Area Management: Leading Multi-Unit teams - Leading Change and Evolving Your Operations (6 of 6)

Series content:

1. Introduction.
2. The Area Manager.
3. Operational Excellence.
4. Engaging Your Team.
5. Executing You Plans:
6. Managing Change and Evolving Your Operations: You Are Here! (read time: 9 min)

LEADING CHANGE AND EVOLVING YOUR OPERATIONS

Multi-unit businesses have had to react to the challenges wrought by economic instability, technological innovation and altered consumer behaviour. In turn they have been reliant on the operational line to enact and implement transformational changes, with AMs positioned between the centre and the units – being charged with efficient and effective execution.

The process of conceiving and implementing change is ridden with problems, not least the levels of resistance and inertia to change at both an organisational and individual level:

• Resistance from the organisation: Change has become a byword for extra work, eliciting a high degree of dissatisfaction, skepticism and resistance. Managers are apt to be reactive to change rather than proactive because of the negative consequences for their work-life balance and perceived threats to security and status. Organisations have generally grown through being successful in addressing markets in specific ways in the past. The strategy, structure and processes of the organisation, supported by the belief in ‘the way we do things around here’, have been enough for past success and therefore are formidable barriers to change. There is also an interest in maintaining stability since many of the people may have insufficient skills and capabilities for the new world – leaving many organisations little choice but to ‘change the people’.
• Resistance from the Individual: Although organisations press workers to embrace change, there are strong psychological reasons why people resist:

o   Disorientation: First, there is the dimension of ‘future shock’ – a suspicion that change is out of control. Wave after wave of change couched in positive managerial rhetoric is juxtaposed against its reality of disruption and chaos for many people in the middle and lower tiers of the organisation.

o   Lack of benefit: Most individuals, rather than embracing change, are fearful of its disruption to their identity and well-being. Change upset routine and habit, often leading to restrictions on freedom and autonomy. Individuals are often attached psychologically to the past ‘when things were better’.

In terms of transformational change, one of the most influential contributions to effecting high performance change within organisations is provided by Kotter and Cohen (2002). In their eight-step model of change implementation, they bring together many of the elements required for lasting transformational change:

1. Create a sense of urgency: Teach process with a sense of pace and dynamism.
2. Build a guiding team: Ensure actors have skills, credibility and organisational connections.
3. Create visions: Sensible, clear and uplifting representation of the ‘to be state’.
4. Communicate: Widely broadcast the goals and strategy to induce commitment.
5. Empower action: Remove obstacles that impinge achievement.
6. Produce short-term wins: Provide the process with credibility, attracting further resources and momentum.
7. Don’t let up: Consolidate early changes and create ‘wave after wave’ of changes.
8. Make change stick: Nurture a new culture and embed group norms of behaviour and shared values.

However, its concept of pace and short-term wins to galvanise the organisation have merit in organisations where levels of inertia and resistance are high.

With Regards to Incremental Change:

1. Establish a point of view: create a credible, coherent, compelling and commercial POV based on hard data.
2. Write a manifesto: infect others with your ideas. Capture their imagination with a picture of how you can resolve their discomfort.
3. Create coalition: assemble a group of colleagues who share your vision and passion. Present yourself as a coordinated group speaking in a coordinated voice.
4. Pick your targets: Go after the suits. Find some that are searching new ideas and, if necessary, blend your ideals a bit to fit their goals.
5. Co-opt and neutralise: Disarm and co-opt adversaries rather than humiliating and demeaning them. Reciprocity wins converts; ranting leaves you isolated and powerless.
6. Find a translator: find someone who can build a bridge between you and the people with influence.
7. Win small, win early, win often: Demonstrate your ideas work. Start small. As you record of wins grows longer, you’ll find it easier to make the transition from an isolated initiative to an integral part of the business.

Mindsets and the Up-Sell

The process of implementing change is dependent on creating an environment in which colleagues are in a state of ‘readiness’ with mindsets that are adjusted to embrace rather than resist.

How do AMs Change Mindsets?

• Review and address own mindset and self-esteem.
• Rest follower mindset:

o   Stasis is not an option; constant ‘refreshment and change’ message.

o   Focus members on controllable elements.

o   Reinforce sense of contribution and importance.

o   Address willful saboteurs and blockers.

o   Create capacity through task allocation.

o   Sanction patch ups and workarounds.

To this day, the best change team I was part of was that of NutriCentre, a subsidiary of Tesco PLC – as somebody in charge of leading a large team through change I sought to really understand the challenge we faced and the benefits of our wider strategy – that allowed me to communicate the benefits of change to the people.

How do AMs Upsell Benefits?

1. Make a cost-benefit analysis of change. (benefits – costs = outcome).
2. Avoid overblown benefit statements – don’t polish a turd.
3. Present a realistic summery of the benefits (such as efficiency) and the initial personal costs (maybe time and effort).
4. Provide time and space to ‘learn and unlearn’.

It is important to emphasis that, during the selling of new changes, benefits should not be oversold and costs (time and effort) should be realistically expressed.

Having been involved in several change initiatives learning how to overcome objections at every stage of the change process is a necessary skill AMs need to master.

How do AMs Overcome Objections?

1. Acknowledge and empathise.
2. Make specific - get to the heart of the issue.
3. Overcome / answer their concerns and questions.
4. Asses reaction (are they hot / cold – clarify your assumption with the colleague).
5. Agree action (close!)

Leads and Champions

AMs cannot successfully initiate change on their own, after they master the change brief they then co-ordinate process leads or ‘champions’ within the portfolio to help train out the changes. Colleagues are more receptive to change if they see other colleagues adapting and adopting it.

During any change initiative it is really important AMs don’t hold back on asking questions. Your credibility rests on how well you can communicate the change, so don’t just ask ‘why’, but also ‘what’ and ‘how’ you will execute the initiative.

How do AMs understand change initiatives?

• Five key questions:

o   Aim: what is this change designed to do?

o   Effect: What impact will it have on operations?

o   Difference: How is it different from what has gone before?

o   Content: How does it work?

o   Process: What is the timetable for implementation

• Familiarisation:

o   Training and immersion

I have seen many ill-conceived or badly thought out change initiatives. As an AM you are faced with a choice: to accept the change initiative ‘lock, stock and barrel’ or seek to make (legal) alterations that make the initiative more workable. I have known of a lot of AMs that fear sanctions from the centre for non-compliance and therefor passively accept what they ‘have been told to do’. However, braver, more self-confident leaders will not accept the status quo, either suggesting modifications to the centre or making adaptions themselves following consultation with their teams.

Continuous Process Improvement

AMs must lead on and encourage units to practice continuous improvement, by making micro-process changes to help improve the speed, cost, dependability, flexibility,

How do AMs Improve Processes?

1. Analyse: Gather data.
2. Observe: watch operations ‘in the field’; spot the ‘limiters’.
3. Plan: Draw up ‘resourced’ plan of remedial action.
4. Do: Delegate plan of action with agreed milestones to nominated personnel.
5. Review / reward: Regularly monitor and recognise added value performance.
6. Embed: Incorporate improved process as BAU activity.
7. Rollout: Rollout across the portfolio.
8. Isolate / tolerate failure: If process ‘enhancements’ fail, accept the cost – move on.

Knowledge diffusion and Innovation

Although standardised operations and process are important for multi-unit businesses, the most successful examples I have observed over the years are actually those units that, although keeping certain immutable facets of their operation – (such as FOH and BOH processes) – tactically adapt themselves to the peculiarities of their local mico-market. Encouraging bottom-up tacit knowledge in order to evolve the offer or operations is hampered in most businesses due to a number of issues:

Barriers to Bottom-Up Knowledge Transference

1. Lack of trust: A belief among innovators that their ideas will be diluted / stopped.
2. Different cultures / languages / frames of reference: inability to transfer ideas because of differing / resistant perceptions, attitudes and beliefs.
3. Lack of time: Distance and BAU activities prevent transmission / adoption.
4. Status / power: Management layers and complex structures prevent information flowing.
5. Knowledge hoarding: Possessors of innovative knowledge / ideas guard it for reasons of ‘internal competitive advantage’.
6. Error tolerance: A belief that if ideas fail to work, they will be blamed for mistakes.

Solutions to these barriers include; senior field visits and ‘back to the floor’ weeks; managerial rotation; and active feedback loops (i.e. daily weekly collection of insights by head office from front line operators). Also, conference events, post-meeting meals and such can encourage ‘social capital’

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

Sources: own experience, observations of others, Many different books!