Insight from nature applied to Supplier Management

I love my job - but you know that right?

I particularly love it when I am able to bring everything I do together into one workshop.

Last week I facilitated a 'supplier relationship management' workshop. Although we decided it should really just be entitled 'relationship management' as we acknowledged our own contribution to the relationship and outcomes we get (50:50).

I say facilitated, but perhaps the better word for it was coached, because whilst we did cover some theory and models there was also lots of discussion to help attendees to explore a subject they're already doing on a day to day basis.

Discussion that touched on coaching improved performance, rapport, influencing, developing trust, managing meetings, conflict, and rewarding great performance. 

The aim of coaching is to help people to learn something for themselves - not to be told what to think. Coaching leads to long term changes in thinking and behaving - teaching not so much - unless its supported by coaching once back in the office.

We did touch on the GROW model for coaching performance of suppliers but we also tried a number of unconventional tools (see an advent series of posts from the archives introducing many of these).

Using nature as our coach and metaphor for supplier management was one of the tools that we used on the workshop that I was very pleased with the outcome about.

Imagine the following location:

"Idyllic rural location, ideal for hiking and climbing enthusiasts. Very sociable atmosphere with guests hanging out in the evenings, live music most nights. Unobstructed and breathtaking mountain views. Ideal for single travellers" 

What landscape do you imagine as you read these words?

For IP reasons I can't share with you the image used in the workshop but if you imagine the image at the top of this post with a series of hammocks hanging across from one cliff to another you'll get the idea.

The description above, that one delegate read out to us before showing us the image, had us all imagining something very different. It was used as a reminder to ensure we have the same interpretation as our suppliers about the specification and 'spirit' of the contract.

Of course, we know this insight logically and intellectually. By using nature we're tapping into our unconscious and creative mind. Tapping in more deeply to our inner wisdom might just ensure the insight is not forgotten when we jump to blaming a supplier for not meeting our expectations. Or when we're drafting an action plan and believe the words we're using are obvious and could never get misunderstood - could they? 

Other images and insights chosen in this exercise are shown below, although again I've had to use different images. You may want to view the pictures first and consider your own insights:

What action have these images inspired you to take?

Here's what we got on the day:

All the elements coming together and getting the balance right.

Penguins take it in turns to be on the outside of a huddle and take the brunt of the wind and cold. That is, they understand that can't do it alone and need the support of the whole colony to survive.

All parts of the garden need to be nurtured - watering, feeding, weeding, pruning etc. Other wise we'll just end up with an over grown garden. Which links to many post I've written about the link between supplier and plant management.

Rather than get too distracted with the trees we need to look beyond to the bigger picture to focus on the sky and what's at the other side of the current situation. To remember where we're headed rather than get side tracked or too despondent with the current landscape.

We should be this proud of the relationship we have with our suppliers. Relationships should look calm and serene from the outside even if there's plenty going on under the water.

Back to basics - we can only squeeze so much.

And one image that reflects another insight from the session was - that too much noise can dilute the message you're trying to make and you can lose the clarity both parties need in order to work effectively together. Which is why it's important to not over use the word "urgent" (but that's another post for another day!).

What did you notice as you read this post - what thoughts came to mind that might provide a different perspective on a situation you're facing at the moment?

I'd love to discuss how I may coach your team on any aspect of category management, or supplier management adding in or focusing exclusively on the very important aspects of emotional intelligence and creativity.

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
+44 (0)7770 538159 
alison@alisonsmith.eu

For a wider use of nature as your coach see my Landscaping Your Life blog and also my book Can't see the wood for the trees aimed at helping you get back on track when you're stuck in a rut, up a creek without a paddle, going round in circles, are out on a limb, feel like a fish out of water or can't see the wood for the trees.

Having a chocolate moment

Oil rigs appear every few years and stay in line of sight from my house for a few months whilst maintenance is undertaken on them, and so I celebrate when they depart leaving me once again with a clear view of Edinburgh across the Firth of Forth.

I was talking to my personal trainer today and said "oh goody we may be saying goodbye to this oil rig" and then went on to describe how the boat is able to seemingly submerge it's middle so the oil rig can be floated onto it and taken back out to sea. 

He looked at me very strangely and said "the boat seems a little small to me."

I looked out of the window and laughed and said "Oh we're having a chocolate moment!"

Again he looked at me strangely.

On most of my workshops I use the word "chocolate" as an example of how we each have different interpretations for words. In the exercise I ask people to write down the first 8 words they think about when thinking of chocolate, and then ask them to compare them with the first 8 words others on the workshop have written down. Generally even the most common word will only be written down by 50% of those there, and some have very few words in common with others and everyone has words that are not common with anyone else. 

Of course when you think of other more relevant words such as purchasing, procurement, consultant, or trainer it certainly helps explain how misunderstandings arise. 

Once we've done the exercise in a workshop any misunderstandings from then onwards are attributed as "we're having a chocolate moment."

Look at the picture again and notice how many boats there are near the oil rig. 

When I said "boat" my personal trainer had seen the small one on the right hand side away from the oil rig.  When I said "boat" I was meaning the boat on the right hand side but adjacent to and partly obscured by the oil rig. 

Such a great example of how easy it is to be at cross purposes when we make assumptions that we're talking about the same thing.

Next time two opinions seem to be at odds with each other it may be that you're also having a chocolate moment. You may therefore just need to clarify what you're both talking about. You may just be surprised at where the difference in opinion is coming from.

Subsequently I've written other blogs exploring definition of supplier management, supplier relationship management, out of contract and one from recent NHS experience on personal care. 

Alison 

Inspiring change inside and out (more here on why that's important)

and I realise last time the oil rig left I took a picture of just what I've been talking about...

The "boat" with sunken middle

This last picture shows the legs that have been retracted above the oil rig's accommodation into the sky, rather than below it into the sea bed, if you see what I mean. At least you can see Edinburgh and the castle on the skyline in this picture unlike in today's!

Summary: Soft Skills

This week's summary blogs continue today with soft skills. I know it's an emotive phrase and I joined that debate with my blog rant last week entitled "but I don't do soft fluffy stuff" and went on to explain that we all do soft fluffy stuff every minute of every day - ie we're not the android above but human. I also wrote the case for soft skills too.

I first dipped my toe into understanding more about these skills over 15 years ago when I attended a 4 day NLP workshop. I was so enthused about the subject I went on to attend the remaining 16 days of the practitioner, a further 20 days for the master practitioner, another 20 days for the trainer trainer and numerous assistant roles to repeat all of the above. Which in class room time alone must amount to over 200 days on the subject. So yes I was hooked and books on the subject continue to arrive weekly as I explore the subject more fully.

Further certification in other coaching tools have just added to the melting pot of all things fluffy!  (More on these tomorrow).

I suppose that's why I blog so often about the subject - my enthusiasm for the subject - but also the ability as I blog to explore the models more fully. Recent blogging on the subject certainly helped when I included a lot of this content in Future Purchasing's Category and Supplier Management workshops before Christmas.

The challenge is how to summarise the blogs on this subject because they represent over half of the blogs I write. That said if I write on communication over a number of days I'll link to the other blogs from the final one. So that's what you'll have here - a set of favourite subjects with links to the main blog with the ability when you get there to explore that subject further. Although be warned its still a long list!


Change
Personal change management is at the heart of much of soft skills.

• Why do I have to change - the answer to which is you don't if what you're doing is working
• Change Management - with links to resistance to change and strategies for change

 

Values
Values are the key to much stuckness in our lives because they motivate our every action or not, and are the basis for how we judge others.

• Values that are too big for their boots - what to do to identify and then realign your values
• Values don't inherently drive right behaviour
• Does empathy ensure we do the right thing - yes but we don't have it for everyone!
• What does respect look like?
• How are values getting in the way
• What do you put your heart and soul into - because that's meeting your values

Influencing (Also see NLP with links to load of blogs)

• The subtleties and politics of influencing with links to numerous other blogs on the subject
• Communication - links to numerous blogs on the subject
• Set aside the pedestal
• Communicate, communicate, communicate

Goals

• Well Formed Outcome - a fab process - as per graphic above
• What stops you achieving your goals
• The things that help you keep on track to achieving your goals
• Anything is possible

Personal development

• Creativity
• State Management - ie state of mind and body
• Judgements are simply assumptions
• Trust is in the eye of the beholder
• Expanding comfort zones
• Speaking with confidence
• Are you always or never late - and how do you judge others who are the opposite to you?
• Dream, believe, achieve - anything is possible
• What's winning in your world - the good the bad or the indifferent - look to your language to find out
• Looking for the worst in other people - no wonder you live in a hostile world
• Who am I - again a look at the language we use
• Have you reached a choice point in life?

Wellbeing

• My prescription for positivity and wellbeing
• How do you start the day
• We love the love the challenge but is it good for us?
• Are we on auto pilot for bad habits or good habits?
• Sleep
• In need of more bounce
• It's not about the toast - on mental well being and stress
• Don't go cold Turkey - but do let go of some of those addictions to emails, social media
• 5:1 positive to negative interactions
• Stop, Look, Listen
• The conspiracies we support - to keep doing the wrong the things
• 6 out of 7 of Disney's dwarfs are not happy
• Don't stay around miserable Mackerels
• Oh no it's Sunday - don't wish your life away
• Disconnect to reconnect
• Nameste - honour the spirit in others

My favourite quotes

• Our deepest fear - just the quote
• Can you by faithless and therefore trustworthy - exploration of its meaning 

Short stories I've written with wellbeing in mind

• The tortoise and the hare
• Forgiveness
• I phone I phone in my hand - about comparison
• There's a couple more short stories read by me on my Youtube channel 

The summary blog tomorrow will share more about what I do and how I do it.

Yesterday I provided a summary list of blogs on procurement, and the day before a summary of rants on the loss of our humanity. A useful reference for those who enjoy my blogs and more easily want to read those from the archive - ok also easier for me to find them too :-).

Alison Smith
Inspiring Change Inside and out - when what you're doing isn't working

Collaboration is a dirty word

I don't know if you've noticed - I blog a lot about communication and influencing.

There's one key assumption I'm making when blogging however, and that is that some of this communication and influencing is aimed at procurement's internal stakeholders. I just question sometimes the validity of that assumption.

You see it never fails to surprise me how many procurement professionals still don't spend that much time with internal stakeholders and yet seem to be very quick to complain when those very stakeholders don't use the contracts they've put in place, or don't support the category, sourcing or supplier strategy they've developed.

Let's just try a quick questionnaire:

• Do you like being told what to do Y/N
• Do you like your expertise being ignored Y/N
• Do you understand every aspect of the job your internal customers do Y/N
• Do you understand the value they deliver to the organisation Y/N
• Do you understand their strategic objectives Y/N
• Do you understand the current stresses they're under Y/N

Assuming the majority of answers were No then why would procurement's internal customers like to be ignored, or not understand what procurement does nor the benefits that can be delivered.

If partnership and collaboration are dirty words with suppliers it seems they're just as dirty between procurement and they're internal customers.

Let's just explore the excuses reason's given for not spending more time with stakeholders:

• "We don't have time" really means the criteria by which procurement is being measured puts a higher value on speed and volume of contracts/strategies signed than the effectiveness of those contracts/strategies. Alternatively they're just putting a higher value on procurement's objectives than their customers'!
• "They'll want to change our strategy"really means procurement are worried that they've not incorporated all their customers business requirements ie it's not really fit for purpose (see real meaning above).
• "They'll just say no unless we do it the way they want to" really means procurement think it better to impose a change on their customers than try to influence them - or dare I say it for them to be sponsors for the work we do.
• "They're just going to resist anyway" really means procurement has not considered the vast array of change management tools for managing resistance to change.
• "There's too many of them" really means procurement has not mapped their stakeholders nor identified an effective communication plan for managing them.
• "I know more about procurement than they do" really means procurement don't value the expertise their customers do have.
• "They just think procurement is all about lowest cost" really means procurement have not trained their customers on the basics of best practice procurement nor sold the benefits of cost (not just price) reduction, revenue increase or risk mitigation. * 
• "They'll just take the credit for my work" really means procurement doesn't trust others within the business, and/or is more concerned about taking the credit themselves than the outcome. 
• "We have stakeholder manager's who are responsible for the relationship with them" really means category or supplier manangers are being slopey shouldered and not taking personal responsibility for the customers of their category/supplier.

Do let me know if I've missed any other excuses reasons why procurement are not talking to their internal stakeholders?

Suffice to say it is my firm belief that effective internal stakeholder engagement ensures that business requirements are met and value maximised. I just don't understand why so many procurement teams spend so much time trying to justify why they're not doing it.

Sorry if I'm preaching to the converted - plenty here on how to improve your influencing skills ;-) although I appreciate I've not been walking my talk as outlined in my enlightened procurement blog.

Alison Smith
Inspiring change inside and out - when what you're doing isn't working

* Which raises another excuse "but if we tell them what procurement is all about they'll just do it themselves" which really means we don't think there's that much too procurement and it can be taught in a half or whole day session. From personal experience a half day session will always ensure increased stakeholder support for procurement - because they suddenly realise there's more to it than they thought.

Partnership card shown above from the Frameworks for Change Coaching Process I use in facilitation and coaching ©Innerlinks - www.innerlinks.com

The case for soft skills

 

I was excited to read a BBC news article this morning that said:

 

"Soft skills" need to be taken much more seriously as factors for business success, says a campaign by employers.

 

I could write at length about the use of the term 'soft skills' to describe skills such as "communication, initiative, interacting with customers and team working" but that's for another blog. Although I have written a blog for those thinking "but I don't do soft skills".

 

I can certainly say that when I was first immersed in soft skills training 15 years ago my business life changed for the better. There's isn't a day goes by that I don't use these skills even if it's just to remind myself that how I see the world isn't how others do. Which is why I love the graphic above. A visual reminder that we're all different.

 

What this appreciation of our different world views does is takes out the tone from our language - the tone that says "I'm right and don't need to listen to you" and replaces it with a tone that says "My understanding of the situation is this - what's yours".

 

I use the next graphic, and when delivering workshops actually act this out, to demonstrate that if you keep doing what you've always done to someone you may never open the door to mutual understanding ie you don't push someone when they need to be pulled - or more specifically you don't give someone a detailed report if they'd prefer and take more meaning from a one page visual. 

 

 

The reaction I often get when coaching, facilitating or training this subject is "Why do I need to adapt my style to other people".

http://thepurchasingcoach.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/what-motivating-your-actions.html

It's as if people think they'll lose their identity if they don't express themselves exactly as they'd like to.

My response is always the same "you don't need to change anything if what you're doing is working - if you're happy with the current state of affairs then keep doing what you're doing."

Over the 15 years there have been many responses to my use of 'soft skills' in the procurement training we deliver and more generally in my blogs. What I have noticed in the last 6 months is a step change on attitude. A move away from "it's manipulative" towards one that appreciates that its adoption can open many closed doors. Whether those closed doors are to:

• understanding
• success
• change
• appreciation
• results
• collaboration
• team working
• and so on

Of course you might just see soft skills as fluffy and not want to go near them with a barge pole in which case you might want to read my blog on my response to "But I don't do soft skills".

Before Christmas I wrote a blog exploring this subject more fully and it has been one of my most popular blogs since starting. This interest provided the inspiration to write more broadly on the subject covering such topics as Trust, Change Management, Taking Responsibility, State Management, Creativity and Kindness. This month I've also covered Values, Goals and even shared a great process involving Standing in the other person's shoes.

Happy for any suggestions for future blogs or questions on the subject of soft skills development - either below in comments or to alison@thepurchasingcoach.co.uk or +44 (0)7770 538159

Alison Smith
Inspiring change inside and out - when what you're doing isn't working

The coaching and facilitation I offer is specifically aimed at identifying what it holding you or your team back from achieving your objectives including understanding all aspects of these soft skills. More here on the type of coaching I offer, and more specifically when someone else might be the more ideal coach for you.

Why do I have to change?

For much of a recent category and supplier management workshop I was encouraging those there to adapt their style to that of their stakeholder.

 

A common response to this is to say "but why do I have to change - why can't the other person adapt their style to mine."

 

You don't have to change anything if what you're doing is working.

 

I'll say that again.

 

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING IF WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS WORKING.

 

The clue is "if it's working".

 

If you have no need to influence the other person ie for them to change, and are happy with the current state of play then don't do anything differently. Simple.

 

If you're not getting the response you want you can either keep doing what you're doing and most likely get the same response, or adapt your style and see if it opens the door to effective communication with that individual.

 

As a result of me learning and applying all these influencing tools my stakeholder said I was easier to deal with. The funny thing was I thought she was easier to deal with. Once I stopped saying things in a certain tonality, and used words that made sense to her not me, and made her feel heard and appreciated our relationship blossomed :-).

 

Of course you don't have to stop being you - to successfully influence others however it is useful to be able to flex your style to suit the environment.

 

Alison Smith

Inspiring Change inside and out - when what you're doing isn't working

 

I'm an associate of Future Purchasing - so for more on the category and supplier management workshops I deliver with them please do visit the website.

For more on the influencing tools I incorporate into the procurement training ( for Future Purchasing and other consultancies) you may want to read this blog on 'how NLP changed my life' (bare with me and read it please) or this one introducing some of the influencing tools.

Judgements are simply assumptions

Judgements are simply assumptions and as the saying goes assumptions make an ass (out of) u (and) me.

Of course we make judgements based on evidence but that doesn't mean that we're right, and that anyone with an alternate view is wrong. Yet that's often what we think, what we react to and act upon.

First let's think about all the different things we can make a judgement on other people about:

• cleanliness, style, time keeping, expertise, technical skills, interpersonal skills, confidence, respect, honesty, trustworthiness and so on. 

As the above list progresses the criteria we're using is going to get more and more personal. That is expertise is easier to judge than honesty and also going to be easier to get agreement with others on too. Honesty and trustworthiness are in the eye of the beholder and yet are often judged very quickly.

Let's take honesty. Think for a moment how your judgement that someone is dishonest impacts how you relate to them.

• You might ignore them
• You might gossip about them
• You might not tell them the truth
• You might not provide them with the support they need
• You might be wary around them
• You might talk to them with a certain tonality
• You might not give them overtime or specific responsibilities
• And so on

All these just because you judged them to be dishonest!

Do you think these behaviours all support your ability to effectively communicate with and influence that person? Ok if you don't need to but a spanner in the works if you do.

Think for a moment though how do you define dishonesty?  In fact why not jot a list down of what behaviours mean someone is dishonest.

I do think jotting the list down would be a good idea because it will help me make my point :-).

Go on - it won't take long.

I'm not going anywhere.

Just a couple of criteria - dishonesty looks like this, or sounds like this.

Just for me :-)

Pretty please. 

Ok if you're not going to write a list here's an imaginary one (just don't judge me when you start disagreeing with it ;-)).

Dishonesty is demonstrated when someone:

• Says one thing to me, and the opposite to someone else
• Says something, and then later changes their mind to suit the situation, ignoring the earlier statement
• Compliments me with a certain tonality (when it feels like it's just on their list of things to do)
• Says they'll do something by a certain date and then doesn't do it

Would your list have been different?

 

That's the point really how I judge honesty and how you judge it aren't likely to match.

Continuing with dishonesty, and that list of dishonest behaviours you wrote down. 

• Do other people agree with you? 
• Could there be other reasons for those behaviours?
• Does that behaviour always mean someone is dishonest? a 100 % of the time ? always? for everyone? 
• Have you ever demonstrated that behaviour and it mean something else? 
• Have other people demonstrated that behaviour and you still consider them to be honest? 
• How might that behaviour actually mean they are being honest?

The level of emotion you have around this, and rigour with which you hold on to your criteria, will also depend on how much you value honesty. Discussing the criteria for 'respect' or 'fairness' might provide for more or less emotion for you? (See this blog post on values to explore that more.) 

The aim here is to loosen your judgement that x behaviour means y intent. To take the level of emotion out of a situation so that you can observe a behaviour and understand that your judgement of it might not be correct. Once that's possible then influencing and communication becomes a whole lot easier because your judgement isn't getting in the way, and is no longer causing that list of behaviours I wrote at the start of this post.

Alison Smith
Inspiring change inside and out - when what you're doing isn't working

I've written a couple of blog post previously on honesty - one is more of a theoretical exploration and the other is a short story entitled 'iPhone iPhone in my hand' (I know a story isn't everyone's cup of tea - but isn't that what this series of blogs is all about - realising how we learn, communicate, judge, react and the like are unique and personal to each of us. The challenge is ensuring any communication, influencing strategy or change programme takes account of peoples unique preferences and provides options to keep everyone covered).

As I've been writing this series of blogs on influencing, change management and communication I've ended up writing a number of blogs I hadn't originally planned because they were needed to support the blogs I had written.

• The need to calibrate an individual was one.
• Not treating others as we would wish to be treated was another.
• Influencing not being about manipulation
• And Judgement today

They're underlying principles that support the process of influencing. I wonder where this exploration will take me next week - any suggestions most welcome.

Relationship Trust: talk straight

Straight talking is one of 13 behaviours, Stephen M R Covey identified in his book The Speed of Trust, as being needed to develop and maintain relationship trust. The other 12 behaviours were included in my blog post on Trust last week and a number of these will be covered in future blog posts this month.

Before reading further consider the following questions:

• What does straight talking mean to you?
• What does it look and sound like?
• What is it's opposite?
• How do you react to it?
• How do you react to its opposite?
• How often do you demonstrate straight talking?
• When might you not talk straight and why?
• Can you understand how straight talking might help develop trust?
• Do you see trust as a positive thing?

I can't help but feel our relationship to trust will determine whether we talk straight or not. That is if we don't consider trust to be a positive thing then straight talking isn't necessary.

Before reading further please be aware my own preferences and beliefs will certainly be impacting the words used and judgements made in this post today :-).

For me your view of trust comes down to what camp you're in:

• Abundance, cooperation and growth - ie trust is positive
• Fear, competition and survival of the fittest - ie trust is negative

As I wrote the above list I did wonder if it's something to do with people getting stuck lower down Maslow's hierarchy of needs than perhaps they need to be? (Just a thought!)

If any situation is seen as survival of the fittest then information is power and you're not going to share it unless you believe sharing it will be of positive use to you. Generally you'll also over exaggerate the value of the information and just keep quiet.

The issue, as I see it anyway, is how can you possibly understand what value the information you have might be to the other party, to the relationship or eventually to your goals being achieved.

I recently provided a supplier with feedback about one of their representatives rubbing one of the buyer's managers up the wrong way. I hadn't seen the behaviour myself so didn't know it to be a problem. They thanked me, took appropriate action, and as a result the relationship between both individuals improved greatly.

When they thanked me for the second time I asked why they felt it was note worthy that I had said anything. They said buyers usually foung it easier not to say anything - perhaps thinking it's not their job or even thinking they're doing the supplier's job for them! We're certainly on a spiral downwards if we think we're each responsible for only certain aspects of a relationship.

Straight talking in a relationship is doing what I did, putting aside whose job I think it is, or how the information may or may not be accepted, and just saying it as it is.

Straight talking is a little like putting a jigsaw together with someone when you can only see your own pieces. You're both reliant on the other party(ies) speaking up when they can help. It's no use one party deciding to start with the edges, or the other starting with the water, unless you show each other what pieces you have to help them finish that element. (I won't start on 'you show me yours before I show you mine' school boy antics as I prefer to work on the premise that someone is trustworthy until they prove otherwise not the other way round.)

What jigsaw pieces are you holding back and how might it be completed quicker and more effectively if you shared a little more of them with the other side?

Alison Smith
Inspiring change inside and out - when what you're doing isn't working

See here for origin of Image.

Although talk of jigsaw pieces reminded me of our use of jigsaw pieces to bring the organisation's procurement strategy alive for the year - with each of us owning a different piece and sharing and swapping them at meetings.

Resistance to change

Think of a time when you last resisted change?

• What did you do?
• What did you say?
• Who did you say it to?
• How many times did you say it?
• How did you feel?
• What did you believe about the changes being made?
• What did you believe about your attitude to the change?

Hopefully you get the picture - that's what you're up against when implementing change.

Just because you think this time you're right, and that anyone resisting the change is wrong, doesn't mean you're correct. Nor that the others involved will agree with you.

I would suggest resistance is often more about the way you went about it. I'm still friends with people who lost their jobs as a result of an outsourcing project I was involved with many years ago. I believe the reasons for this is because of how I went about it. I'm not sure I applied every one of the 8 steps I shared yesterday but somewhere close.

For the last couple of days the blog posts have explored strategies of change and implementing change. Last week the posts looked at influencing more generally, and how to avoid putting people's barriers up in the first place. If you apply these models well, and flex the communication to suit the audience, then hopefully you won't meet too much resistance.

However we don't always get it right and resistance can be present.

Here's some things you might want to think about:

In built resistance or constraints to change *:

• Bureaucracy
• Lack of resources - people, finance, office space etc
• Incorrect resources
• Politics - the relative power and interest of all stakeholders needs to be assessed
• Insecurity about the future 
• Perceived risk  - which is riskier - to stay or change?
• Blame culture - means people avoid taking risks which may not work (a biggie in many organisations)
• Deference to a leader resisting the change isn't going to help.

These often get ignored and yet they all need to be addressed as part of your strategy for change to ensure you're successful.

There are however other ways that resistance can be observed, and management of these is much more difficult to achieve:

Covert resistance from other managers in the organisation: *

• Diverting resources - splitting the budget or moving key individuals to work on another project
• Exploiting inertia  - making agreement conditional on a whole load of others things taking place - more analysis, more data etc 
• Dissipating energies - ensuring key people are asked to do other time consuming tasks as well
• Keeping goals vague and complex - leads to headless chickens
• Encouraging and exploiting lack of organisational awareness  - yep just watching you trip yourself up when you present the strategy
• Reducing the champions influence - which might involve spreading rumours etc
• Keeping a low profile - to avoid expressing resistance or being persuaded of the reasons for change.

How these are managed will be unique to each of the individuals doing the resisting and their reasons for it. The key is being aware that this might be happening and including their management in the change strategy. Communication planning is therefore imperative (link takes you to the last in a series of blogs on communication planning which contains links to the other posts in the series).

What do you need to do differently in the current situation?


Alison Smith
Inspiring change inside and out - when what you're doing isn't working

* With thanks to David Boddy's Management: an introduction for the basis of this blog post.

Implementing change

Following on from yesterday's blog on strategies for change I'd like to explore Kotter's 8 step process for leading change.

I was first introduced to Kotter's model whilst studying for my CIPS exams, and more recently whilst developing elearning modules on the subject. I do love his more recent analysis of the model 'our iceberg is melting' - after all I'm a sucker for a good metaphor. Not least because we don't get caught up in the context and detail of the situation we're personally applying it to, and can learn about the model and patterns of behaviour it's asking us to take on.

In the book Fred, a penguin, is tasked with the unenviable task of persuading his fellow penguins that the iceberg is melting and that action is needed.

Often when faced with what we believe to be an obvious change we can be faced with others who don't join us in our views. They don't want to change, they'll go out of their way to resist the change often with dire consequences.

In the book Fred takes his fellow penguins on a journey as he applies Kotter's 8 step process:

• Establish a sense of urgency - the threat of your iceberg melting certainly is a great reason for countering complacency!
• Create a guiding coalition - don't try to do it alone, and do ensure those with power and influence are involved.
• Develop a change vision - if you're taking away one future what will the new one look like.
• Communicate the vision for buy-in - people and penguins need to know and accept the alternative. (Much of the content of last week's blogs will provide more on how to achieve this.) 
• Empower broad based action - remove barriers to taking action so those supporting the change can start making it a reality.
• Generate short-term wins - a great way of getting momentum behind the new vision.
• Never let up - complacency is never that far away especially if small changes make people think the threat has been reduced or eradicated all together.
• Incorporate change into the culture - new traditions need to replace the old ones.

Consider a change you're currently involved in - which of the above might you want to focus on a little more?

Alison Smith
Inspiring change inside and out - when what you're doing isn't working

Tomorrow's blog will explore the ways in which people actively resist change.