Hey Reader
Quality professionals are supposed to be change agents.
But what does that mean? And how do we do it?
(Sorry about the delay - this newsletter took more time than usual. I want to make sure you get the most value out of this newsletter.)
To understand change management, we must understand some of Deming’s teachings.
After Deming’s 14 points, he later developed his Theory of Profound Knowledge. It’s a bit of a grandiose title, but really it has 4 points:
- Systems thinking
- Knowledge
- Psychology
- Variation
To be successful change agents, we need to dive into psychology.
Do you struggle to get approval for Quality Projects?
Quality often has no budget and no authority to change.
If we want to buy something, tough luck. The common reply is, "There's no budget for that."
On 8/28, I'm launching a guide to explain how to get any quality project approved.
It's the exact same process I've used to purchase a $60k state-of-the-art inspection camera, $10k quality software, and a $20k augmented reality system.
We'll dive deeper into aligning quality and business goals and how to influence people.
Why is change hard?
People fear change. Why? At least 4 reasons (1):
- People see change as losing something or giving up something.
- People fear what they don’t understand. They don't see the current problem (lack of motivation) or they don’t understand the desired goal (lack of understanding).
- People fear getting more work (the change process usually is more work in the short term).
- People fear losing control. They see someone else telling them what to do. No one wants to be told what to do.
Also change disrupts our routines. Routines are efficient ways for our brains to do stuff.
Like my morning routine: Wake up, make coffee, walk dog, enjoy coffee.
It’s easy. I don’t think. But change it slightly, say one of the kids wakes up early, and the morning can be bumpy. Change takes more thought (2).
The same is true in our organizations. Change takes more effort.
How do we make change easier? And more importantly, how do we implement organizational changes?
Here are 4 steps to implement change:
- Understand the problem
- Plan the change
- Pitch the idea
- Implement the change
First, understand the problems and objections to change. This will make the change easier because we’re building trust.
Talk and LISTEN to people. Understand them, what motivates them, and what scares them. Connect with people’s fears.
We are gathering information, not pitching an idea.
Ask them what they think about the current system. How does the current system work for them? What could be improved? (6)
Second, we build our plan. The size of the change makes a difference here. I look at 3 things:
- We need people who will help the change (the team).
- We need to know where we are going (the strategy).
- We need a reason to change (motivation).
If the change is small, the team might be me +1, and the strategy, a conversation about what’s inefficient.
If it’s an organizational-wide change, recruit a team to help demonstrate and implement the change. Maybe test out some options. (Keep reading to see how I changed an organization’s change management process).
Here, convince yourself (and team) this is the right thing to do. Test it out. Figure out where you are going and why this is the right way to get there.
Third - pitch the idea. Sell it.
Present to the organization what we’re changing and why.
You will encounter resistance here, but if you did your homework right, you should have answers.
Pro tip - don’t immediately solve the concern. When the concern is voiced, listen. Acknowledge it. State it back, using something like, “I hear you saying you are frustrated because you see this change as giving you more work.” Your first goal is to hear the concern. You want them to say, "That's right." Then and only then can you get to fixing the problem.
My favorite questions at this stage are some versions of these:
- What assumptions do I have wrong?
- What am I missing here?
- What is going to get in our way?
I’m inviting the opposition. I want them to get it out in the open and then we can resolve it.
Fourth, make it happen. Go and do the thing. You’ve cleared the obstacles so implement the change.
Two keys at this stage:
- Training
- Communication
Train people on the new way of doing things. Help them through this. Expect people to forget stuff and go backward. Friendly reminders work great. Do not blame, do not shame. It’s new, give them lots of grace and empathy. Remember change is hard. Also remember, you have all the information, they only have bits and pieces.
The second key is communication. Communicate constantly. Emails to the entire team explaining what’s going on. What stage are we at? What’s coming next? Continue to invite criticism. What isn’t working? What’s getting in the way? Hear the concerns and knock down the barriers.
Get out and meet people face to face (if possible). Go to their office or workstation, and ask them how it’s going. The more communication the better.
Highlight early wins. Put data out showing how the change is making things better. Share stories of successes. Get this in front of the whole team.
This change management strategy is a combination of Kotter’s 8-step Change Model (3), McKinsey 7-S Framework (7), and ADKAR (5). I will also use the Nudge Theory (4) for small changes. There are links to each of these in the resources section.
Was this email forwarded to you?
How did I use this:
I was tasked with improving the change management process.
This client of mine managed their change management process in Excel and email. Emails of requests came to 1 person, who had to walk a paper around for approvals. They had to send emails to notify the team of the approval or rejections, assign the tasks, and follow up.
Understand the problem
I worked with the 1 person who managed the process. I saw the inefficiencies firsthand. I also asked the division managers how this was working (it wasn’t). We had lots of data to show the division managers couldn’t keep up and didn’t know what they needed to do.
Strategy
We looked for options. What were better ways to automate parts of this process and make it less manual? We tested 5 different online project management platforms to find the one that could fit our needs. I had a small team (myself + 2) to go through the initial testing. These people agreed with the problem and were on board with changing, with minimal convincing.
Pitch the idea
I put together a presentation to highlight the current problems and used data to support the issues. I used my best sales tactic to highlight the problems and how this solution would make it better. I gave this presentation to the 5 division managers and their area leads. It was not an immediate success. What it did was open the team’s eyes to the issues. It opened the door. This was only enough to recognize the problem and become aware of the need to change.
Implement the change
This is where the work really began. Part of the software purchase included an implementation package (10 hrs of training with a software expert). This fortunately forced the key members of the larger team to 1) get trained and 2) bring their problems and questions to the training. I regularly followed up with each team member to understand their concerns. I took their concerns and updated the system. I kept knocking down roadblocks as they popped up.
One month in I highlighted the improvement. We went from >30 days to implement to <5.
6 months in, I highlighted the sustained improvements. Our backlog of suggestions went from 300 to <100.
1 year in, I highlighted the overall savings (1% of annual sales).
