EPISODE 8: How to Get People Onboard with Your Processes

How to Streamline Your Processes - Episode 8/8

You Made it to the End

In this episode (8) We will discuss the BIG problem - How do you get people to come along with your new processes?

Getting people onboard is the hardest job for anyone implementing change. This episode looks at why people resist and what we can do to overcome it.

Hi, I’m Rebecca. A business operations adviser helping busy business owners win their time back.

Let's get into it.

Why is it hard to get people to change?

There are 3 main reasons why people don't do your new process

How Reasons - I don't know how to do it

If people don't know what to do, what steps they should take, pretty obvious that they won't do it. We need to ensure we provide training and instructions.

Why Reasons - I don't understand why we are doing this

If people don't understand why the new process exists, and specifically why it's good for them; they will resist, they will get confused, they will get frustrated. Ensure everyone understands what is in it for the business and for them.

Fear Reasons - I am afraid of the change and what it might mean

This is the biggest barrier. Fear can be that people fear failure or they can feel like the process is coming for their job! Either way they will either avoid it or worse sabotage. We must address these fears and not avoid them to succeed.

How do we overcome these challenges?

Best way: involve them

From the start involve everyone. If they are part of the team the refines the processes and makes the decisions about what will change they will automatically be onboard. It's their project. Sometimes this isn't possible - for example if you have too many team members.

If involvement isn't possible.

If it't not feasible then I recommend these 4 things instead

Appoint a process champion

A process champion is someone who knows everything and is very willing to find out if they don't. This person is the go-to person for any questions and makes sure everyone is compliant. They are usually junior in the team but they are given authority to chase up non-compliance.

Focus on messaging

I highly recommend reading Switch by Chip and Dan Heath. This book gives exceptional advice on how to shape your communications around change. They describe the three elements you need to focus on - 'The Path' which is where are we going, what are the steps; 'The Rider' which is our analytical side and 'The Elephant' which is our emotional side. We must address all these areas in our communications

Align your managers

If you have managers you need to make sure they are bought-in. They hold the keys to whether their teams will adhere or not. Can you build it into reporting, can you include it in their bonus, can you make sure you talk about it at every one-on-one?

Take your time

Plan in way more time than you expect. Moving peoples minds takes a lot more effort than you expect but you must get it right for the process to be accepted.

That's a wrap

In this series we have:

• Understood why we would want to streamline and what can go wrong (Week 1)
• Defined our goals using my Sustainable Profit Model (Week 2)
• Identified what is happening in our processes using the A.I.D.E. model (Week 3)
• Used the IF...THEN... technique to identify what we want to improve (Week 3)
• Prioritised which areas we will focus on (Week 4)
• Designed improved processes (Week 5)
• Learned how to track progress (Week 6)
• Learned how to take the pain our of documenting (Week 7)
• How to ensure your team get (and stay) onboard with the changes (this episode)

Each journey will of course be unique and you will need to adapt to your specific circumstances but I hope the series has helped you shape a better business.

If you have any questions or comments please do get in touch.

Thanks for being part of this summer series.