Change Management Failure and Where to Look For It

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Have you seen this before?

***tier3square.shtml***With all this CRM talk, we sometimes forget what a change management failure looks like so we can head it off at the pass. I must say, I'm one of the less fortunate consultants who has seen the process performed backwards over and over again, resulting in the same failed outcomes.

When you begin your CRM journey, planning of the worst case is no less important than in planning any other part of your business or life. Something will inevitably come up to muck things up if you don't address it at the beginning.

There are two ways to deal with this. First, you can identify these change management risks up front, and put a plan in place to deal with them. Or, you can identify them up front and put a plan in place to avoid them completely. Either way, recognizing in advance that there could be a problem is important, and must be taken into account as you develop your CRM strategy and implementation plan.

Change Management Failure Hides in the Cracks

Problems aren't simply going to jump out at you, so you will have to give serious (group) thought to where they are hiding. They could be the result of:

• Strong and confrontational personalities
• Weak conduits for inter-departmental information flows
• An environment conducive to fear of job loss or diminished roles

Change Management Failure and Strong Personalities

There are just some folks who have been doing it their way for years, feel like superstars, and see no reason to follow someone else's lead. What I've found funny over the years is that many of these types remain quiet during the changes that are taking place. Many times this is because they were not included in the planning process (mistake which leads to change management failure).

Inevitably, some software will be purchased, someone high up in the sales organization will spend too much time re-engineering how it works in order to "work like them", it will be installed and sales training will be scheduled.

At this point, you need to have a seasoned trainer because within the first 15 minutes, the guy with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face is going to ask "why?" And he's going to ask it again and again again, each time becoming more confrontational. Not to pick on guys, there are women like this too!

What do you do? Well, the project has already been sabotaged, especially if this is a strong producer who feels sharing information is now threatening his or her competitive edge. Sometimes, you have to remove them but it's a better idea to address this before the project really gets going.

Another training scenario you will see, especially in the sales world is students running out to receive or return sales calls. To me, this says "I don't care about this because no one has given me a reason to". This is change management failure.

Change Management Failure from Business Process Breakdowns

Certainly, excitement can be escalated within a group of users when they are getting a new toy to play with. Of course, as with any toy, that excitement wears off and then what do you have?

One of the hallmarks of a solid CRM implementation is going through a company-wide business process mapping exercise. This will make it obvious, if done correctly (see my interview with Dick Lee) that there are bottlenecks at the junctures between functions (or silos) in your organization. These make it difficult to had off work or information resulting in "defects". This is when things can come to a screeching halt.

When you don't address the inefficiencies in your process, you make it difficult for people to succeed and they pull into a protective shell and point fingers. That's why identifying process problems is critical before you begin to automate anything. If your people don't see why you are making changes, they have no reason to accept them and change management failure is inevitable.

I've seen department managers simply ignore changes. I've come back to companies on programming assignments and seen 80% of a system we designed not being used. It was offensive at first, until I realized how change management failure played a role

Fear Can Lead to Change Management Failure

Inefficiencies within your business workflow are the hiding place for those who have developed their personal way have handling them. The type of person who is achievement oriented is not going to be here. They have already left because of the complexities and inefficiencies in your business.

These others consider this to be territory because they understand it, deal with it and get strokes for doing what others are incapable of, or unwilling to, do.  Many times, this will be someone who has been there a long time. Surprised? You shouldn't be.

Introducing change by decree to folks like this can cause a lot of problems. Generally, there is not just one of them because your business has so many nooks and crannies that many of your staff have scurried into the gaps to preserve their jobs. At least, that's the way the think.

You may be able to deal with one or two on the back end of a decree, but try fighting an army. It's their company after all, not yours. You don't make it run, they do!

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Summing Up Change Management Failure

The good news is that these types of problems can all be identified as the planning process is beginning. These are risks that must be dealt with at a time when they are easiest to deal with...at the beginning.

As was discussed in Effective Change Management, the make up of your CRM strategy team is more than executives and department managers. You need to include line resources that are key to the success of your business.  When they walk away understand why the change is being implemented, and how they will play a key role in this, and even suggesting changes that will add value to customers, many of the change management failure points above will disappear.

Of course, there are times when a pro is required!

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