At the 2016 Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP) 2016 Conference, one of the talks that caught my eye was called Top 7 Insights, Taking ECM to the Next Level by Jacqueline Iny. This post represents part 2 of 2.
5. Let the client do the work. I had to really think about this one for a minute and then it hit me when the presenter said “stick with your expertise”. I must admit, I am quite guilty of this from time to time. In an effort to move things forward, I have made assumptions about a client’s business or industry and while it may have moved things forward, I may not have necessarily had all of the information I needed. The client knows their business better than anyone else and as a change consultant, it is my responsibility to draw that information out of them and let the client do the work that they should be doing for the particular effort.
6. Design and Establish a Change Management Quick Approach. One of the great things about being in the consulting business, is that the scenery changes and you get the opportunity to work with lots of different clients across diverse industries. That being said, while not all change efforts are the same, developing an OCM ‘framework’ can help you to hit the ground running more quickly. This can be as simple as making a quick list of “to do” items in the first week of an engagement. Some of my quick approach items include an OCM kick off, which helps to answer many questions about the client and their culture, standard templates for Stakeholder analysis, communications planning and the case for change. Having a consistent approach to the tools you utilize can help provide faster and more effective client results.
7. Resistance is a gift. This one also took me a little longer to grasp, but this insight connects with #4 above in this manner. Sometimes, resistance is necessary due to a lack of the information needed to make the right decision or recommendation. AS a change professional, we should excel at resistance. Not only resisting when we need additional information but noticing when a client is resisting for perhaps the same reason.
All in all, after really thinking through all of these, this ended up being one of the better presentations I attended during the conference. Taking many of the basic tenants that we follow as change professionals and turning them around a bit, can lead to new and improved ways of tacking an engagement and ultimately providing client satisfaction.
