Change Communications and Delivery

Change is coming to the London insurance market but not everyone is receptive to uncertainty and the unknown. How do change management professionals bring on board people that are affected by change that may not always be in their own individual interests?

Often change communications is not something that people want to hear but the key is to unlocking people’s understandable resistance to the change. How you deliver the message, the impact and benefit to the business moving forward is paramount. That communications skill should be part of the Project Managers toolkit and an area where the PMO function is beneficial and able to guide a path to successful change.

As Steve Harpum explained at Fifth Step's recent change management seminar: “My experiences in Afghanistan showed me that you’ve really done your job when you’ve delivered the benefits that a system is meant to deliver. Delivering the system is not job done. So if you’re not thinking about the benefits, you need to be thinking about them very carefully. It’s really easy to look at the shiny new office block or humming new server room and think mission accomplished, let’s all push off for tea and medals! But actually you might not have done the job because that is simply not what your customer or the organisation wanted.” Bringing the beneficiaries along on the journey is key, continual engagement will result in no surprises and what you deliver is exactly what they are expecting.

In insurance we’re often face with situations where the communication between IT and the business is not great. I have experienced situations where some business teams have sourced and signed a contract for a new system but haven’t told the IT team until it needs implementing. We really focus on bridging the gap between those two teams and bringing them together. It’s imperative the communication is both ways, the business needs to know that IT are dependable, that they provide a good service to them, they are pro-active rather than re-active, the business will engage more readily with an IT team that really service them.

The “one team” piece is vital but it is also important to have clear leadership as well to deal with challenges. Whether it is good or bad news I believe in fact-based communications so that issues/challenges are dealt with that much faster. Create an environment where people can be the best they can be. Organisations have be brave in delegating responsibility to people, they need to be able to fail, and for that to be acceptable, for them to learn and grown. People wont try something new if they are reprimanded for failing, encourage them to try, and be an input into the delivery of change. Success is motivational, it needs to be experienced at all levels.

WHEN DOING NOTHING IS THE RIGHT CALL

According to Steve Harpum: “Victoria’s favourite Prime Minister had a great phrase: “It’s time for some masterful inactivity.” When you are in a wicked situation, for example, it is better to have some masterful inactivity. That can be a real gutsy thing to do. You might have to say let’s see what happens. That can be a difficult call in our environment because people will say don’t just stand there, do something but actually when you are in a wicked situation the wise approach can be to do nothing. Get some more information, do some more listening, generate more information.”

That might be pertinent when it comes to Brexit in the current environment. A lot of people were saying what are we going to do? Do nothing until we really know what the impact is going to be and then take action. A good example is when, say, a CIO says I need to deploy a new system. A valid reply is, that is the answer now what is the question? You need a thought process if you want to chop 10 points of your operating ratio. You need to ask “how am I going to do this?” What is the point? Go back to the objective because if you set off without knowing where you are going how can you know that you have got there?

THE NEED FOR FLEXIBILITY IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT

As Brexit proves, constant change is here to stay. And with increased regulatory requirements and a greater focus on M&As, the speed and complexity of this change is growing. To adopt military terminology, no plan survives first contact with the enemy. In today’s 24/7 world, project managers, IT specialists, CIOs and their senior leadership teams have to adapt for change immediately and constantly.

All projects and business activity should reconcile with the overall organisational strategy. Once that strategy has changed all the pieces should change around it so that the strategy is not working in isolation. Managing successful change boils down to a coherent vision and strategy and there often won’t be a straight line to the end.

The purpose of the project manager and their team is to know where they are going, understand the overarching vision and, to echo sentiments expressed in the seminar I led recently, adapt accordingly as we come into contact with the enemy!