Frank talks about the topic of change management.

Change management is multi-faceted - how would you explain it without becoming too complicated?

Frank: First of all: One must distinguish between classic change management and that in the IT sector. In the sense of IT change, it is about technical changes in the system due to the further development of systems and functional changes, meaning it is a process that results in changes to infrastructure and software. This involves questions about who is responsible, how and by whom the tests are conducted, how the commissioning process takes place, etc. Just to set the record straight.

Your question, however, is aimed at classic change management and here is my definition: Change management is fundamentally the idea of making a forthcoming change comprehensible and manageable for employees, customers, stakeholders, or however they may be referred to in a company. This initially sounds a bit vague, so I want to clarify it: The background is that people generally do not like change. Because change always has something a bit threatening about it; you are familiar with your surrounding environment and want to keep things as they are because that is what you know and are comfortable with. This applies to all of us. The electricity bill always looked like this - why should it suddenly look different? The newspaper always had a certain layout - why should that be different now, and so on. People do not like to deal with changes because they fear that changes may not lead to better outcomes. Change management is an approach to alleviate these fears, keep concerns minimal, and ensure the transition from starting situation A to a new, hopefully better situation B is as simple and quick as possible.

But this probably does not happen overnight?

Frank: No, it is a process, one that is also divided into different phases for those affected, that is, the target group that must carry the change for it to succeed. At the beginning, there is often shock or euphoria - one is outraged or happy about the change. Then comes rejection and resistance, with the motto: "They cannot be serious; I simply won’t do it!" Then the mood curve goes down because one does not know how to deal with the new situation. This leads to a drop in work performance because one loses interest in work. When the first measures commence and one has rationally understood that there is definitely no going back, then one tries the new approach - and hopefully discovers that it is better than the old one - and manages quite well with the new situation. The mood curve rises again - and with it, productivity increases. Ideally, if the measure was sensible, one reaches a higher level after the change process.

Where does change management intervene in this process?

Frank: It is best to start during the requirement analysis to establish corresponding mechanisms that will communicatively support the project, clarify its goals, and encourage participation - thereby involving the employees from the very beginning. Change management aims to limit the mood curve so that it does not have significant downward spikes. It is about ensuring that the affected individuals do not slip into the “I am unhappy, so I will just withdraw” mindset, but rather quickly become familiar with the new situation.

Okay, understood. But it still seems a bit theoretical. Do you have a practical example?

Frank: I once had a project regarding the introduction of a new procurement system. At that time, the entire procurement of the company relied on a single team or rather its manager, who was doing her job with a card index system. Don’t get me wrong: It worked excellently for her - but it was completely outdated. Besides that, as part of the process, the inventory management was also to be re-conceived - and a card index system would have been more of a hindrance than a help. In any case: The employee was truly distressed and was severely obstructing the change process. No one was allowed to touch that card box, to put it bluntly. It required a lot of sensitivity and interaction to explain to her exactly what the goal of the change was and why in the end everyone would benefit - including her. That is anyway one of the crucial aspects of change management: Employees or those affected must understand that the change is beneficial to them.

Means: Communication is key?

Frank: Indeed, it is crucial to reach employees or the affected individuals and stakeholders. For a change manager, it is therefore essential to understand how communication works within the respective company. It is not about merely using seemingly obvious channels such as the intranet, but one must closely examine how the information reaches the target group. For example, we once had a project in a publishing house. In fact, the focal point of communication there was the good old "bulletin board" next to the elevators, where new postings were made daily on each floor. Everyone passed by there multiple times a day - and was informed. Such things must be considered in one’s communication strategy. If the wrong channel is chosen, the information ends up in nirvana - and not where it is supposed to go.

Why not simply send an email to all employees? That is certainly much less effort - and reaches everyone.

Frank: You would think so, but depending on the employees you are dealing with, it is not just about the classical office infrastructure - and then an email simply does not reach them. We always assume that change only affects the so-called knowledge workers in the office, but there are plenty of employees who actually do not have system access, and you would be surprised how often that is the case. For them, there must be alternative solutions to reach them. You can certainly then use the tool of employee meetings, nowadays also called town hall meetings, but those are very labor-intensive - and whether the effort justifies the benefit in the end is something I would question at least.

And how do you reach such employees, if not by email or information events - not every company has a "bulletin board"...?

Frank: Often, it is the very simple stories - but they grab attention. Let me give you an example: In an ongoing project, we initiated a poster campaign. There were already templates from the contracting company; we picked those up and further developed them. To give you an idea: We needed a necessary reach of 25,000 to 30,000 employees - and traditional communication systems would quickly reach their limits. We created short texts with catchy illustrations for funny, sometimes provocative, but in any case memorable posters and triggered the necessary information process with them. Because the employees were already familiar with such poster campaigns, they were perfectly on board this way. The initiative was enormously successful. We started with 200 posters - and today are at a print run of 3000.

Reading is good, doing it yourself would be even better to understand. You know the Confucius quote: "Tell me, and I forget. Show me, and I remember. Let me do it, and I retain it." How do you ensure that the target group also "practices" the innovation?

Frank: One must convince people, as I said, that the innovation supports them and makes their life easier, thereby providing them with a personal benefit. And testing is naturally an important factor. I had a project where it was about consolidating the printer infrastructure at a well-known insurance company. We set up a few of the new devices in the cafeteria and invited employees to bring in their recent vacation photos to print on the new machine. This provided everyone with an easy access - and they had no fear of testing the device. This playful approach, which alleviates the fear of the new, is a crucial point in change management. But again: It is never a single measure that works; rather, it is the mix - and the digital aspect certainly plays a significant role. We emphasize on our website for good reason that we are the implementation strategists for the digital world. Digital measures expand our toolbox. We have, so to speak, not only a hammer and a saw but also a drill, an angle grinder, and even a CNC milling machine at our disposal.

Let’s go back to the employee with the card index system. How did you manage to convince her that a new system would also be advantageous for her personally?

Frank: I talked a lot with her, demonstrated a lot to her, addressed all her concerns - and eventually, she realized that many issues which personally burdened her a lot - and also slowed down the projects - could be significantly more pleasant and manageable through modern procedures. This company was dealing with the logistics of fiber optic cabling. Their configuration is labor-intensive and difficult, as each cable and each connection route must be precisely manufactured for the corresponding construction project. And before the change, the process was to check what one exactly needed, produce it, deliver it, store it, and ship it. What was to be made possible through this adjustment - and ultimately became reality - was that one could no longer offer just individual configurations but had a variance of material cables that was always in stock. This allowed the processing time to be significantly accelerated. This, in turn, was of great importance to the company’s customers, as an order that previously took months could now be placed within a week. I won’t even start on the resulting competitive advantage over the competition. In any case: When the employee, who initially resisted the removal of her card index system, saw all this - and the first thank-you letters from customers landed on her desk - she eventually came around.

What is the biggest obstacle in change management?

Frank: In fact, it is typically that it is often integrated into the project much too late. The project has begun, is already in implementation - and the impacts on the employees are also known since this was already analyzed during requirement gathering. But somehow, no one cared that there would be resistance from the workforce. And then it becomes clear that the projected outcomes of what has been implemented do not come to fruition because the employees do not implement them, holding the new processes unnecessary or simply continuing as before. And then everything that has been done in the project so far is wasted money.

And what is the key factor for success?

Frank: The personal approach to the affected individuals. One must truly empathize with them, understand their language and communication channels, their challenges. One must understand how communication works within the respective company. And there is no standard toolbox for that, only individual solutions for the respective clients on how to reach the workforce and how to explain that the change is necessary and beneficial for all. Eventually, it always works. It is just a question of how much time and effort you impose on the employees.