1.
WHAT IS ENGINEERING'S APPROACH TO CHANGE MANAGEMENT? WHAT METHODS DO WE USE?
For Engineering, Change Management is a real multiplier of the ROI of a project, because it acts as an accelerator by increasing productivity and performance related to Digital Transformation projects.
Over the years and in various types of projects, we have applied the most effective and internationally recognized methodological approaches, from Kotter&Cohen to ADKAR, reworking them through the extremely concrete and practical DNA that characterises Engineering.
We have also devised and designed our own unique methods, which are not only easy to understand and explain, easy to implement and measurable, but can also be seamlessly integrated into the initial stages of Digital Transformation projects. In addition, it "speaks" the specific "value language" of the different stakeholders.
For Engineering, Change Management is a real multiplier of the ROI of a project, because it acts as an accelerator by increasing productivity and performance related to Digital Transformation projects.
Over the years and in various types of projects, we have applied the most effective and internationally recognized methodological approaches, from Kotter&Cohen to ADKAR, reworking them through the extremely concrete and practical DNA that characterises Engineering.
We have also devised and designed our own unique methods, which are not only easy to understand and explain, easy to implement and measurable, but can also be seamlessly integrated into the initial stages of Digital Transformation projects. In addition, it "speaks" the specific "value language" of the different stakeholders.
2.
CAN YOU TELL US THE 3 STEPS A COMPANY HAS TO TAKE FOR AN EFFECTIVE CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS?
To be able to launch an effective change management process, a company must develop an awareness of the need to change and of the advantages it wishes to obtain from the change process. At this point, the 'tailor-made' construction of the change begins, involving specific and pragmatic activities that are interpreted according to the company's distinctive features such as identity, vision, mission its relations.
The communication and dissemination of change throughout the organization is the climax of this second step.
The third and last step, and also the most delicate, is aimed at making the change an integral part of the new corporate culture. It is a phase that does not only concern the adoption of the implemented methods, but above all the reinforcement of the new habits, in order to allow people to generate future and unprecedented best practices in the organization.
To be able to launch an effective change management process, a company must develop an awareness of the need to change and of the advantages it wishes to obtain from the change process. At this point, the 'tailor-made' construction of the change begins, involving specific and pragmatic activities that are interpreted according to the company's distinctive features such as identity, vision, mission its relations.
The communication and dissemination of change throughout the organization is the climax of this second step.
The third and last step, and also the most delicate, is aimed at making the change an integral part of the new corporate culture. It is a phase that does not only concern the adoption of the implemented methods, but above all the reinforcement of the new habits, in order to allow people to generate future and unprecedented best practices in the organization.
3.
IN YOUR EXPERIENCE, WHAT ARE THE STRONGEST RESISTANCES THAT A COMPANY HAS TO OVERCOME IN ORDER TO INNOVATE ITS ORGANIZATION? AND HOW CAN CHANGE MANAGEMENT HELP THEM OVERCOME THIS RESISTANCE?
Organizations are made up of people and human beings tend to be highly habitual and reluctant to change.Even when they are aware of the advantages, they are afraid of having to make efforts to benefit from them. In some cases, resistance is also linked to the fear of losing privileged positions due, for example, to the management of certain information or to the peculiarity and uniqueness of the work carried out.
Our approach to minimizing resistance is to involve people from the earliest stages of the innovation project with prompt, specific actions tailored to the different categories of stakeholders..We involve them in decisions, convey the change through the 'peers, enhance the benefits, and support them in the creation of new working methods, so that they become an integral part of the cultural transformation.
Organizations are made up of people and human beings tend to be highly habitual and reluctant to change.Even when they are aware of the advantages, they are afraid of having to make efforts to benefit from them. In some cases, resistance is also linked to the fear of losing privileged positions due, for example, to the management of certain information or to the peculiarity and uniqueness of the work carried out.
Our approach to minimizing resistance is to involve people from the earliest stages of the innovation project with prompt, specific actions tailored to the different categories of stakeholders..We involve them in decisions, convey the change through the 'peers, enhance the benefits, and support them in the creation of new working methods, so that they become an integral part of the cultural transformation.
4.
LAST YEAR SAW A STRONG ACCELERATION OF THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION. HOW CAN CHANGE MANAGEMENT SUPPORT COMPANIES TO MANAGE AND OPTIMIZE ALL THE CHANGES BROUGHT ABOUT BY DIGITIZATION?
The simultaneous global events in the last 12 months have reinforced everyone's awareness that when we do return to normality, it will not be anything like it was pre-covid. This is an irreversible evolutionary process, a "Cambrian explosion" of the digital age. Organizations and people have realized how necessary and urgent change is now, resistance has never been so low and the attitude towards the new has never been so positive. In this context, those companies that adapt first will gain a competitive edge over the market.
Our response as Change Management is centred on accompanying organizations to become intrinsically "anti-fragile". The project format that we have developed ad hoc, Change Management in the New Normal, draws inspiration from the VUCA and BANI models, and through specific activities and tools, it structures the ways in which companies can reorganize the management of their business, people, relationships, in a word their "identity" in the New Normal.
The simultaneous global events in the last 12 months have reinforced everyone's awareness that when we do return to normality, it will not be anything like it was pre-covid. This is an irreversible evolutionary process, a "Cambrian explosion" of the digital age. Organizations and people have realized how necessary and urgent change is now, resistance has never been so low and the attitude towards the new has never been so positive. In this context, those companies that adapt first will gain a competitive edge over the market.
Our response as Change Management is centred on accompanying organizations to become intrinsically "anti-fragile". The project format that we have developed ad hoc, Change Management in the New Normal, draws inspiration from the VUCA and BANI models, and through specific activities and tools, it structures the ways in which companies can reorganize the management of their business, people, relationships, in a word their "identity" in the New Normal.
5.
COVID HAS LED MANY COMPANIES TO ADOPT REMOTE WORKING METHODS. HOW DOES THE CONCEPT OF LEADERSHIP AND 'CORPORATE CULTURE' CHANGE IN THE ERA OF THE DIGITAL WORKPLACE?
With the widespread adoption of "Home Working", the corporate culture has to remodel itself in order to recognize and reconfirm its identity in a strongly ‘phygital' context, through the identification of new behaviours and rules to be adopted in teams. Working remotely, both with customers and with one's own teams, has made it necessary to review the ways in which the value produced can be instantly perceived and appreciated.
The concept of leadership is also changing. In addition to the 'servant' and 'shared' leadership that has distinguished the evolution in recent years, 'dynamic' leadership must be added, i.e. the ability to make decisions in a non-constant set-up with an aptitude for problem-solving and complex thinking.
Finally, skills such as creativity and empathy are becoming more and more central to the leader of the New Normal, to guide responsible and competent teams towards activities that, thanks to technology, will increase agile and 'anti-fragile' responses to value production.
With the widespread adoption of "Home Working", the corporate culture has to remodel itself in order to recognize and reconfirm its identity in a strongly ‘phygital' context, through the identification of new behaviours and rules to be adopted in teams. Working remotely, both with customers and with one's own teams, has made it necessary to review the ways in which the value produced can be instantly perceived and appreciated.
The concept of leadership is also changing. In addition to the 'servant' and 'shared' leadership that has distinguished the evolution in recent years, 'dynamic' leadership must be added, i.e. the ability to make decisions in a non-constant set-up with an aptitude for problem-solving and complex thinking.
Finally, skills such as creativity and empathy are becoming more and more central to the leader of the New Normal, to guide responsible and competent teams towards activities that, thanks to technology, will increase agile and 'anti-fragile' responses to value production.
Antonella Gentile
Antonella has over 23 years of experience in the design, development and monitoring of complex Change Management and Training paths.
She is Head of Engineering's Change Management Competence Center, to support customers and project teams in adopting new ways of working, and created Engineering's Change Management methodology.
Antonella is also one of the authors of the "Digital Workplace" White Paper.
She is Head of Engineering's Change Management Competence Center, to support customers and project teams in adopting new ways of working, and created Engineering's Change Management methodology.
Antonella is also one of the authors of the "Digital Workplace" White Paper.
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