Eric Pickles was recently heard saying that it is all about localisation/localisation/localisation, but not necessarily in that order. Whatever your view of localisation his point was well made.
So it is with managing change. Engage/Engage/Engage, but not necessarily in that order.
Anyone who has attempted to manage change that does not have the support of the organisation knows that it is like pushing jelly uphill. You can’t keep it all together and any progress seems to slip through your fingers.
The answer is to engage customers, stakeholders and people in the organisation. It is critical to gain a consensual understanding of the challenge and the need to resolve it, access the practical experience, brainpower and ideas of people involved and to win support for making the change happen.
This is only possible through engagement; honest, open, authentic and multi-way dialogue.
In our experience people are not daft; they recognise a real challenge, they already know what is working and not working in the current way of delivering services and they typically have a pretty good idea about how things could improve. What they generally lack is a voice; the environment to contribute, the framework for making sense of their ideas and the confidence that their contribution is being heard and respected.
Big challenges need focus, energy and support. Engaging those affected by any change will build that and generate a momentum that will carry you through to implementation. Once harnessed this momentum is hard to stop and you will find advocates emerging from the most unlikely places. We were recently running a workshop redesigning a brave new future with 30 people from the “front line” in street services. One of the participants sidled up to me and called me to account – “don’t let us down – we have really put ourselves into this – make sure it actually happens!” When a leader hears that sentiment from his workforce it can only build confidence and reinforce their determination to deliver change – in the knowledge that they are not a lone voice and have support.
We are consistently heartened to find that widespread engagement of customers, stakeholders and staff will deliver far more radical change than managers will ever come up with. When you hear – as we recently did – a customer telling us that the very thing that the managers were trying to preserve had no value then managers have no choice – they have to get on and deliver!
So, don’t be afraid of what you might hear. It can be a revelation and unexpectedly positive. Engage/Engage/Engage; be authentic, trust in your customers, stakeholders and staff and prepare to take a year off your implementation plan.
This article is the third in the series of blogs written for district local authorities on “Responding to the Comprehensive Spending Review” – Follow the series…
