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Articles
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June28
2018
Change Management across Regions and Cultures
Change Management (CM) is all about the people. And people are bearers of values and beliefs. It is thus easy to understand why cultural awareness and having globally literate leaders matter so much[1]. But how does this affect Change Management in practical terms? How do idiosyncrasies play out in the field? Take Europe for instance. Discussing emotions in the workplace proves to be somewhat difficult. As a result, individual transitions - though a critical aspect of change - are often overlooked. Having a good grasp of cultures and what they entail in terms of norms (and taboos) therefore helps adjust the actions, training and communication efforts. From local challenges to factors aiding adoption, we take you on a quick journey through the CM world landscape. Without further ado, here is an overview of the main results of a global survey conducted by PROSCI[2]. CM on a global ...
Written by
Vincent Piedboeuf -
June15
2018
Part 2 - Preventing and Managing Individual Resistances
Resistance arises as a natural and arguably healthy consequence of imbalances provoked by change. It is fair to say that resisting is part of the game. It does become a real issue, though, from the moment the phenomenon solidifies and people stand on their refusal to change. The first part of this series focused on managing resistances at the collective level as a way of mitigating their effects at the individual level. The following offers tools to diagnose individual resistance patterns and to deal with resistance behaviours in the most effective way. Be warned that the best tricks are also the most counterintuitive! Four resistance reactions. “Am I really able to change?”, “Do I want to change?”, “What’s in it for me” … are just a few questions that arise whenever change is under way. The following typology classifies resistances along the two main dimensions that ...
Written by
Valérie Spaey -
May31
2018
Part 1 - Preventing and managing resistances at the collective level.
Ask any manager what is the hardest part about dealing with change, and chances are the response will be: managing resistances. Change is usually associated with uncertainty, stress and more often than not, a crisis of confidence that must be addressed head-on. In a nutshell, resistance operates as a survival strategy in the face of turbulences shaking down existing structures. As a normal result of disruptive events, it is not something leaders can turn a blind eye to. But the problem is precisely that those who initiated the change - or already adjusted to the new reality - have fully integrated it and tend to minimize difficulties as a result. Worst still, communication is often conceived of as a tool to inform, not to ease anxieties or frustrations and establish trust. This is a real problem for organizations given that communication is one of the key factors for driving ...
Written by
Valérie Spaey -
May22
2018
Most ineffective methods to deal with resistance.
Resistance is inherent to change. It may emerge at every stage of a project lifecycle and when left unchecked, ripple effects are usually devastating. Before things spin out of control, you might want to take stock of the lessons to be drawn from adverse scenarios. That’s right! Here is a list of the don’ts. Worst practice #1: Treating it as a non-issue. This may sound like a paradox, but ignoring resistance only adds fuel to the fire. What was once considered as a non-issue becomes a pressing priority as resistance spreads rapidly across the organisation. So much so that resistance is cited among the top obstacles to Change Management, along with lack of sponsorship, Change Management buy-in and prioritisation[1] (PROSCI 2018). What to do instead: As a rule of thumb, expect resistance whenever the status quo is threatened. Be proactive. Address the issue head-on by identifying its ...
Written by
Vincent Piedboeuf -
May14
2018
Change Management: how mature is your organization?
In a competitive economy, there is growing awareness in organizations of the need to respond effectively to changes in order to stay in the game. For many, this has yet to translate into practical efforts to ultimately build CM (Change Management) as a core competency. At stake is the number of projects completed on time while staying on budget and delivering expected ROI. So where does your organization stand in terms of CM and where should you focus in order to improve? Using PROSCI’s auditing model[1] to rate CM “maturity” on a scale from 1 to 5, we help you find the right answer. Maturity Rating. When change comes as a surprise to most people in an organization, causing resistances, we really are at ground zero. Moving up the CM maturity model requires more attention to the people side of change. Level 1 - “absent or ad ...
Written by
Caroline Morck Jensen -
May04
2018
4 Cultural traits about Danish people that explain their odd behaviour
If you do business with Danes, you will encounter cultural traits that are quite peculiar to basically everybody else. The Danes themselves are not likely to be conscious about these traits as cultural awareness in Denmark is generally low. In fact, only 5% of Danes have high cultural competencies, while 66% and 29% have low and average cultural competencies respectively. However, there is a good reason for this. Historically Denmark has been an enclave where homogeneity has been valued. It has been quite common for immigrants to assimilate into Danish culture as a ‘requirement’ for social survival. Therefore, the Danes have been less exposed to other mindsets than most other cultures and have not had the opportunities to develop the competencies needed to manage cultural differences. This has two foundational consequences: Danes have limited knowledge of other cultures. Danes have limited awareness of how their behaviour is ...
Written by
By Anna Balk-Møller -
May02
2018
People analytics & Change Management is a new power couple
People Analytics is maturing fast. 2017 in particular was a stellar year if the published cases, presentations at various people analytics conferences and interest from the wider HR community is suggesting anything. However, for this trend to take a more permanent grip, it must in my view be recognized as an area of importance across the wider organisation, something it is not currently. An answer to this is to look in another direction – a new avenue. A third avenue I see people analytics used in primarily two areas; 1) making better (evidence-based) HR decisions and 2) solving business issues. The first includes a wide array of things from improving on internal people reporting and scoreboards, engagement surveys to creating predictive models for turnover, talent performance, recruitment success or assessing leadership training and innovation processes. The second area uses people data to answer questions such as “How to ...
Written by
Morten Kamp Andersen -
May02
2018
Mistakes you want to avoid when implementing Change Management in a culturally diverse setting
In a study by Prosci on practices in change management, 84% of respondents rated cultural awareness as being important or very important when managing change. However in the globalised business market, it can be argued that national cultures have decreased significance as a factor of importance. If a product or service equals a client’s needs, the interest of overseeing cultural and linguistic differences takes priority. Though that might be the case in some areas of business such as negotiation, it is not the case with change management. The main reason is that change management, is an exercise in appealing to individuals or groups of people. For this we need to consider human factors, such as cultural preferences. So, the question is, how do we address cultural diversity to successfully manage change? Mistake #1: Global English is not the cure for cultural deviance As internationalisation has become ...
Written by
Anna Balk-Møller -
May02
2018
A Change Management Office (CMO) is the most powerful lever for excellent Change Management in an organisation. By far. And it matters. Because, you are six times more likely to succeed in your projects when you conduct excellent Change Management. CMOs have different forms, different maturity levels and different focus. Some CMOs are set up with a narrow focus of e.g. helping projects with communication and training, whereas others have a broader perspective as e.g. assist Change Management across the whole business, as well as being part of the strategic dialogue during the scoping phase of the project. One way to approach the building of a CMO is to start with the purpose. The vital purpose of a CMO is, naturally, to support projects in successfully achieving their objectives. But we advise creating a Vision & Mission Charter for the office. This will define the office and the ...
Written by
Morten Kamp Andersen