Looking to shift the dial on organisational change management? Start thinking ‘audience-in’ not ‘project-out’.
Organisations are getting better at the discipline of ‘change management’. However, we’re still consistently asked “how can we manage change better?”
To truly improve how change is delivered, perspective needs to shift from being project-centric, competing for attention and pushing out messages, to stakeholder-centric, supporting people to navigate their experience of multiple, complex changes.
The challenge: Complex and constant organisational change.
Change is the only constant. We’ve all heard it before (or some iteration of it). In a rapidly evolving business landscape, change is not just inevitable, but necessary to sustain growth and remain relevant. But the sophistication of the solution, or the efficiency of the implementation alone, won’t result in successful organisational change. It’s the people who play the most crucial role in the success or failure of any change initiative.
Many organisations are realising this and are putting effort into managing change, from shared approaches, tools, and templates to the establishment of change management offices and technology solutions. Despite the investment, most aren’t seeing the outcomes they expected. In fact, only a third of Australian digital transformation programs succeed in delivering their desired outcomes (BCG, 2021). When you consider that Australian organisations are expected to spend A$118B on technology in 2023 (Gartner, 2022), that’s a lot of money spent to not be successful.
In a project-centric world, everyone is vying for their own change resources, and the costs quickly add up. In complex environments, looking at change resources and therefore change delivery on a project-by-project basis has severe limitations. When faced with multiple, substantive programs of work, people are often left needing to piece the dots together themselves, unclear of how the mass of programs hang together.
This ‘moving feast’ of change doesn’t provide stability and is confusing for those impacted. Leaders are unsure of what is being asked of their people and the purpose of individual changes gets lost in the pace and complexity. There is little to no consideration of people’s capacity to absorb the change and transition to fundamental shifts in their roles, the processes they follow and the technology they use.
All this often leaves people wondering if there’s a more effective way to deliver changes. A way that ensures the outcomes and value are realised, the organisation’s change capability is enhanced, and the change burden and disruption to business as usual are minimised. Enter stakeholder-centric change management.
The solution: Joining the dots for our audiences.
Stakeholder-centric change management is about flipping the change effort from being project-out change to audience-in change, and in doing so joining the dots for our audience.
There are four key phases to set up and drive a stakeholder-centric approach to change:
1. Understand your audience
Start with your stakeholders and their needs (not the project’s). Understand who your audience is, what they care about, and what you need them to do or think differently. So often the change effort is centred on what a project wants to tell people, rather than what the audience actually wants to know. Spending the time to deeply understand your discrete audience groups and tailoring the approach accordingly is far more effective than a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. Given the volume and scale of changes across an organisation, the audience is the one common denominator, so it’s the best place to start.
2. Determine what channels your audience use
Once you’re clear on your audience, the next step is to find the best way to reach them. This involves understanding their engagement preferences so that you can reach them using channels they know and trust. Engaging with stakeholders in a consistent, targeted, and efficient way not only saves time and energy but also delivers the most impact.
3. Get clear on program timelines
Understand when, why and how you need to engage with your stakeholders. The most effective way to do this is to work backward from the outcomes of the various programs and initiatives impacting each stakeholder group and to ensure there’s an integrated and sequenced approach to the planning. Recognising that your audience is going to be experiencing all sorts of different changes at any one time allows you to connect the dots between the different initiatives and what they mean to stakeholders. In doing so, you may also identify periods of change where demand may exceed your audiences’ capacity. This can also highlight opportunities to consolidate, streamline, and simplify change delivery.
4. Design a change journey that reflects the desired stakeholder experience and change impacts
Bring together your understanding of who’s impacted, what channels they use and what the various programs are delivering to determine the milestones that people need to be prepared for. Understand the sentiment you’re aiming to deliver for each stakeholder group to plan the engagement activities you’ll need to get them there. Taking an ‘air traffic control’ approach to scheduling content into channels will help to ensure you engage with purpose, achieve your desired sentiment, and minimise noise for your audience.
The benefit: everyone wins!
It may sound trite, but ultimately everyone wins when an organisation-wide stakeholder-centric approach to change is adopted. Here’s a few examples of why:
Higher acceptance and adoption rates. When stakeholders feel heard and valued, they are more likely to embrace the change rather than resist it. This approach ensures that change is delivered with the audience in mind – at a time, in channels and using language that meets their needs. Ultimately, this means an organisation is likely to see larger returns on their transformation investment, earlier.
Improved decision making. By looking across change programs and initiatives, there is a shared understanding of the interdependencies and a sense of connectedness of the end goal or vision for the organisation. This integrated perspective improves decision-making and prioritisation as well as the flexibility to respond effectively to any internal and external factors at play.
Sustained organisational capability. When change is delivered at a project level, the change capability often exits the organisation when the project wraps up. Stakeholder-centric change drives an ongoing organisation capability to recognise, plan for, and deliver change. Importantly, leaders are equipped to effectively lead the change, in turn improving the employee experience and organisation culture.
Conclusion.
Stakeholder-centric change management is a powerful approach that looks beyond technology and processes to the most critical factor – the people. By placing stakeholders at the centre of the change process, organisations can navigate transitions more smoothly, create a sense of shared purpose, and achieve sustainable results. In an era where agility and adaptability are essential for survival, embracing this approach can set you up for success in an ever-evolving business landscape.
We’re here to help you deliver organisational change!
We have a wealth of experience helping organisations design and deliver a stakeholder-centric change approach that’s right for them, including the roles and responsibilities and ways of working needed to stand it up, and sustain and embed the effort.
Reach out if you’re interested in finding out more, including how we can help you:
Design ways of working for your change management function
Develop the change leadership skills of your leaders and broader organisation
Embed quality and capability to achieve your intended outcomes.
ANNA MEVEL, DIRECTOR