Got room to move?

I've been reflecting on the slightly bizarre but reasonably common scenario of being hired as the change manager but not given the scope to operate successfully.

Usually, this is when the project manager, workstream lead or another role you report directly to sets such narrow parameters for your activity that you cannot gather adequate inputs to develop your outputs.

The biggest constraint is, of course, access to the business.

Next is being excluded from important meetings, in which you can gather valuable input and offer insights on how to improve adoption by shaping the design and delivery.

The third is being asked repeatedly where the detailed delivery change plan is.

However, the project has stayed interminably in the discovery phase, and there is no informed view of the future state with which to inform that plan.

Fourth is being second-guessed about every action you take and every workshop you need to run.

Fifth is being asked for more and more comms when there's nothing to report.

I've had several assignments in which even a workshop to gather the change impact assessment was questioned.

"Why would you need to do that?" is something I've heard several times.?

When you live and breathe change, it can be hard to take.

But, it comes with the brief.

Project managers and workstream leads are stakeholders, too (even if you don't put them formally on the list!).

Where this comes from is complex.

If I have to pinpoint it, this happens when one or more of the following occurs.

1. An external party has reviewed the project and said it needs a change manager (but no one on the project team has said that!).
2. The project team has fallen foul of the business and is dead scared of anyone engaging with them.
3. The project is a watermelon (behind schedule and over budget), but no one admits this to senior sponsors.
4. Your direct manager is pretty green.
5. ?Your direct report has a command-and-control approach to delivery and thinks outcomes equal widgets.

So what do you do?

First of all, you have to understand the nature of the resistance.

Is it one from the list above or something else?

Then, doing the 'what does this stakeholder', 'think, feel, believe and do' analysis from the book can be helpful.

Then, you can look at your range of potential interventions to improve your scope of activity.

Keeping cool and delivering great work, relative to your span of influence, is first.

In some circumstances, it might be helpful to talk about running some small-scale experiments and then clearly articulating the value those experiments could deliver (make it some win that the project desperately needs at that time).

Do not mention experiments if you have an extreme command and control type of manager!

Other things to try are these.

1. Use existing relationships to influence your manager positively.
2. Get that first run on the board and use it to claim more scope.
3. Demonstrate your creative problem-solving skills in addressing a thorny problem that has dogged progress.
4. Demonstrate a collaborative, can-do attitude in assisting other project members.
5. Have a low-key conversation with your manager about the inputs and outputs of change management.
6. Run a meeting and demonstrate your outcomes-focused approach, facilitation and rapport-building skills. Could you get a win that has so far eluded the project team, such as access to someone or something that would help inform the design and delivery?
7. Have a gentle exploratory conversation with your manager to help understand more of what is going on for them.

If you use number seven, remember the open-ended questioning approach, such as,

"I was just wondering..."

"Could you help me understand..."

"How do you think it could look if we..."

"What do you think makes you feel that way about xxx" (This one is a bit more pointed!)

Memorably, I joined one project team where the relationship with the business had broken down so much that their last meeting had degenerated into a shouting match.

When I started, I was told that under no circumstances was I allowed to talk to the business.

The project team had put their wagons in a circle and were ready for a fight!

I tried not to show my hand when I was told this.

(Learning to keep your powder dry is another critical skill of the change manager!)

Happily, we got to a much better place.

I mainly used items 2 and 6 from the list above to help get there.

We are bridges and conduits between the project team and the business.

We can be the glue that draws the aspirations of the business and project team together.

It's helpful to get in front of the business by yourself.

In this case, I told the business lead, in a one-on-one meeting, "Hey, I'm new here, and I understand there's been some issues with the project. I'd really like to understand what they are from your perspective and work out how I can help resolve them."

Nine times out of ten, this is all it needs.

Stakeholders are desperate to be heard and understood.

If you go cap and hand to hear what they need and how you can help, they'll be with you.

When you make assurances to them, you must deliver.

Also, from the book, "Do What You Say You're Going to Do, in the time frame you said you would do it."

Finally, on a personal note, my daughter, the illustrator of Change Cat, completed her 7 months of chemotherapy for advanced Hodgkin's Lymphoma on February 29th.

It was a leap-year finish!

Thanks to all those who sent messages of support as we went through the process.

She could not have been braver, and I could not be more proud of her.

Note that the power of the red hair is strong as it started to grow back after the eighth chemo!

As always, to your change success!

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