In this episode of the Messy Mind Podcast, host Tammy L. Davis explores Organizational Change Management (OCM), focusing on change and tech readiness. She discusses why readiness is critical for any transformation initiative and provides actionable steps to ensure a successful transition.
Understanding the importance of change and tech readiness is beneficial and crucial for any organization's success. Tammy offers valuable insights and actionable steps to help you navigate these complexities, minimize resistance, and ensure a smooth transition for your team.
Don't miss out on practical advice that can save your next transformation initiative from failure and propel your organization toward success.
If you know someone who would benefit from this episode, please share it with them! Sharing is caring, and if that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing the show! This helps me support more people, just like you, who want to embrace the messiness as they know it can lead to lightbulb moments.
Click here, scroll to the bottom, click Tap to Rate with five stars (Apple Podcast), and select "Write a Review." Then let me know what you enjoyed most about the episode!
Check out our websites and Tammy's LinkedIn page:
Get Tammy's newly released book: https://bit.ly/getthesecretsbook
LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tammydavis1/
Join our community: https://bit.ly/themessymindnewsletter
The Relate Lab: https://bit.ly/therelatelab
Company Website: https://nexlevelconsultingllc.com
[00:00:04] Welcome to The Messy Mind podcast, a show to support you in seeing the messiness can lead to your light bulb moments.
[00:00:13] I'm your host, Tammy L. Davis
[00:00:26] I just want to thank you for being here today and I hope you find this episode of Value.
[00:00:32] That's what I hope for every episode but this episode in particular.
[00:00:36] And the topic is going to be in one of my favorite areas, organizational change management.
[00:00:44] And I'm going to dive deep into an area of OCM.
[00:00:49] I'm just going to say OCM for short that is critical for any transformation initiative and that's change and tech readiness.
[00:00:58] I really want to take the time to discuss why this element is so key to ensure that you have a successful transition.
[00:01:07] And why it's not crucial to rush and that's what I'm seeing over and over again because as of late,
[00:01:16] we've been on these transformation initiatives.
[00:01:19] We also are hearing from potential new clients and when we talk about our approach,
[00:01:25] change and tech readiness is one thing that we like to spend a lot of time on.
[00:01:30] But what we're finding is that not only do the clients want to rush this phase,
[00:01:35] but they also really don't understand it.
[00:01:38] This is why I said this would be a perfect topic to talk about on this particular episode.
[00:01:44] Let's start with a simple question.
[00:01:46] We have been asked as of late and what we typically are asked,
[00:01:52] what exactly is change and tech readiness.
[00:01:56] Now in the context of organizational change,
[00:01:59] readiness really just refers to the preparedness of your people,
[00:02:04] processes and technology to undergo a transition.
[00:02:08] What's all about ensuring that the groundwork is laid before the actual change takes place.
[00:02:14] And this involves everything from training your staff,
[00:02:17] preparing your technology infrastructure and aligning your new processes or your current processes with the new change.
[00:02:25] And I'm going to tell you a lot of clients, a lot of our experience.
[00:02:30] Everyone talks about and gets ready for the technology infrastructure.
[00:02:35] Everyone talks about training but very few really understand the work that it involves
[00:02:42] to make sure that your processes are aligned with the new changes that tends to be an afterthought.
[00:02:49] But I'm jumping ahead. Let me go back.
[00:02:51] Now why is this so important?
[00:02:53] Really think about it.
[00:02:55] When you're preparing for a big event like a wedding or a major presentation,
[00:03:01] or a graduation,
[00:03:03] when your kids might be graduating from high school or college,
[00:03:06] you know that preparation phase is crucial.
[00:03:09] Listen, if you all don't know I have a daughter.
[00:03:12] What have a son and a daughter?
[00:03:15] The two could not be different as it relates to preparation.
[00:03:19] Or daughter she's turning 18 and she's in that phase.
[00:03:24] Now why do she doesn't turn 18 until November?
[00:03:26] But let me tell you, January of last year,
[00:03:31] our little baby girl was talking about,
[00:03:33] I'm going to do for my 18th birthday.
[00:03:35] We all understand and have experience in
[00:03:39] know that the preparation phase is crucial.
[00:03:42] This is the time when you're hiring and out all the details.
[00:03:45] You're anticipating potential issues
[00:03:47] and you really want to make sure that everything runs smoothly on the big day.
[00:03:52] Well, that same principle applies to organizational change.
[00:03:56] Without proper readiness, you're setting yourself up for a rocky transition
[00:04:02] that can lead to resistance, disruptions, and ultimately failure.
[00:04:08] We all heard of the percentage that 70% of change initiatives fail.
[00:04:13] I mean, I, you know, have feel some kind of way about using that percentage,
[00:04:17] but it makes me think and I've experienced why projects struggle
[00:04:21] or transformation initiatives struggle,
[00:04:24] and I want to say a large part is because of the lack of change and tech readiness.
[00:04:30] Now, let's go a little bit deeper as to why change and tech readiness
[00:04:34] is the cornerstone of a successful transition.
[00:04:38] I'm going to break it down.
[00:04:39] First, it helps in minimizing resistance.
[00:04:43] We all know that change can be intimidating.
[00:04:46] It's human nature to resist it,
[00:04:48] especially when it feels sudden or poured replanted.
[00:04:52] But if you invest time in readiness activities,
[00:04:56] such as communication and training,
[00:04:59] and I'm talking about a different level of communication and training,
[00:05:03] I'm going to leave that for another episode.
[00:05:05] You know, I've talked about those two areas on the podcast,
[00:05:09] but when you invest time in readiness activities,
[00:05:12] such as again communication and training,
[00:05:14] you can reduce fear, anxiety among your team members
[00:05:19] or among those who are going to be affected by the change.
[00:05:23] When people understand the why,
[00:05:25] the how, the what of the change,
[00:05:28] they are more likely to embrace it,
[00:05:30] adopted and sustain it in the long run.
[00:05:33] That's number one change in tech readiness
[00:05:36] is the cornerstone because it helps in minimizing resistance.
[00:05:40] Secondly, readiness ensures that your technology
[00:05:43] and processes are up the par.
[00:05:46] Imagine rolling out a new software assistant without testing it fairly.
[00:05:51] I've been on implementation such as that,
[00:05:53] and let me tell you the glitches,
[00:05:55] the gerritickets, the help desk tickets,
[00:05:58] the bugs and more importantly,
[00:06:00] user frustration can derail the entire initiative.
[00:06:05] By focusing on tech readiness,
[00:06:07] you are ensuring that all systems are go before the official launch.
[00:06:13] Now this of course involves thorough testing,
[00:06:16] making sure that all those gerritickets are resolved
[00:06:19] and possibly even doing a pilot program
[00:06:24] to identify and resolve issues before they impact the organization
[00:06:28] as a whole.
[00:06:29] For example, we had a higher education client who decided that
[00:06:34] they were in the midst of a system transformation implementation
[00:06:38] and it was going down the path that was turning to the left.
[00:06:42] They just could not get the tech readiness
[00:06:45] to the level that all systems were go
[00:06:47] and they decided to do a pilot.
[00:06:49] They said, you know what?
[00:06:50] We're going to stop.
[00:06:51] We're going to reassess.
[00:06:53] And now we're going to roll it out in phases.
[00:06:56] And in that phase,
[00:06:58] we're going to start with these departments.
[00:07:00] And then we're going to get an assessment.
[00:07:02] We're going to get lessons learned.
[00:07:03] Then we're going to roll out the next department.
[00:07:05] So it's really them making the decision
[00:07:09] that you know what?
[00:07:11] We want to make sure that we understand
[00:07:13] and identify and resolve all the issues
[00:07:16] before they impact the university as a whole.
[00:07:20] Another critical aspect is the alignment of your processes.
[00:07:24] When you introduce change,
[00:07:26] it often requires new workflows and procedures.
[00:07:30] If these are not clearly defined and communicated,
[00:07:35] you are likely to encounter chaos and confusion.
[00:07:39] Readiness activities include not only mapping out these new processes
[00:07:43] but training staff on them and also making sure that everyone knows their role
[00:07:49] and responsibilities in the new ways of working that they are going to experience.
[00:07:55] Now let's talk about the dangers of rushing this phase.
[00:07:58] It's tempting to want to see quick results,
[00:08:02] especially when there's pressure from steering committees,
[00:08:05] pressure from stakeholders,
[00:08:07] and even pressure from your industry
[00:08:10] or also known as the market that you're operating in.
[00:08:15] However, rushing through the readiness phase,
[00:08:18] it is a recipe for disaster.
[00:08:21] Skipping steps, cutting corners,
[00:08:24] can lead to, of course, incomplete training.
[00:08:27] It can lead to underdress technical issues
[00:08:30] and mis-unlined processes.
[00:08:32] And these over-sights can, of course,
[00:08:35] cause significant disruptions,
[00:08:38] a decrease morale and lead to the failure of your initiative.
[00:08:42] Ultimately lead to you being so disarrayable,
[00:08:45] or your organization being so disarrayable
[00:08:48] that you look up and you're like,
[00:08:50] I don't even know how we got here because you want to rush that phase.
[00:08:54] However, I'm here and you know I love to leave you with tips.
[00:08:58] I'm here to give you a few actionable steps
[00:09:02] to make sure that you properly perform
[00:09:05] and conduct your change in tech readiness.
[00:09:08] Number one, conduct a readiness assessment.
[00:09:12] Start by evaluating your current state.
[00:09:14] You want to identify the gaps in the skills,
[00:09:17] the technology, and your processes
[00:09:18] that need to be addressed before the change can be implemented.
[00:09:23] Number two, develop a comprehensive plan.
[00:09:26] Outline the steps required to prepare your organization
[00:09:30] for the change.
[00:09:31] This of course should be the training programs,
[00:09:33] learning paths, communication plans,
[00:09:36] technology upgrades, and of course business process
[00:09:39] reengineering, meaning what are your future
[00:09:42] business processes going to look like
[00:09:45] as a result of this change?
[00:09:47] How are you going to be capturing
[00:09:50] your new ways of working?
[00:09:53] Whatever that might be, what is your future state going to look like?
[00:09:57] Number three, engage stakeholders early.
[00:10:00] Involve key stakeholders in the planning process
[00:10:04] and I'm talking about those stakeholders
[00:10:06] that you may not think are influential
[00:10:10] but they are uncovered them.
[00:10:13] Involve them.
[00:10:14] They're input and buy in our crucial
[00:10:16] for a smooth transition.
[00:10:18] Number four, and I alluded to this early
[00:10:20] with the example from the University pilot programs.
[00:10:24] So before you want to do a full scale rollout
[00:10:27] conduct pilot programs and I'm talking about testing,
[00:10:31] I'm actually talking about different areas,
[00:10:34] different departments, divisions,
[00:10:36] are testing out the new system in processes.
[00:10:40] And like I said before, using their feedback from their pilot
[00:10:44] or that phase approach or phase rollout
[00:10:47] it really is going to make it necessary
[00:10:49] in order to get their adjustments.
[00:10:51] So you capture those lessons learned what
[00:10:53] didn't work what's next before we roll it out
[00:10:57] to the next phase.
[00:10:58] And of course, number five, it's continuous communication.
[00:11:02] When you're embarking on change and tech readiness,
[00:11:05] going on the days of working in a silo,
[00:11:08] you must keep the lines of communication open
[00:11:10] throughout the readiness phase.
[00:11:12] Regular updates, open forums for questions
[00:11:15] and concerns can really help maintain transparency and trust.
[00:11:20] Remember, the goal of change and tech readiness
[00:11:23] is to create a solid foundation
[00:11:26] for your transformation initiative.
[00:11:29] It's about setting your organization up for success
[00:11:32] to ensure that your people, processes,
[00:11:36] and technology remember for all three to work together
[00:11:39] are fully prepared for their transition
[00:11:41] and I implore you please do not rush this phase,
[00:11:45] take the time to do it right
[00:11:47] and address me.
[00:11:49] You will reap the benefits of a successful
[00:11:52] change initiative.
[00:11:54] So that's it for today's episode.
[00:11:56] I hope you found my tips in this discussion
[00:11:59] or change and tech readiness insightful.
[00:12:02] If you have any questions or even topics
[00:12:05] that you would like me to cover
[00:12:06] and future episodes, please please
[00:12:09] fill free to reach out to me
[00:12:12] and until next time, remember to embrace
[00:12:15] the messiness.
[00:12:16] It can lead to your light bulb moments.
[00:12:19] Thank you for joining us this time
[00:12:21] on the MessyMod podcast.
[00:12:23] Please visit our website at the MessyMod.com.
[00:12:27] Make sure to subscribe to the podcast
[00:12:30] so you will never miss an episode.
[00:12:32] While you're at it, if you found
[00:12:34] value in this episode,
[00:12:35] leave a appreciate and rating on Apple Podcast
[00:12:38] or simply tell a friend about the show.
[00:12:41] Always remember to embrace the messiness.
[00:12:44] It can lead to your light bulb moments.