Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | I | Industrial Management

Sustain the change.

Article Excerpt
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A project can't be deemed complete--let alone successful--until the sustainability of the change is ensured. To guarantee change sustainability, address two chief concerns at the project launch: Describe the desired state in detail and define the exit strategy

It is a lot easier to start a project intended to change your business than it is to finish it. Experienced managers understand the need to set goals and objectives as an idea becomes a project. They know they have to turn those ideas into action plans.

Too many projects, however, launched with great energy and commitment, end with a whimper. The software is installed and running on everyone's desktop; the improved process is in place and everyone is trained to do their work a different way; and the customer service reps have been moved to the new location, their chairs and desk lights delivered, plugged in, and working. The project is deemed complete, the change agents have a celebratory lunch, and they go on to the next project.

But the change is not finished. The new way of doing things, the new location, the new tools still feel awkward and uncomfortable. People are not happy with the new way, the new tool, or the new location. Slowly, or sometimes with a loud thunk, the new way slips. Old ways of thinking and doing slip back into the day-to-day work of the people who were supposed to be changed.

The result is that all the effort, energy, time, and resources that went into making things different did not result in the complete change originally conceived by the leadership and worked on for so long and hard by the change agents.

Equally important is the lesson learned by the people who were targets of this change. Don't like the new way of doing things? Just wait until the change agents go away and things can go back to normal.

Why does this happen? Obviously, it's the fault of those people who didn't fully embrace the change who are deliberately or unconsciously sabotaging the change by letting it slip away. Or maybe it's the fault of the leaders. How about the change agents? Could it be the project team?

The best way to dissect the cause of a change that does not sustain itself after the project is completed is...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!