What is it? It’s a moment to take a step back and make decisions, bringing together the managers responsible for change initiatives.
For what purpose? To ensure that support actions for the impacts of these projects are planned for every team—whether directly or indirectly affected—and not forgetting their managers!
In short, it’s about verifying that carefully planned actions exist to consult, involve early, clarify the purpose, and specify expectations at each key stage of preparation and implementation.
Even with the best training on effective change management practices, things often don’t go exactly as planned.
1 – Provide guarantees
Some leaders may distance themselves from the very purpose of a change, even at the launch stage.
Change projects often involve multiple teams and departments, making their managers key to success. These leaders may be skeptical of early project planning due to constraints affecting their teams. The project leader’s skill lies in listening, adapting the initial plan, and showing that the stakeholders’ perspectives have been incorporated, which then allows them to support implementation.
Yet, even with careful preparation, a key manager may publicly express opposition, potentially jeopardizing the project or its momentum. The solution? Identify these risks early and provide guarantees to key stakeholders to overcome remaining doubts.
2 – Explain the REAL purpose of the project
Even leaders who can articulate the purpose of their changes can get caught up in the pace of action.
For example, a senior team was about to present a project affecting employees’ schedules without explaining why it mattered or what benefits it offered. Not surprisingly, this led to demotivation.
Good news: it’s still possible, even at the last moment, to clarify the purpose verbally, even if presentation slides are locked.
3 – Give managers a head start
Change communication often overlooks managers, who are directly affected and have multiple team impacts. Without specific preparation, the strongest resistance often comes from management.
Best practice: provide managers with advance time to understand the change, plan their approach, and help shape new ways of working for their teams.
4 – Clarify indirect impacts and expected behaviors
Change support is often designed only for directly impacted teams. Indirectly affected teams are rarely addressed, with only minimal information shared.
To avoid isolation and disengagement, it’s important to explicitly define new coordination modes and expected behaviors, supported by frequent reminders and encouragement. This ensures collective performance improves despite indirect impacts.
Plan support actions before each key implementation milestone
There are many ways to conduct a “check-change,” especially if projects are already underway. Given the pressures of action, it’s helpful to involve a change management expert to provide an external perspective, identify blind spots, and ensure the right support actions are timed for all teams and managers, including feedback loops.
Want to explore what this means for your project? Talisker’s teams are ready to help.
