The document discusses seven critical success factors for effectively managing organizational change, emphasizing the importance of leadership, communication, and investing in people. It highlights common pitfalls such as poor communication and resistance, and suggests best practices like defining a clear future state and creating an environment for sustainability. The authors, Claire McCarthy Garets and Dave Garets, leverage their extensive healthcare experience to guide organizations through successful transitions.

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Leading People Through Change:
7 Critical Success Factors
Claire McCarthy Garets, MA, FHIMSS
Dave Garets, FHIMSS1
Claire McCarthy Garets
• Principal, Change Gang, LLC
• Change Strategist, 30+ years
healthcare experience
• Formerly with Providence
Health & Services, Kaiser
Permanente, Premier, Inc.,
Group Health Cooperative
• Co-author of “Effective
Strategies for CHANGE”, HIMSS
2010 book of the year
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Dave Garets
• Principal, Change Gang, LLC
• Industry Analyst, 24 years
healthcare IT experience
• Formerly CIO and with Gartner,
HIMSS Analytics, Advisory
Board Company
• Co-author of “Effective
Strategies for CHANGE”, HIMSS
2010 book of the year
• HIMSS 50-in-50
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What goes wrong?
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• Non existent, invisible, or just plain bad leadership
• People have no idea where the organization is
going or why
• Dishonesty at worst, poor communication at best
• Passive-aggressive staff behavior and sabotage
• Fear and resistance built instead of trust and
commitment
• Focus on timeline, budget and technology - not
people

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Problems continued…
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• Inability / unwillingness to deal with poor
performance
• Behavioral change requirements not defined,
people don’t know what to do
• Training is about the technology, not the new job
• Too many initiatives, inability to prioritize and
sequence
• Environment does not support sustainability
• IT accountable for project, no business ownership
• Decision rights unclear
How do we experience change?
• Resist, struggle
• Fatigue
• Wariness, uncertainty
• Anger, distrust, cynicism
• Fear, resentment
Spirit and energy depleting
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It doesn’t have to be like this…
There is a better way-
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What is change management?
Change management
facilitates the
human transition
from current to future
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Purpose of change management
To accelerate the speed
at which people move through the change
process
so that anticipated
benefits are achieved faster
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Change management
When one door closes another opens,
but sometimes it’s hell in the hallway.
Sandi Bachom
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7 critical success factors
1. Begin with the end in mind
2. Set the stage
3. Build effective leadership
4. Invest in the people
5. Communicate differently
6. Reinforce rigorously
7. Design for the long term
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1. Begin with the End in Mind
• Define the future state
– What is the vision? What is the target? Where are you
headed?
– What will it look like when you get there?
– What will the patient and staff experience be?
– Describe the “so, what?”, not the technology.
– How do you know this is the right destination?
– What are the risks of not changing?
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2. Set the Stage
• Create an environment for success
– Confirm business ownership of the initiative, including
the IT component
– Focus the organization- minimize distractions and
competition for resources
– Understand the risks, mitigate
– Realistically evaluate past history with change efforts
– Build organizational change capacity
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3. Build Effective Leadership
• Establish effective governance and sponsorship
– Has to be at or near the top of the organization (for an
initiative like an EMR implementation), and
– At or near the top of the priority list for that executive
sponsor
– Set clear decision rights
– Effective sponsorship is not innate- develop your leaders
– Set clear expectations- this starts at the top
– Be clear about non-negotiables
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4. Invest in the People
• Establish leadership to guide human transition
– How will you know when you’re ready? Create readiness
definitions for all levels
– Prepare middle leaders to drive change
– What skills are needed? Teach the new job not just technology
– Engage at the local level, create opportunities for participation
in decision making
– Educate people about change to build capacity
– Actively manage resistance
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5. Communicate Differently
• Get people’s attention
– It’s a big change, communicate in fresh new ways
– Tell one story to eliminate confusion, connect the
dots
– Understand your audiences, speak in their voice
– Establish active feedback loops
– Be honest and transparent, build trust
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6. Reinforce Rigorously
• Reinforcement = rewards and consequences
– If you don’t reinforce the change you reinforce staying the
same
– Align incentives with future state vision
– Reward desired behaviors consistently and immediately
– Make old or undesirable behaviors harder to do
– Design reinforcement for maximum impact with cultural
appropriateness and personalization
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7. Design for the Long Term
• Create an environment for sustainability
– Ensure that vision, sponsor behavior and
reinforcement are aligned
– Plan and resource early for post-implementation
optimization, it is not an after thought
– Stay the path, maintain focus
– Measure progress toward the desired future state
– Celebrate success
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Thank you
Go alone to go fast,
Go together to go farther.
African proverb
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Q & A
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Dave Garets – dave.garets@changegang.net
Claire McCarthy Garets – claire.mccarthy@changegang.net