In the early days of the pandemic, Ken Grady, CEO of IDEXX, a manufacturer of medical diagnostics and software, identified a key challenge that has plagued IT organizations for nearly a decade.
Grady recalls the lockdown period at the beginning of the pandemic: "We saw that in order to stay connected and keep our organization moving forward, we accelerated and adopted new platforms tremendously, and a few weeks later, CHRO said to me, 'Wouldn't it be great if it wasn't for the global pandemic that accelerated the adoption of these tools?'"’”
Grady's team has been introducing stronger change management strategies into the enterprise IT function, and they see what can happen when everyone is involved in transformational change, and they push harder.
In the era of digital transformation, the success of IT is no longer determined by the ability to meet go-live dates or stay within budget, but by the creation of a shared vision and goals;Achieve leadership engagement and coordination;Broad support and adoption of new systems, platforms, and processes;Achievement of business outcomes.
At the heart of it all is continuous, effective change management aimed at accelerating the achievement of business goals, which was previously not an IT organization's strength.
Change management is not something that can be easily solved at the end of a transformation program," said Matt Mead, CTO of SPR, a technology modernization company.
And change management can't be narrowly defined as pre-go-live user communication and training, adds Eric Freshour, general manager of people and productivity practices at consultancy West Monroe.
Instead, CIOs must treat change management as the GPS of their transformation initiatives, keeping them on track from the start.
merchant'Jeanine L., Senior Vice President, Chief Technology and Digital Officer, S Fleet"If the rationale for change isn't clearly defined and communicated at the outset, the whole plan is going to be an uphill battle," Charlton said. Charlton's primary role is to rethink the way the 60-year-old fleet management company operates.
When IT leaders ask their organizations to think differently about the way they do things and adopt radically different alternatives, they must also rethink their own approach to introducing these changes. Here are some of the key questions they must ask about change management strategies to succeed themselves and their organization as a whole.
Does IT really have credibility for the business?
Swamy Kocherlakota, executive vice president and chief information officer at S&P Global, said that no change management strategy will be effective if IT organizations don't build trust with the business, largely through delivering on promises. Transformation and turnaround cannot coexist. In organizations where technology functions have historically been underdelivered, IT leaders must first correct mistakes before initiating the work of digital transformation.
When business and IT strategies are out of touch, change management is doomed to fail. IT must strive to be one with the business.
c' changes require full support from business partners and functions. Business colleagues must trust that you're driving business outcomes, rather than simply implementing technical solutions. Eduard de Vries, Chief Information Officer at Axia Women's Health, said. "You can only have that credibility if your team understands the business processes and how those processes deliver enterprise value creation. ”
Is the leadership fully aligned on goals and outcomes?
Answering this question must begin before any project enters the pipeline. "It's critical to think about change management at the outset of IT initiatives and digital initiatives. One way to achieve this is to develop a vision with the end-user community and IT organization leaders. Freshour says he calls this a "vision and values" Xi. "This ensures that all parties are working together to define success and that there is agreement on the desired outcome. ”
Frequent and transparent cross-functional communication between leaders is also key. "If there is no agreement, different managers may pursue their own digital transformation ideas, leaving different projects unfocused and lacking follow-up," said Charlton of Merchant's Fleet. ”
How do we measure program readiness, adoption, and business outcomes?
Only when key stakeholders are on the same page can IT leaders confidently identify KPIs for change management success, which should include not only adoption, but also measures of change readiness and which specific outcomes led to success. According to S&P Global's Kocherlakota, establishing and tracking these metrics allows IT to manage change initiatives most effectively through successive phases and adjust as needed.
Kunal Purohit, Chief Digital Services Officer at Tech Mahindra, believes that effective change management is a means to minimize disruption, satisfy users and customers, and support data-driven decision-making, but most importantly a continued emphasis on driving increased adoption.
Most importantly, there should be a mechanism for continuous feedback and adjustment during the change process," he said.
Are the planned changes feasible?
All kinds of digital initiatives make perfect sense on paper, but too many are ultimately not suitable for implementation because many IT organizations skip a critical step.
What you need before you look for change agents is survivability agents," said De Vries, who is at Axia Women'S Health has spent a significant amount of time building a network of frontline employees who can validate potential transformative initiatives.
"For example, you have to build a relationship with the salespeople who can tell you if the customer buys in the changes, and the frontline workers can tell you if the process can be executed effectively, and after you implement the change, they will be your enablers," says De Vries. ”
De Vries sometimes even recruits these survivability and change agents into the IT department, where they can bring business processes and customer knowledge to digital and technology organizations.
Are our change plans future-proof?
Freshour and other IT leaders at West Monroe say any digital initiative should consider some of the emerging technologies that may need to be incorporated into the plan over time.
"When designing IT and digital solutions, it's important to look to the future," says Freshour. While you may not be able to deliver the most mature features or solutions in the first phase of your plan, it's important to consider how digital products, platforms, and systems will evolve over time in terms of IT and business needs. ”
Tech Majindra's Purohit agrees, emphasizing that even in the early stages of a change plan, it is important to understand and articulate how change will evolve with future technological advances.
Do we have the change management resources we need to succeed?
As a general rule of thumb, IT leaders should invest at least 10 to 20 percent of their project budget in change management. "You can't afford to take shortcuts when it comes to allocating the right resources for change management related to digital efforts," Freshour said. "IT leaders should keep statistics to ensure they are focusing the necessary time, money, and resources on change management and adoption.
It's important not only to have the right budget, but also the right change management expertise. "CIOs should check that organizations are ready to adapt to unforeseen changes during the transition and that they have the necessary resources – both financial and human – to support the change," Purohit said. ”
For IDEXX Grady, this means staffing non-technical professionals for IT's new change management functions.
"To build that capability, we're not trying to put IT people as change management leaders, but that's not to say that IT professionals don't have innate skills in this area," Grady said. On the contrary, we have different perceptions of the skills required. ”
This means recruiting people with marketing experience who can think about change in persona;Segment user needs and impacts;Plan messaging channels, frequency, and methods;Identify appropriate indicators of change.
"We need to think like marketers and technologists and have the right people in place," Grady said. This is invaluable for running large enterprise projects and successfully implementing behavior change to enable the digital transformation of many critical processes. ”
Will users be able to see the changes directly?
Effective communication is essential for change readiness and adoption. "This trumps everything, especially when it comes to remote-first people," said SPR's MEAD. ”
But how IT leaders communicate the details of change is just as important as what they communicate. In fact, it's even better if it's not the IT department that delivers the message.
The purpose of change communication should be to give employees a direct understanding of change, and our experience with SPR confirms the findings of research that shows that employees prefer to get information from line managers about how change will affect them. So, make sure to provide timely information to your manager and hold follow-up meetings if necessary. ”
Everyone affected by change should have a clear understanding of the personal benefits that change brings to them – what benefits it will have for them in this new normal.
"Change agents are needed at every level, and the CFO of your department will agree to the change, but if the FPA team doesn't accept the new revenue recognition solution, they'll work around," Vries said. ”
Vries in Axia Women'S Health's experience working in the business function has helped him understand the different value levers available and how to measure performance and motivate the organization. "This has allowed me to align incentives for change and improve my chances of success. ”
Are we investing enough in ongoing training and development?
Training is a key aspect of any new IT initiative. But for organizations that are also implementing digital initiatives, a more holistic approach to training is needed.
At S&P Global, in addition to specific training around new initiatives, the company has developed the EssentialTech Foundations program to help employees build foundational technical knowledge in six core focus areas, including Agile Mindset, Cloud Fundamentals, Cultivating Innovative Thinking, Automated Machine Learning Xi, Data Science, and DevOps.
"We put people first and invest in upskilling our employees to thrive in this new digital paradigm, and all S&P Global team members have access to training and webinars to access a wealth of resources to learn Xi new skills," said Kocherlakota. ”