Change Impact
It’s not a secret that implementing changes in your organization can feel impossible. How often have you started a change only to get waylaid by things not meshing quite the way you thought.
This could be applications not playing well with each other, a feature on a new software you *thought* you were going to have not working the way you thought, a cumbersome review process, or even team members not getting the information they need to do their tasks.
These are all scenarios that can and *will* go wrong in any type of change you implement in your organization. And it can leave you incredibly frustrated.
So what can you do about it?
Let’s talk about change impact!
We all know that a change impacts our organization—that’s why it’s a change! But sometimes, as business owners, we get so excited about the new and shiny that we don’t take the time to tap on the brakes and study the impact of that change.
One of the most helpful ways to assess the impact of our change is to study any gaps we might find when implementing this change.
This means really examining upstream (things that happen before the new process) and downstream (things that happen after the new process) to determine what activities may or may not be carried through thoroughly.
For instance, if you’re implanting a new timekeeping system for your employees, the upstream processes would be
Employees are able to clock in and out easily
Time is tracked appropriately
The software can be installed where it is accessible to employees, but time reporting is securely stored.
In this same scenario, the downstream processes are:
Managers are notified of the time to be approved.
Time exceptions are tracked (i.e., reporting outside normal working hours)
The time file is sent to payroll processing in a format they can process.
Now, between these items, many things could go wrong: files fail, employees can overwrite their own time, managers don’t get appropriate notification, or even the hours aren’t tracked or calculated appropriately.
Before we get too excited and start implementing change, these are gaps we need to at least think about and plan for. For example, if a payroll file fails, how will you know (before payday)? During your change process, this is a good question to ask. And if there isn’t a fallback, then it’s time to manually create one, such as calling the payroll company to confirm.
Now remember, many times, these gaps do get resolved eventually, but until then, make sure you have a way to monitor.
Looking for more help on managing the impact of your change? Check out my mini guide on tracking and understanding your implementation gaps. Sign up to get your copy here!
