Six implementation strategies

The authors Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield and Andrew Shimberg carried out three studies to evaluate “best practice” within successful change projects.

The first study asked 900 managers and supervisors how they worked with problems such as turf protection and poor accountability:

• Managers who relied on one strategy were successful in 4% of projects
• Managers who used four or more parallel strategies were successful in 40% of projects

The second study focused on mission-critical initiatives such as internal reorganisations and productivity improvements:

• One strategy → success in 14% of projects
• Four or more strategies → success in 63% of projects

The third study focused on individuals trying to break their own bad habits:

• Those who used several strategies were four times as successful as those who used a single one.

[External link: The article can be ordered from Sloan Management Review]

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Six strategies for influence and change

The authors sort methods for influencing people into six groups, with the main division Motivation and Ability/Support — each split into a personal, social and structural level.

1. Build personal motivation. Are the employees motivated? Create meaning around the change, connect it to fundamental values, reinforce positive emotions and initiatives, promote involvement and feed back customer reactions.
2. Build social motivation. Does the environment — especially the managers — encourage the right behaviour? Managers and informal leaders often have a greater influence on employees’ behaviour than peers do. Engage them and let them live by the new vision.
3. Build structural motivation. Is the right behaviour rewarded? Structural motivation is about reward systems — pay, bonuses, recognition of special efforts and internal competitions.
4. Build personal ability. Do the employees have the right skills? 77% of successful change projects included training as one of the strategies. Research shows that training spread out over a long period is more successful than a single concentrated effort.
5. Build social support. Do others contribute support when it is needed? Coaching and mentoring conversations, answers to questions and access to the right resources — especially when challenges arise in the change work.
6. Build structural support. Is the right behaviour made easier and the wrong behaviour made harder in everyday work? Keep employees oriented towards the goal through recurring feedback, customer feedback and benchmarking.

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When does the model fit?

Suitable for:

• A checklist for general implementation projects
• Roll-out projects — a new IT system or new way of working

Less suitable for:

• Core-values projects
• Mergers
• Rationalisation projects

Keep in mind:

• Before implementation, the change project’s platform needs to be developed
• An involvement phase should precede the implementation phase to make execution easier
• After implementation, new ways of working, roles and processes should be incorporated into existing governing documents