BETTER BUSINESS CHANGE
Helping you avoid common issues and achieve easy project success by making technology and business change simple, manageable and comfortable.
Irrespective of which organisation or function you work for, if you have any responsibility for leading all or part of a business change project, you'll want it to be a success:
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You'll want the project to meet its objectives, and
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You'll want the process of delivering the project to go smoothly for you, your team and your stakeholders
...but unfortunately, things don't often turn out that way...
Projects still fail, despite good project management
Depending on the maturity of the project management function - 11-21% of projects fail outright - 21-64% fail to meet their goals. The Project Management Institute recognises that projects are more likely to succeed if project managers have strong leadership and relationship skills, as well as technical project management skills. Source: PMI Pulse of the Profession Report 2020
A lack of good change management means change isn't embedded and project objectives aren't met
People aren’t wired to like change but successful business change requires individual change at scale. Change management activity addresses this but is often excluded, started late or done poorly. This contributes to project failure as expected changes are less likely to be successfully embedded into the business. According to PROSCI's 2020 Benchmarking Data, 15% of projects with poor change management meet their objectives compared to 93% with excellent change management. For ongoing change success, change management principles and practices need to be embedded into project methods and throughout the organisation.
People don't automatically work well together and poor relationships and ineffective teamwork make it harder to deliver successful projects
Projects need people who are often different in many ways to quickly start working well together in a new and complex environment. But not all leaders have the skill, knowledge or experience to effectively lead themselves and their team through the challenges of a business change project. And projects rarely include specific time for team building activity. As a result, misunderstandings, poor relationships, ineffective teamwork and a lack of collaboration are common. This drastically limits the chances of successful project delivery and adds preventable stress to the working environment. Projects need emotionally intelligent leaders who understand people and change and know how to, and invest time in, building and maintaining high-performing teams.
Projects cause stress which impairs performance and productivity... and ultimately the organisation's ability to change
Stress impacts our ability to think well and react logically. As projects are inherently challenging, they can easily create high levels of stress. And that will impair performance and productivity, impact teamwork and may ultimately result in the need to compensate for unplanned temporary or permanent absence...which creates more challenge and stress. All of which adds risk to successful project delivery and/or the business-as-usual activity running alongside the project. And stressful project experiences will leave people more reluctant to engage in future change, making it harder for the business to adapt as needed. Project leaders need to understand stress, do what they can to minimise the perceived challenges and provide support for the team so they can stay balanced and focused and do their best work.
So why does this happen?
A typical ERP / system change project
This diagram illustrates a typical ERP/system change project
The project will only meet its objectives if
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a new solution is delivered
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and implemented to create a new business-as-usual.
The overlap is the joint project team. A mix of people from different backgrounds, working together in a temporary organisation with responsibilities to the project team as well as their own ‘home’ business teams.
Good technology, project and change management skills play a part, but project success is largely dependent on all the people involved
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the subject matter expertise they bring, and
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how they perform - individually and as connected teams.
And it's easy and common to assume that everyone will
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naturally get on and understand each other,
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understand what they need to do and have the time and capability to do it well and
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be motivated and able to do that in the inherently challenging environment that projects create.
It's also easy to assume that people, and any technology solution you're implementing, will work in the way you expect them to.
...and it's these assumptions that cause most issues as they lead to inadequate plans, budgets and project issues which are more costly and difficult to rectify once the project is underway
What's the alternative?
If you want to
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maximise the chances of project success
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minimise project risk
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minimise any disruption to business-as-usual, and
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make sure you and your team make it through unscathed and ready to face your next change challenge
...you need to challenge your assumptions and proactively focus on people.
Create the environment and provide the support they need to do their best work and overcome the challenges that projects and change bring.
How can I help?
I can help
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support you and your team through specific change initiatives - before the project, at kick-off and throughout the project, and
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develop the knowledge, skills and mindsets needed for ongoing change.
...by providing options that are a tailored blend of coaching, mentoring, training and facilitation.
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Based on what I've learnt, experienced and used in over 30 years
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working as a professional certified coach and as a part of every possible project team: Business Leader, IT Team Lead, Application Specialist, Change Manager, Project Manager and External Consultant (independent, 'Big 4', IT vendor team)
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leading and supporting individuals and teams through business and personal change and the challenges of delivering and adopting new technology, processes and ways of working.
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Delivered
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by me, supported where needed, by a team of experienced coaches, facilitators and change managers
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with a coaching style that stimulates thinking and will helps you find solutions that will work for you in your unique situation.
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Options for better business change
Change leadership support
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Providing support for you
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individually, or as part of a group or team of leaders
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to prepare for a project and throughout the life of a project
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Helping you think through your plans and assumptions so you can avoid the common issues and make sure your teams are ready for your specific change initiative.
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Helping you explore options and find solutions to your challenges and concerns throughout the project. Providing a different perspective and guidance where needed.
Developing great teamwork
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Pre-project: helping you develop a project environment that supports great teamwork and collaboration and releases the value of diversity.
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Kick-off: Facilitated team-building activities at the start of the project to set the teams up for success.
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During the project: helping to establish any new teams, supporting team development and helping to resolve any issues.
Support for individuals
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Individual coaching, providing the space and support to work through challenges, develop skills, prevent stress and maintain performance and productivity throughout the life of the project.
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Sessions can be unlimited for specific people (e.g. key leaders with no experience in leading through business change) or a fixed number of sessions per 3 month period, which can be used on-demand by anyone.
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Sessions are delivered remotely by default and supported by a group of coaches, so it's easy to access and discuss any challenges as they emerge.
Supporting groups of people facing similar challenges
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Creating supportive groups and providing group coaching for individuals facing common challenges (e.g. business leaders with new project responsibilities, leaders whose teams will be impacted by the project, or change champions).
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Group members develop through coaching and experiences shared by other group members.
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Session topics can be set by the group in each session or agreed in advance, based on the areas that help develop change-ability - see the Develop for Change page for more details.
Developing the knowledge, skills & mindsets for change
Developing the capability to deal with and implement change throughout the organisation - at any time. See the Develop for Change page for more detail on these key areas of focus:
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Foundation: Understanding people and change
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Change Leadership: leadership fundamentals, leading successful projects, effective teamwork
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Core skills: emotional intelligence, relationship and communication skills, stress management and resilience, time management and productivity, dealing with common people and change challenges.
What support and development do you need to succeed?
Every business, project and team is different, with a mix of people with varying degrees of experience delivering projects.
...which is why I tailor the support I can offer to the specific needs of each client team.
However, as I have personally experienced and seen the benefit people get from having coaching during the challenges that business change projects bring, I always recommend making some individual sessions available for the people involved!
Hit 'read more' if you'd like to find out why Having professional support options available mitigates risk and provides assurance that the team can get the help they need, to be as effective as possible throughout the project. Coaching is widely used to support and develop leadership and other core 'human' skills, but is even more relevant for discovering how to lead yourself and others through business change, which comes with a high level of complexity, uncertainty, urgency and challenge. Coaching is a great option for preventing stress, which has the potential to de-rail a project...and according to a study by Deloitte, as an early intervention to prevent workplace mental health issues, coaching has a return on investment of at least 6:1. With the option of a limited 3-month package and a limited investment, it's easy to experiment and see how it can work for your unique situation.
If you have any questions or would like to explore how I might support you, your team or your project, then let's have a chat. Choose a time that works for you via my booking page and I'll confirm with a calendar invitation.