Change and IT Projects

Dr Andy Wilson

Director of Capability Enhancement

Loughborough University

Purposes

To share some thoughts on change...

...and on change wrt IT projects

To invite your reactions

To identify some recommendations.

Comment

I am currently Project Manager of Loughborough’s move from 3 faculties and 20 departments to 10 schools

I’ll offer some comments on this experience!

Change concepts

The “burning platform”

Dilbert and Senge on change

Change and loss

PESTLE and MORTAR

The DICE model

What managers can do to help.

The “burning platform”

The “burning platform” 2

Sometimes proposed as a way of encouraging change

Refers to Piper Alpha disaster 1988

Gas platform in the North Sea

167 people died

The 59 survivors jumped 200 feet into the water

This is not how you encourage change.

Dilbert on change

Change is good.

You go first.

Senge on change

People don’t resist change.

They resist being changed.

Peter Senge

Change and loss

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying (1969)

Often applied to change, sometimes in a rather simplistic way, but…

People don’t neatly followthe model

The downs and ups arenot straightforward

But loss is often a part of even “good” change.

The stages ~ DABDA(M)

1. Denial ~ They can’t do that!

2. Anger ~ They can’t do that to me!

3. Bargaining ~ Well, if they’re going to do that then I want…

4. Depression ~ It’s awful and I feel miserable

5. Acceptance ~ OK, it’s going to happen

6. Moving on ~ Well it’s not so bad, I can deal with this.

On Death and Dying

PESTLE …and MORTAR

Drivers Issues

Political Me

Economic Organisation

Social Resources

Technological Top Team

Legal Affectional

Ethical/Environmental Rational

The ABCD of Drivers

Altruism ~ lip service, maybe

Business case ~ benefits to...?

Compliance ~ they do it – reluctantly

Desperation ~ they do something…

The Hard Side…

…of Change Management

“Companies must pay as much attention to the hard side of change management as they do to the soft aspects. By rigorously focusing on four critical elements, they can stack the odds in favor of success.”

by Harold L. Sirkin, Perry Keenan, and Alan Jackson

Harvard Business Review Online, 2005.

DICE Model of Change

Duration

Integrity

Commitment

Effort

Get these right, and change is much more likely to be successful.

DICE 2

Duration = the amount of time between reviews (or the duration of change programme)

Integrity = the ability of the team to deliver what is required

CommitmentC1=commitment to change of top managementC2=commitment to change of employees affected by change

Effort = the perceived effort over and above normal workload that the change initiative demands.

DICE Score

1 - 4 (low is good), fractions OK

D + 2I + 2C1 + C2 + E

<15 Win

15 – 17 Worry

>17 Woe

Double weighting for:

Integrity = the ability of the team to deliver what is required

Commitment C1=commitment to change of top management.

Loughborough and DICE

D Duration Constant scrutiny 1

I Integrity Lots of time of senior management team, two senior administrators, many other staff, and staff development

1.5 = 3

C1 Senior commitment

Visible and repeated 1.5 = 3

C2 Wider commitment

Very doubtful 4

E Effort Seen as high 4

Total 15

What managers can do

With all that as a starting point…

If you were going through a significant change, what would you want from your manager?

We’d want them to...

Give us time

Listen

Acknowledge our feelings

Encourage the expression of feelings

Describe reality

Explain the drivers

Explore options

Nudge us forwards

Discuss the consequences

Ask difficult questions

Help us to imagine how it could be

Analyse risks

Rehearse behaviours

Feed back on our mood

Celebrate successes.

IT aspects of change

WIIFM?

The impact of IT change

Group think

The computer says, “No”.

WIIFM?

What’s in it for me?

Institutional-level benefits may not look like benefits from the individual’s perspective

With IT change some of the institutional benefits may seem fairly obscure…

…and some of the personal impacts may seem substantial.

The impact of IT change

Consider the “worlds” of different staff groups

The academic world...?

The support staff world...?

And the degree of control people have over their worlds

Then think about the impactof IT change.

Group think

The tendency for members of a cohesive group to reach decisions without weighing all the facts, especially those contradicting the majority opinion.

allpsych.com/dictionary/dictionary2.html

Technical expertise – or the lack of it – can reinforce boundaries.

The computer says, “No”.

The computer says, “No”.

Remember Senge

IT change may seem less negotiable.

Stakeholder analysis

I’m seeing stakeholders as those people who have an interest in – or can have an impact on – your change project

If you don’t understand who your stakeholders are – and how they feel – then successful implementation will be very hard

This tool helps you with this

Please agree a project from within your group that you’re going to work on.

Stakeholder straplines

Stakeholder straplines 2

In the top part of the circle write the name of the stakeholder or stakeholder group

Then, for each stakeholder, try to identify a pithy phrase or strapline that captures their view of the project

Here are some examples from the Loughborough project...

Stakeholder straplines 3

Senior managers

This must happen

Academic staff

It’s the second

envelope!

Depart-mental

admin staff

Will I be made

redundant?

Stakeholder straplines 4

Your straplines?

Do they tell you anything about what you need to do to make your project work?

People and Technology...

It’s not rocket science

...your recommendations

People do tend to get forgotten

Especially teams

What recommendations would you offer concerning IT-related change?

Stakeholder straplines?

Senior managers

So now it will just happen

Academic staff

So what am I not going

to do?

IT staff

You should have asked us about it beforehand

Traffic lights

Stop doing or do less of

Keep on doing, carefully

Start doing or do more of

Fundamentals

1. Establish the case for change

2. Visualise how the new world will be better

3. Establish a set of shared values

4. Resource the change initiative appropriately

5. Lead by example

6. Assess capability and capacity

7. Engage the team in the change process

8. Communicate the change in a timely and sensitive way

9. Ensure senior management commitment is visible.

Dealing with negativity

Rational Explain the plan

Consider what happens without change

Involve people and demonstrate effectiveness

Reorganise systems from the bottom up

Personal Stress future benefits

Present exciting possibilities

Accept management responsibility for past failures

Emotional Provide concrete examples of the need

Communicate details face-to-face

Demonstrate long-term commitment

Explain honestly, and promise involvement

Another project and DICE

D Duration Fire and forget 4

I Integrity No time of senior management team and other resource very limited

4 = 8

C1 Senior commitment

Invisible 4 = 8

C2 Wider commitment

Sceptical, on top of everything else

4

E Effort Seen as high 4

Total 28