Change Management Methodology: Measuring Readiness for Change

Posted by Paula Alsher on Mon, Apr 29, 2013 @ 11:30 AM

If you are applying the AIM (Accelerating Implementation Methodology) change management methodology to your transformation or other changes, you can measure what level of readiness you actually have.  While resistance to change is natural and inevitable, a thorough analysis of the specific reasons why and how individuals will resist the change project is critical to increasing the probability of implementation success.  Measuring Readiness for Change

The challenge for Change Agents is that you have to understand the sources of the resistance not broadly or generically-- what's really needed is to understand the resistance from various Frames of Reference.  Valuable information can be gained by having Sponsors, Change Agents and/or Targets complete the AIM Individual Readiness Assessment and then comparing the different results. You'll get insights into the different Frames of Reference and have a data-based approach to the sources of the resistance to the change.  

Until you are really able to identify the sources of the resistance you can't bring it to the surface.  And you have to surface it if you want to be able to effectively manage the resistance to your change.

In our change management training, we teach that resistance is not a function of whether or not people like your transformational change or any change-- it is a function of the level of disruption.  Again, this is not the level of disruption that executives perceive the change to be.  It's the level of disruption from the Targets' various Frames of Reference.  

When you break this down further (and you need to), you can see that there are many, many types of disruptions. You can get disruptions to:

  • Habit patterns
  • Personal behavior
  • Current processes
  • Job characteristics or job design
  • Job accountabilities
  • Pay or compensation
  • Organization structure
  • Technology
  • Reporting relationships
  • Personal relationships
  • Work climate
  • Personal values
  • Reinforcement
  • Decision-making
  • Policies and procedures
  • Personal autonomy
  • Control over your work
  • Planning processes
  • Work stress or pressure
  • Personal power or status 

Again, it's not a question of whether you think these concerns are valid!  So many times Change Agents will only operate from their own Frames of Reference rather than trying to understand the change from the Targets' Frames of Reference. Change Management Methodology Frames of Reference

You can devote untold hours to trying to combat or eliminate the resistance but this will ultimately prove fruitless. Instead, Change Agents should work to build readiness for change by providing Targets with:

1.  Information.  This is information that gives individuals the context for the change and that answers "What does this change mean to me?"

2.  Motivation to Make the Change.  Targets will not automatically adopt the new processes or the new technology.  What reinforcements are going to be put in place to make individuals feel like it is better to move to the future than it is to stay in the present.

3.  Ability.  People will not be "ready" unless they have the skills and knowledge to do things in the new way.  But remember that people have to have the willingness first before they will be open to learning new skills.  And no amount of training will "fix" willingness issues.

4.  Confidence.  Just because people have been through training doesn't automatically mean that they will use the skills they learned in training.  It's just human nature that people only try out new things when they are confident that they will be successful.  This confidence is gained by giving people lots of practice opportunities, immediately followed by feedback on their performance.  It's important to provide practice in an environment that reflects what will be required in the "future state."  

Clearly it takes time and resources to proactively build readiness for change. But it is critically important to have a Readiness Plan for any change, whether it is routine or a transformational change.  

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Topics: Change Management Methodology, Change Readiness, Change Agents, Accelerating Implementation Methodology (AIM), Resistance to change