Top Tips for Organisational Change

Every now and then, I think to myself that I ought to capture the wisdom of many years’ change leadership efforts. Few of us get the chance to concentrate our efforts on facilitating change, so perhaps my experiences might help you, so here is some of it. It’s (probably) not in any particular order, although I have loosely grouped concepts together.

Do your work. You were probably not employed to change the organisation. Do the work you were hired to do, or risk losing respect, and with it, the ability to make any changes. Doing the ‘day job’ well gives you the platform and freedom to do other things.

Seek first to understand. There really is a reason why things are done the way they are, and it is not because your co-workers are incompetent or malicious. Sometimes they may be ignorant, but even that isn't the only reason. Listening is a key competence of any change agent.

Understand motivations. As you proselytize, be aware of what motivates the person to whom you are talking. Address these motivations. People ultimately change for their own reasons, not yours, so you have to find out what motivates them – and it may be something very different to what motivates you or your boss. Work with the gaps between what they are getting and what they want. Show people how your changes will make their lives easier, not more difficult.

“Do what you can, where you can, when you can”. There is generally too much to do, so why waste your time and energy banging your head against a brick wall – take action where you already have support. I see this as ‘lighting fires around the organisation’ – some flourish and some go out, use the ones that flourish to generate wildfires! And always remember that sometimes the organization needs to change to fit the process, and sometimes the process needs to change to fit the organization; it's easier to change the process.

Talk slowly. Explain ideas in a calm, measured tone of voice. Sometimes technical people speak at a hundred miles an hour, particularly when they are excited about an idea. Your tone should denote "wisdom of the ages" rather than "geeky excitement."

Be respectful. Don't ever look down on anybody, no matter what, not even in the privacy of your thoughts and never, ever, criticize people. There are problems with the process, sure. Criticise the process. Improve the process. Leave names out of it. A differing opinion does not mean ignorance, and ignorance does not mean stupidity. Always remember Marcus Aurelius “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”

Be careful with vocabulary. Words that means something positive to you might mean something different and negative to someone else. For example, “pilot” might mean “trying out a good idea” to you, but “they are experimenting on us” to your audience.

Establish an escape route. You cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs. If you are doing your job properly, you will eventually upset so many people that you need to get out. Determine how you can successfully get out, whether that means finding another job, going back to your old duties, or something else. Think about how and why you would make your escape.

Find a sponsor. Related to the above point – your effectiveness, and longevity, will be better if you (and others!) know that you have a senior sponsor in the organisation; someone who will back you when things are rough, someone who will listen to you when you have stuff to say, someone who will oil the wheels if necessary.

Find support. Find other people in the organization that share your views. Sometimes two voices are more convincing than one. It's also nice to talk to someone that agrees with you occasionally. The more respected these people are, and the more accessible they are to you, the better.

You have no real authority. You can talk about stuff, and you can make suggestions, but you can't force anybody to do something. Remember that.

Respect is your currency. The more people respect you, the more credibility you have. The more credibility you have, the more opportunities you'll have. Earn respect by your actions.

Cultivate champions. You need lots of advocates for the change – find them, feed them, make them experts, encourage them to actively promote the change, reward them.
Value resistance. You will frequently feel like you are not accomplishing very much. The resistance you feel is sending a message – figure out the message and act on it. Keep going... but consider circulating your CV!

Don’t worry, be happy. It's easy to get frazzled by all the things that are being done wrong. Stay calm. It will inspire confidence in you. Find small things to do that give you a feeling of accomplishment at work, and have good relationships with family and friends outside of work. You know, if it all does go to **** the world will still be there and you will still be alive!

It’s amazing what you can achieve if it doesn’t matter who gets the credit. If you make a change, and it's successful, don't gloat. Don't remind people it was your idea. Don't say anything at all. You know the truth – that it takes lots of individual efforts to make any change.

Take ownership. Take ownership of things that nobody owns and that are related to your change goals. If you assume ownership and lead in those areas, leadership will naturally fall to you. In time, you will accrete actual authority over the things of which you took ownership. Your actions will be more visible and you will earn more respect.

Work top-down, bottom-up, inside-out and outside-in. Simultaneously work on creating memes that change people's way of thinking and permeate the organisation. Direct some of your efforts at bottom-up change: lead by example and cajoling on the parts of the organisation with whom you have continual contact. Direct other efforts at top-down change: write essays and give presentations about the changes you want to make to people with authority.

One step at a time. Always remember, and talk about the big picture/vision for as long as you have a receptive audience, but when it comes to actual change, make it step by step. Start with high payoff changes to gain support for the more difficult ones later on.

Queue your thoughts. When you create a document advocating some sort of change, do not send it out straight away. Instead, wait a day and review it before sending it.
Acknowledge the past. It is nearly always the case that there is more right than wrong in the past, value and acknowledge this. If you find fault with everything, people will not take you as seriously. Pick something specific to work on.

Speak to real/known problems. Don't try to introduce an agile process for the sake of introducing process - talk about how it will solve real problems. Make sure they are problems management will recognize and to which the front line workforce will value a solution.

...and above all...

Be natural. Do not follow these or any other rules by rote, there is no ‘solution’ to change leadership – that’s what makes it such challenging fun. Instead, internalize the concepts and then do what comes naturally.


Geoff Roberts runs Hidden Resources, his own change leadership consultancy. He focuses on helping people create successful change in themselves, their teams and their organisations. Clients describe Geoff as being challenging, open-minded, creative, thoughtful, passionate, generous, straight-talking, friendly...
Starting his career as an analytical chemist , he moved to the water industry, where he became head of the company's quality regulatory efforts. During this time he developed his skills in organisational change and development. Geoff facilitated most and co-designed some of the major interventions that transformed the culture and performance of the organisation over a 15 year period. He now draws on that expertise in personal, team and organisational change to help improve personal and organisational performance. He does this by focusing primarily on how people need to change in order to facilitate wider change in the systems of which they are part - be they at home or work. Geoff has designed and delivered numerous coaching, team development, manager and leader training programmes as well as facilitating major organisational change.