change for each group: how will this affect them, specifically?
Make it safe to express resistance; create paths and channels for expression, such as individual discussions, team meetings, Q&A
Surface it early and keep it overt; start early – before the change. Be transparent.
Identify magnitude of the impact – determine if each issue being raised is confined to a small number of people or most/all people.
Take action on the concerns. Things can often be changed, addressed, eliminated.
Remember, this is an iterative process. It’s not once and done.
Resistance can be managed through involvement, two-way communication, training and reinforcement, which we’ll cover now.

Andrew
Opportunities for involvement: (from slide)
Defining the problem
Developing the solution
Designing the approach
Planning and/or executing the implementation
Advantages of involvement
Lessens stress and resistance
Builds solutions stronger than any individual idea
Gets everyone focused on the road ahead – pulling together.

Andrew
Sometimes there&apos;s a mistaken belief that communication = send out an email and that&apos;s it
Variety of formats addresses various individual learning styles and also helps to better reinforce the change
Right message/audience/time - want to send enough information to each audience and at the appropriate cadence

Andrew (and Kirk)
Training is essential to a successful implementation.
Whether it’s a new CMS or new content strategy, or both, or…
$$ and time need to be built into the planning to ensure the targets are ready and able to work in the new way.
Essential to plan for ongoing training and support (to reinforce the messages)
Example – City of Surrey
Just brought in a new intranet
Set up training for authors through the project
Continue the training quarterly to ensure people transitioning into an authorship role aren’t left to flounder

Andrew
In a nutshell, make it easy to do what’s new, and hard to follow the old way.
Celebrate, reinforce, publicize early wins to build momentum
Recognize and reward learning and innovation; make it safe to make mistakes while learning
Continue to recognize those who surface concerns
Provide immediate, positive reinforcement for progress
Reward supporters
Motivate (don’t punish) resisters
Eliminate option of operating successfully in the old way
There are only two options: reinforce the status quo, or reinforce the change.

Kirk
So how do we know if we’re managing change successfully?

Andrew:
Ownership and adoption
What are people saying?
Are they able to perform the new tasks?
Are they performing the new way?
Andrew introduce: Plan for
Ongoing governance (sponsorship), training, communication, reinforcement… the structure needed to sustain ongoing ownership & adoption

Kirk
Things that will get in your way:
Lack of sponsor engagement or buy-in
A history of doing change badly at the company!
Time-&-money constraints – has the sponsor been effective and been able to commit the necessary resources?
Assuming what worked in one organization will work in this one
Reward and reinforcement systems not aligned

Kirk

Change management for content strategy projects

Kirk Grayson, ABC

Change management for content strategy projects