I was reading some back-and-forth recently on a LinkedIn group post about motivating people for change. A few things popped out from all of the comments that fit with the way that Michelle and I think about what gets people to buy into a change and to believe that it is achievable:
- there has to be a real and a perceived value to doing the change
- people have to believe that it will make their lives better, or at least understand how the organization's goals are being met even if their life doesn't get better on its own
- there has to be a sponsor for the change who has the influence and authority to make it happen
- there has to be communication to make sure that stakeholders and everybody who is impacted or interested in the change all know what is happening and why
- there needs to be a collaborative, open approach to formulating and implementing the change that welcomes and considers input from everybody impacted
There's a quirk that can happen, though. You might find that people get so invested that they begin to see the change as their own (which can be good), and then start to run with it beyond the scope of the originally defined change (which can be good or bad).Even with a collaborative, welcoming, open approach and with everybody being bought-in, there still needs to be some level of governance over what's happening that can keep everybody moving to the same goal. Without it, you run the risk of having unexpected results appear that may or may not fit your plan.