managing implementation of change

8/3/2019 Managing Implementation of Change

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ABB Value Paper Series

Managing the Implementationof Change Initiatives




Managing the Implementation of Change Initiatives

by Barry Kleine, ABB Programs Manager, South Asia Service

Many examples o change are present in industry thesedays, rom changing the way we monitor conditiono our equipment, to changing the way we manageand interact with our people to changing the way weapproach health and sa ety. Determining what needschange is relatively easy – implementing that change,however, is the di fcult part.

To be able to implement change, you need to manageit, and this management is not as simple as sending thepeople on the training and showing them the equipmentthat needs improvement. This management is requiredbecause a series o complex interactions occur whenwe try and change something that is happening atour work places.

The li e cycle o change initiatives can be describedas in Figure 1. The our stages which need to beunderstood are:

1. Rebirth – where a change to the way we dothings needs to occur and the inertia to changeneeds to be overcome. Per ormance mayactually drop due to misunderstanding, mistrustor even just the time it takes to get organized andtrain the personnel.

2. Stage 2 is the Growth when people startollowing the new processes and increasingly

come on board when they see that the changesimplemented are e ective or showing results.

3. Maturity then occurs when the issues beingaddressed are no longer the major issues onsite. Beneft gained rom the new processes willappear to slow down – this is an indicator thatthe site is ready or a new set o tasks. Be care ulthough – it may also mean there is a problemwith the process or its usage.

4. The fnal stage o ers three di erent scenarios: (1) theplan or the site can be re ocused to di erent topicsand a Renewal o improvement can be stimulated;

(2) additional e ort can be placed on the existingtasks, although it won’t really make a lot o di er-

ence (Stagnation), or (3) e ort can be withdrawnas it appears all the benefts have been achieved,and the achieved results will deteriorate (Decline).

It is important to recognize these stages, as they providea lot o valuable in ormation that can be leveraged tomaximize results at the site.

RebirthRebirth is the introduction o a new way to do things.Not managing the introduction correctly can not onlyresult in extended implementation time but can seriouslya ect the total benefts rom the initiative targeted.

Issues contributing to this lag in implementation (andpossible initial deterioration) may include:

Psychological• Job insecurity de-motivates people (improvement

thought to result in reducing headcount)• Mistrust due to previous failed attempts• Personnel bene t is unclear

Start-up Announcement

P e r f o r m a n c e

/ S y n e r g y

Rebirth Growth MaturityRenewal/ Stagnation/ Decline

Time

Figure 1: Li e cycle o change initiatives




• Unwilling to admit there is a better way than whathas been done until now

• Unwilling to risk status they have achieved• No or low perceived incentives to execute, e.g.

do not enjoy new method, lack o recognition orstandard recognition regardless o quality

Work• Workload increases with new tasks but

headcount stays the same (or decreases with anew contract)

• Incorrect or inexperienced personnel allocated toinitiative

• Learning curve for new method requires time• Priority of task missing or wrong. Initiative either

planned too early, or lower impact tasks allowedto take pre erence

Major tasks that need to be incorporated to addressthese issues include:

Communication – awareness o new process, businesscase or it, how it aligns with other current initiativesand how this will a ect the individual personnel.

Training – lower level or support people, detail or theacilitators and high level or the managers.

Organizational support - access to in ormation andprocedures, as well as the time and resources tocomplete. Managers need to be seen to support theinitiative or the workers will see the priority as low.Existing tasks should be evaluated and low impacttasks removed or postponed to make time or thenew initiative.

The major objective or targeting this stage is to minimizethe rebirth disruption and duration and start gettingthe beneft rom the initiative. (Fig 2)

Figure 2: Beneft o identi ying and addressingrebirth issues



/ S y n e r g y

Rebirth Growth MaturityRenewal/ Stagnation/ Decline

1. Shortentime to startachievingbenefts

Time




MaturityMaturity re ers to the time when the majority o theresults are achieved rom the particular initiative (fg 4).Caution must be exercised as i the project is stoppedcompletely, a per ormance drop or decline can beexpected. By recognizing maturity, the site plan canbe adjusted or the next phase o work.

Problems will occur here as well i the site is not trackingresults or the initiatives. In this case, the employeeswill continue working, not knowing that they are nolonger contributing signifcantly.

Issues contributing to the mis-identifcation o thematurity period relate to not measuring progress atall or progress is measured incorrectly. There will be,

or example, a number o initiatives across the siteto target improved plant per ormance. I this is theonly measure and OEE is improving, it will be hard toidenti y which initiatives are still in the growth periodand which have reached maturity.

GrowthGrowth re ers to the period where the site obtainsthe benefts the initiative is designed to return (fg 3).By addressing Rebirth, the growth stage can occurearlier, but it is now important to maximise the rate ogrowth so the site can achieve the results aster.

Issues contributing to a delay in gaining the ull beneftsare similar to the reasons behind the rebirth lag:

• Personnel bene t is unclear• No / low perceived incentives to execute, e.g.

do not enjoy new method, lack o recognition orstandard recognition regardless o quality

• Incorrect personnel allocated to initiative• Priority of task missing or wrong. Initiative either

planned too early, or lower impact tasks allowedto take pre erence

• Progress not followed / rewarded so emphasisand interest drops.

• Personnel are continually given new tasks frommanagement, so time is increasingly harder tomake.

Major tasks which need to be included to addressthis include:

• Communication – encourage ongoing progressreporting. Advertisement o the results as theyhappen. Rewarding / recognizing employees or

progress.• Organizational support – Management isinvolved with the ‘Governance’ o the project,and ongoing process support is available or thepeople executing the task, so they can identi yearly i they are doing something wrong. Time andresources are protected by the management, sothe project can continue to plan. Set aims that areeasy to achieve – in bite-size chunks.

Figure 3: Beneft o identi ying and addressinggrowth problems



/ S y n e r g y

Rebirth Growth Maturity

2. Shorten timeto achieve ullbenefts

Time

Renewal/ Stagnation/ Decline




ABB has over 100 000 employees working in over 100countries and has extensive experience in maintenancebenchmarking, loss identifcation and the developmento implementation plans that achieve objectives.

Major tasks which need to be addressed include:

Organizational support – Review o KPIs to ensurethey are appropriate, accurate and have no unintendedconsequences.

Communication – Monitor and discuss KPIs regularly

Renewal / Stagnation / DeclineMonitoring per ormance is important to identi y thematurity period. What happens at this point is critical.I nothing changes, results will stagnate and rustrationwill build up due to lack o progress. I the site believesthe project is complete and stops it completely, theissues causing the problems in the frst place willslowly be re-introduced to the site and the resultswill decline – the beneft will be lost and the projectwill have to be re-initiated at a later date.

The maturity time should trigger two actions:

1. The completion o the initiative as a ull project,but the identifcation o ongoing tasks required tomaintain current benefts.

2. The re-evaluation o losses at the site and theidentifcation o the next level tasks required toaddress.

This evaluation will not only ree up people’s time bystopping work that no longer provides a high return,but a new set o initiatives can be introduced to showthat a long-term, systematic plan is in place.

Analysis o reasons why plans to change a particularprocess or task ail show that poor communication, lacko planning, poor quality control and lack o managementsupport accounts or over 60% o ailures. These canbe addressed through the actions above.

Figure 4: Beneft o identi ying and addressingmaturity issues



/ S y n e r g y

Rebirth Growth Maturity

3. Shorten maturity timeand initiate renewal

Time

Renewal/ Stagnation/ Decline

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