Achieving adoption and change through project and change management techniques are no longer enough, the requirement for a people skills component is no longer a nice to have it is a necessity if you want change to be realised.
There is a false belief that people are born with interaction skills and ab ability to verbalise their intuition and, that they are available on tap for any given situation. These skills need to be identified to meet the change required, taught, and then practised. To master bicycle riding, you must get on a bike; look at what others are doing, listen to someone describe how to do it. This alone isn’t enough to master riding a bicycle - you need to practice – no matter how much information you absorb about these skills, your first attempts will be awkward and inelegant, it takes tenacity, self-awareness, and sincere collegiality to ensure success. The reality - No practice = No skill.
Realising change involves three levels of intervention:
- The Project Management Plan – the rationale for the change, objectives and scope of a project, the timeline, the milestones, the budgets, the project team, project cadence and so on.
- The Change Management Plan – how will today’s operations be affected while you build tomorrows operation, what technical skills are required, what people do you need, how do you keep the workforce informed regarding progress and success and so on.
- The Interaction Plan – how do you bring out the best in your people by using the magic of words, persuasion and influencing skills, how do you manage tolerance in a diverse situation by building trust and managing conflict, how do you apply empathy yet demand performance using rapport-building and listening skills, how do you inspire our people through narrative and storytelling, and last but not least how do you provide a safe environment for people to practice these skills.
Every interaction plan implemented as part of the change process builds your employer brand, enhances employee engagement, enables your leaders and promotes the benefits of neuro leadership, builds lasting relations and modifies the culture of the business.
Re-imaging the role of Human Capital to incorporate Intuition and interaction is of paramount importance to an organisation if it wants to realise adoption resulting in real change.