Reflection on “Securing Support by Merrick, May 2014”

The article “Securing Support” discussed change and change management, it talked about how to get stakeholders to start embracing change and stop resisting it, because the more that stakeholders support strategic initiatives, the more likely those changing initiatives will succeed, so their involvement makes an organization highly effective at change management. Unfortunately, it is found that poor stakeholder management is among the top three reasons that change strategic initiatives fail; however, when they engage in the change process, they can recognize how their performance helps the firm achieve the expected benefits, and that can be a game changer.

A strong communication plan makes an organization highly effective in change management, that is why project managers need to identify the stakeholders’ challenges that might impede the change and methodically build a communication plan to address all of them. Another tool project manager needs to use is the Two-Way Feedback, change creates resistance, but for an organization that devotes the resources to securing employees buy-in, it leads to substantial benefits, that is why the project manager needs to keep the feedback channels open during and after the change is implemented. Project managers need to keep in mind that Terminology is akin to culture; it can change from one site to another, even within the same company. The choice of words can be a source of tension, so it is crucial to give extra attention to the terminology chosen. There are four main key communication models that can be used (Steady messaging, Cyclical messaging, Feedback messaging, Situational messaging), knowing that the most effective communication plans takes advantage of not only one of the messaging approaches; it should be using a combination of them, depending on needs of the strategic change initiative and its stakeholders.

Some of the lessons learned from this article are that sometimes people can be too busy and don’t have enough space in their day to embrace the change, so project managers should understand and built that space in their plan. Additionally, even if a stakeholder is willing to change, sometimes he/she lacks the knowledge and skills to do so, and that is another thing to be considered by the project manager. Finally, the project managers need to help their employees to become more comfortable with the change, keeping in mind that lasting change takes time as change must be deep-rooted.

Personally, I find the human element in the change process is the hardest to keep under control, and I find some managers are naturally better than others when it comes to dealing with people. If you are not a people person and you are on a managerial level, it is not the end of the world, because there are many tips that can be easily applied and it makes true difference. I personally, had to deal with an HR manager who is very rude to employees, and in one of the evaluating meetings, he said that this is his nature, and he will not accept anyone to show him how things should be done, and I had to tell him that day “as an HR manager, your job is to know how to deal with people, and if you don’t know how to do that, then I think you are approaching the wrong career”. Another thing that the article talked about, which is “Don’t be Cheap”, and I find that completely right; I used to celebrate each design phase completed with my team, getting them chocolate and sending thanking emails, and when a major milestone is met, I used to buy them lunch and had that honest talk with them and thanking them for all their efforts, my company used to think that what I am doing is extra costs that is not necessary in most times, but I insisted to have all of that, even if it is coming from my personal money, it was truly worth it in order to win their trust and continuous support.