We've all been there:  You work really hard on a project, sometimes over a period of months, and finally it's completed.  You've done it on time, on budget, and it's delivered results in excess of what everyone had hoped.  You think you're in line for public recognition, if not a nomination for Employee of the Year.  But instead, your boss just says "That's done?  Good.  It's been sucking up too much of your time and I have this other thing I need you to work on."

Image from Marc Johns.

People who favor this management style will tell you that it's not a good idea to let employees think too highly of their accomplishments or rest on their laurels because it will result in a low-performing culture where everyone feels like they should be rewarded just for showing up in the morning.  However, the truth is that organizations which never stop to savour success and acknowledge accomplishments are creating a culture of 'never-good-enough' negativity that eventually stymies the ability to innovate and change.

Look under the hood of any successful innovative or creative organization and you'll find a positive culture that takes the time to acknowledge - and celebrate - success.  It doesn't have to be complicated or even cost a lot of money - creating a positive culture is really just about injecting some gratitude into day-to-day activities:  "Thanks for doing such a great job - I appreciate it."

Why is this important for change management?  Because when you create a negative culture of neglecting to acknowledge or celebrate success, it becomes harder and harder for employees to drag themselves to the next project.  When they know that no amount of extra effort is going to win them recognition or appreciation, their motivation to become engaged in a project diminishes.  Change cycles become longer, resistance becomes more entrenched, and eventually the organization becomes bogged down in its own negativity, unwilling and unable to move forward.

What's more, a negative culture becomes precarious:  In a positive environment, delivering bad news doesn't derail existing progress, and resilient employees are more easily motivated to action.  In a negative environment, bad news or additional business challenges become just another depressing headache that further demoralizes employees and gives them another reason not to make an effort.

What can you do as a leader?  Positive cultures don't just happen - they're created.  Here's how:

1.  Remember that taking time to acknowledge and celebrate success will energize employees for the next project - not make them rest on their laurels.

2.  Successful leaders cultivate a sense of gratitude for the people around them, and express that gratitude on a daily basis

3.  You can set an example by having a positive attitude around the office.  That doesn't mean pretending there aren't challenges to be met and work to be done - it just means taking a positive, resilient approach to those challenges.

4.  Employees just finished a big (successful) project and want to have a Friday lunch celebration?  Don't rain on their parade by making a fuss about a 2-hour lunch - join them!

BONUS TIP:  Positive workplaces have less turnover, which is another way they create healthier bottom lines!

'Resiliency' is one of those words, when used in the context of people and workforces, which tend to sound a little touchy-feely/HR department-ish and the kind of thing you can safely ignore.  The truth, however, is that resilient employees, and a resilient workforce, are crucial to a successfully innovative organization.  The more resilient your employees, the more likely you'll be able to implement new strategies effectively and efficiently.

Resiliency in the workplace doesn't just happen.  It's built over time, and while individuals can help themselves become more resilient, it's more effective if they're supported by their managers and by the organization as a whole.

Assessing resiliency is an important part of the change management process - but it needs to happen well before any change is implemented.  Ideally, before you undertake any change initiatives, you'll ensure you've built some resiliency within the organization.

Characteristics of resiliency

How can you determine whether your organization is resilient enough to embrace change?

Research shows that resilient individuals display specific characteristics.  Though not all experts agree on every characteristic, the four most commonly cited are the following:

Sense of purpose:  Studies show that people with a sense of purpose in their life can use that as a stabilizer in times of change.  Having a sense of purpose helps people manage through disruptions more effectively because it provides a context or perspective for change.  It's not uncommon for people to get so caught up in the day-to-day activities of their job that they forget why they chose or loved it in the first place.

As a company, your employees' sense of purpose can be found in the company's vision and mission statements.  Vision and mission statements are designed to give context and meaning to the work every employee dodes.  Although having meaningful vision and mission statements can't guarantee resiliency at the individual level, it can help to provide the context and perspective that can contribute to employees' sense of purpose.

Ask yourself:  Are the organization's vision and mission statements known throughout the organization?  Do people understand them?  More importantly, do your employees believe in the vision and mission of the company?

Feeling in control:  People who feel in control of themselves and their world are more confident as they move through change.  A change may make them feel temporarily out of control, but they're able to return to a positive state.  However, when we're not in control, we feel unsettled, which may lead to lower productivity and effectiveness.  In that state, any disruption will heighten the feeling of being out of control.

At an organizational level, maintaining an environment in which people feel in control of their work lives is key.  An organization that encourages people to control their success, and gives them the tools and support they need, is a resilient organization.  

As you assess Control in your organization, ask yourself:  As a company, do we encourage people to take responsibility for their own success - and then allow them to do it?  Many companies tell employees they are accountable and responsible, but then don't give them the tools or support they need to be successful.  A mixed message will undermine the organization's resiliency.

Teaching employees to be their own guides during change is one way of building feelings of control.  When employees have the tools to create their own map of a change, they can build on their own feelings of control - and, as a result, resiliency.  A 'map' is basically a way for them to answer some very simple questions:  What is the change, how does it relate to our current business, how does it affect me, what will I do differently, what will my team do differently as a result, what other parts of the company will be affected, what opportunities do I see?

Once they know the answers to these questions, most people can begin to manage through the change successfully.  More questions will come up and people's need for control won't go away, but at least they'll understand how the change will affect them.

Positive outlook:  Optimism is very helpful when managing through change successfully and efficiently.  An important component of having a positive outlook is not to dwell on the potential downsides of a situation - but not to ignore them, either.  Some people are naturally optimistic; others are naturally pessimistic but can learn how to have a positive outlook.  Resilient people not only focus on opportunities that can emerge from change, but can see themselves taking advantage of those opportunities - and succeeding.

As a company, negativity plays a big role in the level of resiliency.  At the individual level, it's 'negative self-talk'.  At the organizational level, it's the 'never good enough talk'.  An organization that always pushes for high achievement may fall into the trap of never being satisfied with the current level of performance.  While it's good to strive for high achievement, many organizations forget the importance of rewarding and celebrating the current high performance before moving on to the next set of goals.  Employees who work extremely hard and exceed their goals, only to be told that their performance is 'adequate', start to believe that they'll never be good enough - and that can undermine even the most positive employee's optimism, which in turn undermines the organization's resiliency.

Physical and spiritual well-being:  It's a well-known fact that stress takes a terrible toll on humans both physically and emotionally.  It's very hard to be resilient if you're physically and emotionally exhausted.  Resilient individuals recognize the importance of this and make a concerted effort to balance their lives with enough rest, time away from work, exercise and healthy foods.  Organizations can build the well-being of their workforce by encouraging and allowing for work/life balance.

Now, it isn't the role of the company to play 'mother' and get everyone to eat right and exercise.  However, providing healthy food in the cafeteria, encouraging exercise via gym facilities or memberships - these things can play a role in the way the organization affects its employees.

A company president who is known to check and send email until 1am, 7 days a week, and praises people who consistently work 12 hours a day is sending a clear message:  Work/life balance is neither important nor possible for employees.  But work/life balance is a business issue:  Overworked, burned-out employees aren't resilient (and often aren't productive, either).  A company which needs to change and grow can't accomplish much if they don't have resilient employees - and that affects the bottom line.

Resilient individuals can take care of themselves, which helps them move through each change or disruption with ease - and organizations can benefit greatly from that.  It's important for a company to pay attention to the resiliency of their workforce as part of the strategic planning process.  After all, you make all the plans you want, but if your employees aren't sufficiently resilient to carry out those plans, you won't succeed.

The senior management of the organization has done a thorough analysis and assessment, and everyone's agreed:  The sales department is holding up the rest of the organization, and needs some radical change.

So you redraw the sales territory boundaries, give them some new CRM software, write a new sales training program and hold a 2-day retreat designed to get all the salespeople engaged in the new system.  It seems to be working and everyone in the sales department is excited to be moving forward.

But...a month after the changes take effect, you discover that the supply chain is in disarray, the accounting department is fuming because they aren't getting invoices in a timely manner, and the entire customer service team is about to mutiny because they're getting so many angry calls from clients. 

What the heck happened?

You forgot that changes to the Sales organization didn't happen in a vacuum.  When you changed the way Sales functioned within the organization, you changed the way the whole organization worked.  When Sales changed the way they processed orders, it had in impact on the way Accounting processed them; when Sales put a big push on Product X, that had an impact on the way Supply Chain sourced it; and when Sales changed the message it communicated to customers, it had an impact on Customer Service.

At its core, change management is really about being able to see the big picture and mapping out how a change - or a set of changes - in one area is going to affect other areas of the organization, and what needs to happen in order for all the elements to work together effectively.

When proposing a change that seems to affect only one department or division, here are some questions to ask:

-  How will this change affect the day-to-day activities of the key roles within this department?

-  How will this change affect the day-to-day activities of key roles in other departments?

-  Can we draw before and after process maps of key procedures within the organization to identify what will happen as a result of these changes?

-  Have we asked for input from key stakeholders in other departments to help identify how a change in Department A will affect Departments B-F?

-  What communication and training will other departments/divisions need in order to be working in concert on Day 1 of the change?

Asking these questions - and taking the time to plan for the answers - can add a little time at the outset of a change initiative, but I guarantee they'll save time (and headache) when the change starts to take effect.

I was a little surprised to discover that one of my most popular blog posts in the past few months has been my piece on '10 Tips for Choosing the Right Change Management Consultant'.  I've heard from several people who said that it had helped them clarify what they were looking for.

One person in the UK said that she's been able to narrow down the list of consultants to 3, but has been asked by her leadership team to 'interview' them to assess which one will be the best fit for their project.  She asks:  "What interview questions should I use?"

My advice was to approach it the way you'd approach any BBI (Behavioral Based Interview), with open-ended questions designed to identify strengths, weaknesses, skills and attitude.

Here are the 10 questions I think she should ask:

1.  What is your approach to change management?

This is a bit of a trick question:  You want your change management consultant to have a good understanding of the various theoretical approaches out there, but as I've said before, different projects will require different approaches or a combination of approaches.  A consultant who says they follow X approach every time probably isn't going to be flexible enough.

2.  Do you do the work yourself?

Is the person sitting in front of you merely the selling face of the organization, who will send in junior interns as soon as you're paid the first retainer?  There is no wrong answer here - just know what you think would work best for you.  You may llike that young, enthusiastic individuals will be joining your team for the project.  Or you may think that this change really needs seasoned individuals.  Know what you want before you ask the question.  And if the answer isn't what you want, ask how to get what you need.

3.  What does your team look like?

Depending on the scope of the change, and the nature of the organization, specialist team members may be required to take on different tasks (documentation, communication, training, etc.).  You're looking for an answer that makes it clear the consultant recognizes the need for specialists and can bring them in as required.  Another way to ask this question is:  What kind of specialists do you think this project needs?

4.  We've historically had X problem.  How will you deal with that?  

You're looking for an answer like "I've encountered similar challenges in the past.  Here's the approach I've taken in those situations..."  A consultant who dismisses the issues or says "History isn't important - we're moving forward!" isn't going to be a productive fit in the long term.

5.  How will input and insight be gathered?  How will you collect criticism?

With the first question, you're looking for a structured approach that includes representatives from across the organization - a consultant who focuses only on gathering input from 'management' will run into trouble getting junior and mid-level workers to buy into the change.  With the second question, the best respons is one that acknowledges that criticism will happen regardless of how great the change process is - and acknowledges that criticism can provide valuable insights.

6.  What is your approach to communication?

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Communication is absolutely crucial to a successful change management project.  A good change management consultant should be able to speak knowledgeably about communication strategies both at the outset of a change and throughout the process, and should recognize the need for frequent, honest communication via a variety of media.

7.  How will knowledge transfer be handled?

It can seem easy to bring in a change management SWAT team who takes care of everything - but then the changes often leave when the SWAT team does.  You want a change management consultant who works with your team throughout the process, to ensure your employees are fully engaged in the process and understand all the details.  An answer like "We have training sessions during the last week of the process..." isn't enough.

8.  Tell us about a successful change management project you led.

This is classic BBI questioning, designed to get at the example which most easily comes to mind.  The answer will give you good insight into the way the consultant works best.

9.  Tell us about a failure - and what happened.

No change management project goes seamlessly - there are always challenges along the way.  This question will help you understand the problem-solving skills and responsiveness of the consultant - and whether they'll fall down at the first hurdle.  You're looking to find out how the consultant managed to turn that failure into a success - either with the client or with future clients.

10.  What does success looks like to you?

Some people resist change management consultants, thinking they're too much like HR types who are more concerned with 'process' than with 'bottom line'.  Asking what success looks like will help you identify whether the person you're talking to is really focused on business results.

Telling the right story is the first step.

I don't know about you, but the moment I lost interest in mathematics was the day in 9th grade when, struggling with an algebraic formula, I asked the teacher what it meant and what it was for, and her answer was a curt and dismissive:  "Because it's on the test."

That didn't help me understand how x2 + 3y = 72 was relevant to my life.  As far as I was concerned, it was just a bunch of random numbers.  And in 9th grade, my first year of high school, "it's on the test" didn't help me do anything but panic.  Needless to say, my grade reflected that.

My friend's physics teacher had a better approach:  By telling stories about sailing ships headed for cliffs ("calculate the angle") or balloons taking off from earth ("calculate the velocity"), she was able to put the numbers and formulas into context and make much more sense of it all.  The teacher didn't claim that she'd need this information for some nebulous event in the future, either; he pointed out ways it could be useful to understand events in her daily life.

The same thinking applies to change management:  When you tell employees that they have to make a change, but your explanation never gets beyond a vague "because it's good for the business" and you don't help them see how it will be relevant or useful to them, you end up with a lot of confused, reluctant and possibly downright mutinous employees.

I've talked to senior leaders who insist that the average employee doesn't understand and doesn't need the details about the big picture; that it's pointless to try to explain it to them because they're not interested in anything outside of their own little job.  Sure, there are some employees like that.  But in a successful, growing organization, there are far more people who want to be engaged in the full picture, who want to know how they fit into that picture, and who really want to know what it takes to be successful within it.  These people are prepared to make changes - as long as they feel like they're making those changes as part of the team, not because they're peons who're forced to do The Boss' bidding.

So how do you get them engaged?  It starts with telling the right story

If you're making changes because you have research that says the next 5 years will bring revolutionary change to you industry and you need to make sure you're ready, tell that story.  Show people the research, walk them through your thinking, demonstrate how the changes you're making now will ensure business success in the short, medium and long-term.  Tell them how it's going to become part of your culture, your brand story, your sales strategy - and how it's going to give them more opportunities to shine.

If you're making changes because the business is in trouble, it's even more important to tell the right story.  Your employees already know there's something wrong; making unexplained changes will only increase the feelings of panic.  Instead, create a story that recognizes the current challenges and explains how the changes are designed to transform the business.  It's okay to acknowledge that some of the changes will be difficult for some people, as long as you're honest and logical in your narrative.

People don't get engaged in facts; they get engaged in stories.  When you create a narrative for your changes, you'll find your people are more willing to become part of the team rather than a roadblock to the process and the company's ultimate success.

A few years ago I was working with a large professional services firm which was implementing a new ATS (Applicant Tracking System) in their recruiting department.  the system was designed to take in and applications from the corporate website and various job boards, automatically respond to applicants, and then help the recruiting team keep track of candidates throughout the screening, interviewing and hiring process.  The idea was that the recruiting team would eventually have a deep database of candidates to call on, while applicants would be processed more efficiently and everyone would have a terrific experience.

Well, of course the system as delivered wasn't quite as perfect as it had seemed in the initial presentations by the company which built it.  It didn't perfectly match the current processes, it had some very complicated features, and it wasn't quite as easy to use as it had seemed in the original boardroom presentation.

The staff began to grumble, and adoption of the new system got a bit wobbly.  It was time for leadership.

The VP Recruiting, a well-respected and popular leader, undertood a successful 3-pronged approach:

1.  Insight and input:  He asked senior team members to provide, factual, non-emotional, functional-based feedback about the system.  He ignored vague critiques like "It sucks!" but carefully compiled specific items like "It's difficult to set up new job boards within the system".  Then he took this list to the developers and told them to fix them.

2.  Training:  In the original plan, the system had been positioned as so easy to use, it wouldn't require training.  When it was clear this had been wildly optimistic, he quickly identified a couple of team members who seemed most technically adept, sent them to the developers for some in-depth training, and made them subject-matter experts with a certain amount of authority.

3.  Brooking no dissent:  While working on productive solutions to the problems via #1 and #2, the VP Recruiting meanwhile put a stop to any negative conversations about the new system.  He didn't issue an edict or bark orders; he simply curtailed any complaints that walked into his office with a, "Yes, we're working on it - but in the meantime, just keep plugging, please," and when he encountered gripe sessions within the office, he subtly but firmly put an end to them by changing the subject or referring to the ongoing revisions and training.

Why did this 3-pronged approach work?

As a respected and popular leader, the VP Recruiting had the ability to influence his staff.  By demonstrating that he knew there were challenges (by asking for input about improvements) and was willing to spend resources to get the required training for staff, he maintained his credibility.  (When leaders pretend there isn't a problem when everyone knows there is, they risk look oblivious or clueless - both of which undermine their authority.)

Most importantly, however, he made it clear that regardless of the limitations of the system, the expected behavior for employees was to do the best they could and not waste time complaining.  He was changing the behavior even if attitudes weren't quite there yet.

The result?  The behavior change led to an attitude change.  With the negative grumbling curtailed and the knowledge that there were some solutions in the pipeline, employees settled down to the new system and got on with their work.

Good change management strategies increase ROI and help organizations achieve their objectives.  Here's an infographic to prove it.

Ideas are great.  Implementation is better.

Here's an idea:  I'll give you 3 job titles, and you choose the one you'd most like to have.

Change Agent
Innovation Catalyst
Change Management Consultant

You didn't choose Change Management Consultant, did you?

Somehow, 'Change Agent' and anything with the word 'innovation' in it sound a lot more exciting than 'Change Management'.  And yet, in many ways, change management is the most important part of the process.

Last week I met a fellow whose business card said he was a 'Change Agent'.  He was everything you'd expect someone with that title to be:  30-something, fashionable clothes, great sunglasses and full of information about the latest hot topics on TechCrunch and Mashable.  

Of course, I'm always interested in anything to do with 'change', so I started asking him what he did on a day-to-day basis.  "Oh, you know," he said.  "I inject ideas into the organizational framework and help us transform the marketplace."  

He did have some interesting ideas - he's definitely thinking about where his industry will be in the next 5-10 years, and how the market will change in that time.  That kind of thinking is important for any organization.

But between Big Ideas and Big Results there is...implementation.  And that's where Change Management comes in.  The problem is that 'management' never seems that exciting - especially compared with 'injecting ideas'.

That's why I like to think in terms of architecture.  Architects take someone else's Big Idea - "I want a beautiful house on this piece of land" - and then figure out how to make the big picture work wtih the small details to get it done.  They show you the model of the building with the graceful facade - and then they show you the detailed construction plans which outline how the thing is going to be built.  And then a good architect oversees the process, from the first groundbreaking to the final landscape design.

There's no question that there's something inherently exciting about coming up with a brand new idea for change - it's like starting a new notebook with nothing but possibilities ahead.  But in the long run there's something much more satisfying about being able to take an idea from conception to fruition to results that being an 'agent' or 'catalyst' just can't touch.

I recently worked with a coaching client, a senior executive at a mid-sized pharmaceutical company.  "I don't understand it," she said.  "I work hard, everyone likes me, and I've met all my targets for the past 5 years.  But I just can't seem to get promoted to VP, while other people who I know aren't performing as well as I do are moving past me up the ladder.  What's going on?"

Having worked with her organization in the past, I knew what the problem was:  Yes, she had a reputation for reliably delivering against targets.  But what she called 'working hard' was perceived by her co-workers and direct reports as 'obsessive and unable to let things go', and her desire to be 'liked by everyone' was seen by management as an inability to make the big decisions if she were put in a VP-level role.

The gap between my client's perception of herself and the way others perceived her was getting in the way of her career - and she's not alone.  Over the years, I've seen many people get stalled in the same gap.

So what can you do about it?

Closing the perception gap

No matter where you are in your career, knowing how the people you work with perceive you - and that it's the way you want to be perceived - on a day-to-day basis is crucial to being able to get ahead.

It's not just about being able to get that next promotion, either.  In my experience, the 'perception gap' can be your biggest obstacle when it comes to getting your projects completed on time, on budget, and with a minimum of headache.  When you're encountering resistance to your efforts to push a project through, you may not realize that you're in the middle of a perception gap.  You may be reading their resistance as concerns about budgets or timelines; in reality, it may be stemming from their concerns about your credibility within the organization based on their (possibly unfounded) perceptions of you.

You may never be able to close the gap completely, but you can make it lot smaller.  Here's how:

1.  Recognize that there is a gap.

It doesn't matter how self-aware you are or how honest you are with yourself:  There is going to be a gap between how you see yourself and how others see you.  Your self-perception includes information and experiences from all facets of your life; your co-workers only know the you they see at work.

2.  Understand that the gap isn't necessarily negative.

You may in fact be harder on yourself than others are.  My client, for example, had never taken accounting classes and assumed 'everyone' thought she was deficient in reading financial statements.  Her co-workers, in fact, had no such concerns - they thought she was perfectly capable.

3.  Solicit honest feedback - in writing, if possible.

Approach one direct report, one peer, and one senior manager with whom you've worked for at least a year and ask them for insight into your strengths and weaknesses.  (Tell them that you're looking for honest answers as part of your personal growth.)  What do they think you're fantastic at?  What do they think you struggle with?  What skill or trait do they most admire about you?  What characteristic drives them most nuts, or do they think gets in your way?  I guarantee you'll be surprised at the responses.

4.  Look for patterns.

If one person criticizes something about you, you can safely ignore it; but if everyone has the same criticism, it's time to at least consider they have a point.  So examine what your three co-workers had to say and look for consensus.  Anything that all three mentioned - as a strength or weakness - is probably a good indication of how most of your co-workers see you.

5.  Determine what's perception - and what's reality.

Maybe all three of your co-workers said that you seem to be a workaholic who doesn't know how to relax, and that sometimes alienates you from your team.  Now you have to ask yourself whether you are a workaholic - or whether you've just been trying to give that impression because you thought it was a positive trait.

6.  Create an action plan.

This can be the toughest part of the process, because it can involve changing yourself - or changing your job.  For example, if you're being perceived as a workaholic, but know that you're not, you may simply have to stop talking about how much you worked on the weekend all the time.  On the other hand, if your tendency to be a consensus-builder rather than a top-down leader is being perceived as a negative trait, you may want to consider finding a new job in an organization that values consensus-building.

The bottom line is that the more you know about the way you're being perceived within the organization, the better you'll be able to manage your career in the long run:  You'll be better eqipped to work effectively, and you'll be better positioned for long-term success.