C5: Go Live
Checklists, scenario planning and contingencies
How to WIN: Organisational cost of sexual harassment
Research by WiN found that almost half of women respondents had been sexually harassed at work. For one woman in two, the harassment was verbal and for one in three it was physical, WiN’s Africa report on Sexual Haranssment in the Media found. Fear of reprisals is the most common driver of non-reporting, it said. But a lack of faith in management and a lack of awareness in reporting systems also plays a part. For more information read the report here
The cost to the business of failing to take action against SH includes:
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INTRODUCTION: C5 Go Live
What is covered�in this lesson?
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SECTION 1: Checklists and phasing in
STOP & THINK: What do you think about the project checklist? What would you include?
SECTION 2: Plan Bs and pivots
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT: Think about your project. Do you see a significant threat to it? What could that look like? Come up with two or three scenarios and write 100 words on each on how you might respond to the threats or opportunities they pose.
INTRODUCTION: C5 Go Live
Section 1: Checklists and phasing in
7-step project checklist before your kick-off
Paying attention to the implementation of a change project is highly likely to pay off in the long term, achieving objectives and business goals. Here are a few suggestions to add to your checklist, according to managers.org.uk:
So-called “just in time” training should be scheduled, especially for key people or teams, close to the go-live date so that new skills are used quickly.
Ensure a facilitator is on hand to give on-desk support after formal training.
For example, at the Financial Times, in 2016 training on a software package that was going to be key to making a new content publishing schedule work, was rolled out desk by desk just before each team was expected to use the schedule.
Have a go-live schedule and make sure your plan is clear. This is important for messaging across the team or department - the date that everyone knows this project is going to start and what is going to happen on Day One.
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SECTION 1: C5 Checklists and phasing in
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7-step project checklist before your kick-off
Make sure you have enough staff on hand to deal with unforeseen issues on the day. It’s better to have too many people rather than too few to ensure a smooth transition. Again at the Financial Times teams would often “staff up” on a launch day - so they could handle any issues. Most of the time the extra hands on duty were not needed. But it is better to be safe than sorry!
Be confident that you have already secured a level of buy-in among key staff who you will need to make this project work. You are likely to need change agents to lead the project and help you deliver it successfully.
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SECTION 1: C5 Checklists and phasing in
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Ensure that any new roles and responsibilities are clear.
Ask yourself:
Do not leave grey areas because this can lead to confusion and people will question the validity of the project.
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7-step project checklist before your kick-off
You can read more on change management checklist here
Lastly, make sure you have metrics so that you will know whether the implementation was successful. In the case of the “broadcast” schedule at the FT, metrics included not only publishing content at 5am initially but also by how much traffic and subscriptions increased.
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SECTION 1: C5 Checklists and phasing in
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Have a back-up plan so that you will be able to deal with any disruption on the day. Hopefully, you would have already secured staff buy-in by this stage - and mitigated against the risk of any disgruntled employees. Similarly, you would have weighed any risks over introducing new software. After all, a failed project can harm reputations.
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Organisational checklist: training, teams, timelines
Roll out training before implementation to make sure staff or users are prepared and schedule it as close to going live as possible.
But make sure people can use their new skills quickly so do not leave much time between being trained and putting what was learnt into practice. This reduces the risk of employees forgetting their new skills. You may need a facilitator or enforcer to sit with recently trained staff to ensure adoption of skills.
In terms of your teams, your key groups are:
Implementers - who are going to make sure the plan is carried out;
Team leaders whose help you will need to make the broader plan work; .
Change agents - who are going to ensure the plan is delivered;
Senior leaders - who may not be directly involved but their support will be key to making it work.
Regarding your timelines, clearly demarcate when a project starts. This helps to establish a boundary between the old way of doing things and the new way.
Have milestones along the path to transformation so that you can monitor your progress.
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SECTION 1: C5 Checklists and phasing in
Image from: Unsplash
Checking in: brainstorming v blamestorming
Most projects will have pros and cons, risks and rewards. To find out how the project is going it is vital to collect feedback from staff.
An effective way to doing this is brainstorming ideas from your team. Ensure it is an inclusive exercise and encourage everyone to contribute. You can also consult other department across the business, if necessary and depending on the scope of your project.
Ensure that you are collecting feedback at regular intervals and make any adjustments to the project as required.
Where brainstorming is finding solutions to a problem, blamestorming is rather different.
It is finding someone or something to blame for mistakes or failures or when things start to go wrong. Needless to say, it is an unproductive way to manage change.
The most effective way to manage this environment is to be transparent and deal with problems quickly. Do not let them fester and spiral out of control. Collaborate, build relationships and pull people together to resolve issues.
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SECTION 1: C5 Checklists and phasing in
Image from: Unsplash
Phasing in a project
When it comes to rolling out a project, it can prove effective to break it down into steps, starting with a smaller desk operation in a newsroom.
By targeting one desk, it can act as a test run. A pilot scheme is a great way to experiment with a smaller group where the business is not being put at risk and then make adjustments before any major rollout.
This will help you to identify quick wins which you can reward. These small steps will help you to achieve success overall and deliver change in the long term.
When the Financial Times rolled out the “broadcast” schedule, a planned list of global publication times for content, the Markets desk was used as the test bed - ie one desk continuously hitting a 5am audience to build up subscription share.
In terms of phasing in changes to print production in 2013 at the FT, so headcount could be redeployed into digital roles, the project started by creating a desk of six production journalists. The team - and working practices - were built up over a period of about 18 months.
Your organisation may not have the luxury of time but you can adapt the approach of taking small steps to secure quick wins, to prove the success of the project and scale up quickly.
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SECTION 1: C5 Checklists and phasing in
Stop & Think
Let’s stop and think for a moment:
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SECTION 1: C5 Checklists and phasing in
Section 2: Plan Bs and pivots
What-ifs and scenario planning
Scenario planning takes into consideration a specific set of uncertainties that could affect a company.
It is a way that businesses can plan for their strategic direction and also factor in any scenarios that may affect their objectives.
The UK leaving the European Union and the coronavirus pandemic are two recent examples of “What-Ifs” that businesses have had to react to rapidly.
Scenario planning begins by exploring the current situation, analysing forecasts and assessing internal and external factors to come up with plausible scenarios that may happen. You can then develop tactics to cope with them and identify various tipping points that would trigger your plan of action. Read more on scenario planning here.
If you have a plan you are more likely to be able to respond to an unforeseen event successfully and remain resilient in the face of adversity, which we will explore in the next slide.
SECTION 2: C5 Plan Bs and pivots
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Image from: FourWeekMBA
Unforeseen challenges and pivoting quickly
Deloitte looked at how companies dealt with the unpredictability of the pandemic.
Businesses that bounced back typically showed similar traits: they had been prepared and flexible, they collaborated across the company and had high levels of trust.
The more prepared you are the more likely you will be able to tackle any obstacles to change.
Also, remember that the need to evaluate threats and opportunities and respond to them quickly is ongoing, as reported in the Business Daily.
This means that if you see a significant threat to the success of your project, you will need to change tactics. It’s vital here to understand the “why” - what’s going wrong and why and what needs to change and why. Then communicate it and sell it to your team.
SECTION 2: C5 Plan Bs and pivots
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Image from: Unsplash
“Have a Plan B, and maybe even a Plan C. Because unexpected changes are most difficult to handle when we don’t have backup.”
GERMANY KENT
Best-selling author
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SECTION 2: C5 Plan Bs and pivots
Quote source: Plan B Quotes (18 quotes) (goodreads.com)
Maintaining clear lines of responsibility
When it comes to delivering change, clear lines of authority and management structure are important for the success of the project.
If you have been given a new brief as a change agent, make sure your role is clear and is communicated department-wide.
Similarly if a team is being created, clarity will be needed around how they interact with other teams and how their new roles fit into the wider picture and why this will benefit the company’s business goal.
If you are a senior manager appointing change agents, ensure their roles are spelt out, in writing, so their objectives are clear and the department knows what’s expected.
Without a clear line of responsibility, lines can become blurred, leading to confusion and challenge. Opponents will lobby against change agents’ authority to deliver, particularly if there is a sympathetic ear at senior leadership level.
Change projects can fail over time because:
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SECTION 2: C5 Plan Bs and pivots
Support staff and contingencies
Who’s going to help you deliver the change project?
Look after your change agents - or if you are a change agent, look after yourself. Leading, managing and making change happen is stressful and you will need support.
It is key that senior leadership support their change agents because they can be at risk of burnout in the face of stiff resistance. Change programmes can take months or even years, despite the accelerated pace in the pandemic.
Ongoing resistance can take its toll on individuals. Their colleagues may not see them as overseeing a broad strategy, and refuse to buy in to their “individual” plan. That is why it is vital that change agents are supported.
The best workplaces will set up a management peer support network or forum where challenges around change can be discussed and ways forward resolved.
Always have a Plan B - in case things go wrong. It’s important to know how you may plan to turn things around.
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SECTION 2: C5 Plan Bs and pivots
Image from: Unsplash
Quiz Assignment
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SECTION 2: C5 Plan Bs and pivots
End of Lesson Five
MODULE C: CHANGE MANAGEMENT
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Assignment part 5
Answer these questions on a fifth slide:
MODULE C: CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Assignment part 5