Planning for Implementation PDF

7 PLANNING FOR IMPLEMENTATION The energy for change released by reaching the summit now needs to be...

7 PLANNING FOR IMPLEMENTATION The energy for change released by reaching the summit now needs to be channelled productively. The next stage of the change process involves converting the energy and enthusiasm into a clear plan of action. It is also about ensuring the client takes collaborative responsibility to make it happen. We can fall into the trap of feeling we have arrived once we have turned the corner. This is not the case. The group may be on an emotional high. But the next challenge is to bring people down to earth to work out the practicalities of change: what needs to be done, by whom and when. It is about moving from the strategic to the operational – from shared vision to collectively owned actions. THE PROCESS OF CHANGE 3 Inspiring change 4 2 Planning for implementation Understanding the client system 5 Accompanying 1 implementation Engaging THE the client CONSULTANT This stage is about the practicalities of planning. It needs to be done in such a way as to build commitment and ownership. We need emotional sensitivity to deal with some of the inevitable fall-out when people realise what exactly the changes might mean for them. In this chapter, we see that good practice at the stage of planning involves: An explicit and realistic theory of change An outcome-focused, detailed plan, with prioritised, timetabled activities Sharing responsibilities Operating in line with the organisation’s values Supporting staff 90 Consulting for Change: Strengthening Civil Society 91 CHANNELLING To make an effective plan for change we have to be realistic. One large CSO, World Vision, an agency that has worked ENERGY INTO ACTION particularly hard at managing change processes, developed the following picture to illustrate its understanding of change. The current situation is no longer tolerable: the fire is too hot. AN EXPLICIT AND The picture shows an imaginary, logical, linear bridge between REALISTIC THEORY OF CHANGE the current state and the future state. Unfortunately, in real Any change process is based on an underlying theory of how life, this bridge is a fiction. What actually happens in change is change happens, whether we acknowledge this or not. In that people fall: they lose roles, jobs, relationships, comfort… planning for change we need to agree on where we want to In order to avoid injury, a cushion of re-training, counselling, go, what needs to change and our assumptions about how that awareness of benefits, may need to be put in place. People can process occurs. There are a number of key theory of change then recover and gradually begin the climb up the other side. questions that we should think through: In managing any change process, it is important to analyse who will be affected by the change, to what extent and how important their support is to the process. Some people’s THEORY OF CHANGE QUESTIONS: support is essential, others’ only desirable. A good facilitator What are the real issues we are trying to address? is politically aware. A stakeholder grid (see below) may help identify which stakeholders will be affected, their current What long-term, meaningful changes do we want to see? attitude to change and their power in making the change Who and what needs to change for that to happen? happen (or hindering it). If we plot people with an ‘X’, we What do we believe actually makes people change their can then work out appropriate strategies for dealing with behaviour and attitudes? the different groups. It is not always essential for everyone How will we know and measure if change has happened? to be on board, but it is vital to get the support of those who most matter to its implementation. People should be able to see how the change will benefit the organisation and even themselves. The Change ‘Journey’ Stakeholder grid For x Build x x coalition Attitude Win x x Leave over x x alone Against Low High Influence 92 Consulting for Change: Strengthening Civil Society 93 OUTCOME-FOCUSED PLANNING CLEAR OBJECTIVES The importance of clear objectives is obvious, yet rarely appreciated. A clear A clear operational plan then builds on and makes more specific objective states what it is exactly that they want to achieve. This should be the underlying theory of change. It addresses simple, but essential, based on the opportunities and problems in the current situation and a clear questions: picture of what change would look like. It is not just about saying, ‘We want better leadership,’ but about detailing what that might look like. It helps to be 1. What do we really want to achieve in this change process? as concrete as possible. If the objectives are measureable, this will help greatly What does change look like? What outcomes are we looking for? in showing you how well you are progressing and what needs to be adjusted. 2. What exactly will we do to make this happen? Clearly, the results need to be realistic – too often we tend to over-simplify change and therefore over-estimate results. In naming the outcomes, we may 3. Who will do what? find that people have very different ideas of what change will look like. It is 4. By when? important to have shared understanding at the outset. 5. What resources will they need to make this happen? What will be the costs? PRIORITISED, TIMETABLED ACTIVITIES In any change process, prioritising is vital. People are usually over-ambitious 6. How will we know how we are doing? What are the milestones in a workshop setting. It may be worth getting all the ideas out, but then along the way? How will we know when we have arrived? taking a reality check and prioritising the top actions. We cannot work on A work plan, divided into years, months and weeks, showing everything all at once. It may be valuable to analyse each activity in terms of the various tasks and budgets should answer these questions. its importance – high, medium or low. It is also important to think through Obviously, for a more limited change process we may not need such how each activity relates to others. Change in one area should be supported detail. by change in others. The activities may be a series of interdependent tasks that need to take place in a specific order – a critical path. People Resources Objectives Activities Indicators By when responsible needed It may be worth breaking down the objectives into a series of small clear steps, not one massive leap. It is also helpful to ensure that the activities involve a mixture of visible ‘quick wins’ as well as ones that build the foundations for longer-term change. An African colleague says a good change process has to include ‘baby chickens’ with their three-week gestation period as well as ‘baby elephants’ with their 21-month gestation. People need to feel they are making progress, that things are happening. This builds momentum and further commitment. People want to be involved with something that is successful. So focus on key tasks that can quickly achieve unambiguous, visible PREMORTEMS and meaningful results – or as the jargon puts it, ‘the low-hanging fruit’. ‘Premortems’ are a useful planning tool. People may be reluctant to speak about their reservations in the important I D ENTIFYING SHORT-TERM WINS planning phase. They do not want to dampen people’s Make a list of projects or tasks that could be tackled by empowering people enthusiasm by posing difficult questions. A premortem asks within the organisation. For each item on the list, assess the following: people to ‘imagine that the change project has failed’. They brainstorm, individually and then in the group, as many When realistically could you get this done? How many months? plausible reasons as possible for the failure. In this way, they How much effort and expense will it take? Grade it on a scale might mention issues they would not otherwise dare bring of 1 to 10, from almost no effort to huge time and expense up. Team members feel valued for their contributions. Once everyone has contributed their ideas, the change leader can How unambiguous will the win be? (1–10) look for ways to strengthen the plan and the team is already How visible will it be? (1–10) sensitised to spotting the first signs of potential problems. Will this be viewed as a meaningful win? (1–10) Bruce Britton Who will see it as meaningful? How powerful are they? Given these assessments, which of the items on your list should receive top priority? While such a plan is a useful starting point, it should not be set Pick the top five. in stone but regularly revisited and adapted in the light of what What is number one? actually takes place. The plan should bring structure but at the same time allow for flexibility. Such activities need to have a realistic yet still challenging time frame. This keeps the momentum going without over-burdening people with impossible workloads. 94 Consulting for Change: Strengthening Civil Society 95 ENSURING COLLABORATIVE “We do not 1. E nding: When an announcement is made regarding a change, the first reaction is typically one of denial. People will often RESPONSIBILITY have a plan act as if nothing has changed. (I will continue to report to X regardless.) Once the reality of a change sinks in, people often C H A N G I N G TO If only a few people are aware and involved, little change will take until each respond in anger. (What do you MEAN, I no longer report PRESERVE THE BEAUTY place. A collaborative process is necessary. A critical mass of people to X?) As time passes, a sense of depression sets in. There have to be supportive of the change and pulling in the same direction. objective has is a real sense of loss around the change. (You know, I will It was my first job with an NGO. Everyone needs to play a part. If people are simply told what to do, they really miss working with X.) The last ditch effort comes with are more likely to resist. But if they have been involved in the process, been owned bargaining: an attempt to preserve the old way. (I may not About 60 of us were working in a number of schools in Tripoli and they are much more likely to implement it. Collective responsibility is therefore a critical outcome of this planning process. Walter Wright by someone report to X, but he will still be on my 360-review panel.) Koura districts, in north government, Lebanon. We had done an amazing 2. N  eutral zone: As someone reaches the bottom of the would even say: ‘We do not have a plan until each objective has been owned by someone who accepts responsibility to see that it is initiated who accepts transition ‘U’, she/he is in the neutral zone. This is a place job to establish a full curriculum. We only had six months initial funding, and completed’ (2000:92). responsibility of ‘in-between-ness’. One has left the old but has not truly entered into the new. This is really a time of decision. Will I but all the NGO needed to do was write a decent follow-on proposal. INTERNAL GUIDING TEAM to see that it is remain in the old way? Or will I choose another way? Will I accept that things have changed and move on forward? Unfortunately, the manager failed An internal guiding team (sometimes called task force, change action initiated and 3. N  ew beginning: Having decided to move forward, people to submit the proposal on time (we think he was distracted by his desire team or steering group) helps oversee the change process. This team may be similar to the consultancy reference group at the start of the completed. ” usually start cautiously by sticking a toe in the water. (I will take a couple of small steps in engaging with my new boss.) to return to the love of his life!) But his failure meant that we were told consultancy. They bring local knowledge. They can keep the energy for change alive. They empower others to act on the vision, reminding Experimentation follows – going knee deep (I will give more “In just three weeks we will close effort to engaging with my new boss.) This is followed by down. You will all be out of a job”. people of their responsibilities and deadlines. They provide on-going making choices and commitment, which clearly indicate that Staff were understandably anxious follow-through. the person has jumped into the water of the new. The final and angry. They tried what they could It helps if this guiding team is representative; has relevant knowledge step is one of integration, where one reflects on the journey to change the decision. about what is happening outside as well as internally; has credibility, and sees the distance travelled. But that weekend, as I was enjoying connections and stature within the organisation; has formal authority; my carpentry hobby, I realised that has the management skills to plan, organise and control; and the as staff we might be a bit like my leadership skills to inspire and motivate (Kotter and Cohen, 2002). They grandmother’s rickety old bench. I also have to develop trust among themselves. was turning the unrepairable bench into separate chairs to preserve the It is vital that this group has sufficient internal political power to beautiful wood. Perhaps as staff we continue to drive change and hold people to account for their also needed to change in order to responsibilities. This may mean having people with influence on the preserve ourselves. task force, or at least full and visible support from leadership. If people get the sense that this is not a priority for the leaders or that they are I discussed it with my colleagues. preoccupied elsewhere, then the initiative is likely to fail. The next week we started a ‘career development’ programme. We SUPPORTING STAFF gathered online resources. We organised training sessions for simulation interviews, writing Organisational change links inextricably with individual change. There resumes and communications skills. is no organisational change that does not result in individuals having People began to shift out of their to change. To be good facilitators we need to understand the process The horizontal axis on the transition curve depicts movement negative mind-set. We became ready of individual change to help people adjust in a healthy way. We need over time while the vertical axis represents energy levels. to move and hopeful about the to be able to help organisations take a people-centred approach to an Knowing where people are on the transition curve helps future. We supported each other as inherently emotional process. managers to know how to move them along. At the ‘ending’ we looked for new work. And years stage, it may be helpful to listen, as someone copes with the later many of us remain in contact One of the classic models for looking at the psychological process losses. When in the ‘neutral zone’, it is may be helpful to inspire and continue to support each other of individual changes comes from Elisabeth Kübler Ross’s work on people to leave the old way and move towards the new. This through our WhatsApp group. bereavement. Her transition curve model describes the journey taken by an individual coming to terms with change. Many CSOs have persuasion continues with concrete encouragement to engage Mireille Abi Khalil adapted this model for use in organisational change. World Vision has more and more with the solution as part of the ‘new beginning’. also integrated this with the work of William Bridges (1995) seeing Everyone in the organisation will go through this transition change in three phases: ending, neutral zone and new beginning (see process to some degree. The important thing is to be able diagram on the following page): to help people move continuously through the curve, rather than getting stuck in denial or depression (which can lead to dysfunctional organisational behaviour). 96 Consulting for Change: Strengthening Civil Society 97 KEY LESSONS CONSULTANT Catalysing change through consultancy usually needs to go beyond giving feedback or inspiring grand visions. We need to channel the CHECKLIST OF QUESTIONS excitement for change into considered action. The first part of this is planning how to do it. The next chapter looks at putting the plan into practice. What is the change people hope to see? An effective plan is one that people do themselves. It needs to be a To what extent are the outcomes clear? collaborative process with people held individually responsible for different elements. This encourages ownership and peer pressure to Are these outcomes realistic given the activities planned? implement. Do the planned activities lead to these outcomes? A useful plan has specified intended outcomes (even if those evolve over time). It needs to be realistic with prioritised and carefully Does each outcome have someone named as responsible for it? scheduled activities. It is not about writing a long shopping list of desired changes. In thinking through where to start, there is value in Is everyone who needs to be involved in the process? Are they clear about the part they are to play? finding some quick and relatively easy changes to make. Quick wins maintain the momentum for change. Some consultants find it helpful to Are there adequate resources (time and money) invested? conduct ‘premortems’ to identify and then avoid possible pitfalls. Have they appointed a transition monitoring team? In planning for change, it is important to recognise that any change may leave people feeling less skilled, sad about no longer working with the Is it worth doing a premortem? same people as before and unhappy that it is taking a while to get used to the new system or way or working. Rather than treat organisations as What quick wins can the client work on first? machines, we also need to plan for the necessary human adjustment to change. Staff may need encouragement and support to get used to the  hat support might staff need to adjust to the new situation (eg competencies training, emotional W new reality more quickly. support)? Where are people currently on the transition curve? What can we do to help them move? 98 Consulting for Change: Strengthening Civil Society 99