Building a change network that works- part 2 of 2
When you need to create wide scale uptake, champions are a great way to persuade people to adopt new ideas. Whether it’s changes to a product or in an internal process; finding people who are respected and liked to lead the change makes a huge difference. And an appreciation of the influence that group identities have on uptake can be really useful here.
You see when you assign Diversity & Inclusion Champions, Sustainability Champions or Change Agents you are creating a new identity category and you may want to use that in different ways. Let’s look at some examples to illustrate that point:
Scenario 1: Where you need to communicate new values across the organisation
In this scenario you want to give permission for new ways of prioritising choices. Here it must be clear that the values underpinning the new behaviours are supported, even expected of the workforce. In this instance leadership championing and role modelling of leaders is critical.
Your leaders must let people know that they support and reward new choices. Such choices may be prioritising purpose over profit, people’s wellbeing over growth targets, a drive to fully value the benefits of equality and inclusion. Leaders will set the norms for behaviour, so it is vital to teach leaders how to express the new values in what they say, the gestures they make and in the rewards they give..
Scenario 2: Where you need to champion rapid innovation and reinvention
Faced with a need for rapid innovation and reinvention, organisations often adopt the strategy of dedicating a discrete team, department or area to take ownership of the challenge. The new team has a distinct identity and has permission to behave differently, disrupting and innovating. These teams have the space and time to run at the challenge and thus can create transformations more quickly than would be possible if you tried to take the whole organisation along.
Here the champions are tasked with driving change through. They are given authority and a real budget alongside the identity. They have permission to be actual disruptors, acting differently, applying different processes, protected by their special status. However, this situation does create long-term pitfalls from the ‘identity’ point of view.
An identity ‘island’ forms with discrete champion teams. Often setting up trendy satellite teams of creative superstars, dressed casually and given bean bags and football tables. Whereas the rest of the workforce remains in their traditional offices, dressed in traditional work suits.
While innovation happens at speed, what often happens at the next stage of cultural uptake is the organisation struggle to get everyone to embrace the new ways of working that have become so typical of the isolated team. A divide has occurred with defense mechanisms forming to protect the distinct identity of each team.
A further identity risk with using a dedicated, separate team to drive change is that the team and its champions are seen as those who have sole responsibility. Changes in behaviour are for ‘Them’ not ‘Us’. If wide scale uptake is an end goal then assigning effective champions from inside each work team or department is more likely to bring about change.
The point to take away is that innovation champions can bring about speed, but if those champion teams can act as much as possible within the current identity landscape of the organisation then long term integration is then made much easier.
Scenario 3: Where you need uptake at a grassroots level
Working from home, using a new IT system or focusing on the wellbeing of staff are examples of changes to day to day team working. In this instance you want to create a habit shift, largely in discretionary effort. You want your champions to persuade others to make small changes in the way they work, perhaps adopting new social norms around home working, the daily ‘catch up’, procedures for Zoom calls.
To achieve subtle change the champion must be someone with the power to influence others. The best way to do this is for the champion now to come from within existing team identities, from inside the team you want to take with you.
In this case look for social influencers, connectors, people who seem always to get on with others. Those who have charisma, an indefinable quality, are those who can persuade the team to change.
At this level of influence leaders may not be the best people to encourage the actual uptake of change on the ground. The influencer from within the team is much more likely to be successful. They speak the team’s language, they have shared the close moments. Leaders will provide role models and demonstrate support and operate in tandem with the in-team influencers. Thus there is a layered approach. Leaders work at the level of values, aspects that show how the whole organisation is to behave, and local champions translate that into actual team practices. Global values become local attitudes and approaches.
A multi-layered model
When you are trying to create more social responsibility and to promote Environmental, Social and Governance values (ESG values) then a the following multi layered approach will work best:
You need your leaders to be expressing consistently the values through what they do and what they say.
A dedicated change team can create speed but they must still be seen as ‘one of us’ otherwise you risk them becoming containers for all the discretionary effort.
To achieve team level uptake, have a network of influencers across work teams. They can assist with ensuring that awareness and familiarity with new concepts and language happen within teams, prompting that awareness on a day-to-day basis.
With this nested approach to championing new values and behaviours, you’ve made the different layers work together to all tell one story and pull in one direction.
How we can help
Making Change Happen help organisations to see the different group identities at play in their organisations and how they influence the choices people make. Our Identity Landscaping approach is a fun and interactive way to let teams step back from their day job and take a look at how their teams work together. Exploring what opportunities and blockers sit within and across teams to help them see what can be done to improve collaboration and co-working across teams. To find out more visit this page.
