building commitment during an erp rollout

Luc GaloppinDaryl Conner

Building Commitment During an ERP

Rollout

The Commitment Map for Navigating “Moments of Truth”

Exe

cuti

ve S

um

mar

y In this e-book Luc Galoppin and Daryl Conner bring together their insights on commitment and social architecture. You will learn how the eight stages of commitment apply to an ERP rollout and why it is crucial to carefully plan the moments-of-truth. This e-book is specifically useful for executives who face an ERP rollout. It helps us to see where we need to be vigorous in terms of organizational change management.

Enough said about why 70% of the change efforts fail (and the fact that this percentage may even be higher on ERP programs) – here is what we can focus on to enable commitment for the change in our organization: the commitment map for navigating moments of truth. A

uth

orsLuc Galoppin & Daryl Conner - November 2012

of 42Building Commitment During an ERP Rollout

Luc Galoppin is managing director of Reply Management Consulting, a Belgian consultancy specialized in organizational change. He is an internationally recognized expert in managing organizational change during ERP implementations. He is also leading the world’s largest digital community on organizational change.

Daryl Conner is chairman of Conner Partners, an Atlanta-based consulting firm that specializes in transformation implementation. He is an internationally recognized leader in organizational change and serves as an advisor and mentor to senior executives around the globe.

Luc Galoppin & Daryl Conner


Every organizational change project goes through phases of disbelief, skepticism and resistance. In her research on death and dying Elisabeth Kübler Ross distilled the five stages of grief. Ever since its publication in 1973 it has been commonly regarded as the "cycle of change".

The phases of the emotional roller coaster follow a pattern that - once we start to recognize it - makes perfect sense. But the phases of accepting a terminal disease don’t match the conditions of an organization going through a change. There exists another tool to do that with more precision.

In the early '80s Daryl Conner published a model that explains the eight stages of commitment. The model describes how and when people become committed to major new organizational requirements. The original model of the eight stages of commitment is shown on the next page.

The vertical axis represents the degree of support for the new mindsets and behaviors, and the horizontal axis reflects the passage of time. The model consists of three developmental phases—Preparation, Acceptance, and Commitment—and the stages unique to each phase. Each stage represents a juncture critical to the development of commitment to change. A positive perception of change may stall (depicted by downward arrows) or increase (represented by an advance to the next stage). In addition, as people learn more about the change and what it will require, they may return to earlier stages in the process. The successful transition through a particular stage serves as the basis for experiencing the next stage.

PART

1 In Search of Patterns



The vertical axis represents the degree of support for the new mindsets and behaviors, and the horizontal axis reflects the passage of time.

The model consists of three developmental phases—Preparation, Acceptance, and Commitment—and the stages unique to each phase.

Each stage represents a juncture critical to the development of commitment to change. A positive perception of change may stall (depicted by downward arrows) or increase (represented by an advance to the next stage).

In the late ‘70s Richard Normann introduced the metaphor of "the moment of truth" as part of a management theory in service management. Normann argued that a service company’s overall performance is the sum of countless interactions between customers and employees that either help to retain a customer or send him to the competition.

In a 2006 McKinsey Quarterly article on Moments of Truth in Customer Interactions, the authors zoom in on the emotionally driven behavior that creates a spark between the customer and frontline staff members.

According to the authors: “...those few interactions (for instance, a lost credit card, a canceled flight, a damaged piece of clothing, or investment advice) when customers invest a high amount of emotional energy in the outcome. Superb handling of these moments requires an instinctive frontline response that puts the customer’s emotional needs ahead of the company’s and the employee’s agendas.”

With a little twist we can apply this insight on the stakeholder interactions during ERP rollouts. In this context, moments of truth are contacts between the implementation team and the stakeholders of the program on occasions that are emotionally important.

Moments of Truth

In this context, moments of truth are contacts between the implementation team and the stakeholders of the program on occasions that are emotionally important.





As it turns out, the occasions that are emotionally important for an ERP rollout go hand in hand with the eight stages that are critical for the development of commitment.

In the following chapters we will illustrate this with examples for each stage. You will find that it gives you a language to pinpoint the behavior and level of commitment one can expect during each phase.

But first we need to map the eight stages on the typical project phases of an ERP rollout. Next, you will see that it takes a drawing to get clarity on how the ERP rollout phases and the stages of commitment interact.

This mapping is an absolute necessity if we want to manage the moments of truth that characterize a particular stage of commitment.

PART

2 Why should we care?

The phases of an ERP rollout will provide the context for this article. They are:

★ Program Setup: Once the program has been initiated and the approval given to move forward, the program must be established. In this phase, the organization is being prepared for starting the real work. People, other resources, and infrastructure are put in place. The program is officially kicked off.

★ Design: This is where the future organization is designed; including the processes and the way your ERP must

support these processes. The way the design phase is approached influences the success of the ERP implementation to a large extent. The user acceptance at the time of going live is almost one-to-one related to the choices you make in this phase.

★ Build: During the build phase, most of your attention will go to the development and the configuration of the technical system that will support your new organization and its future ways of working. The change becomes more and more concrete, so, although you will be tempted to stay in your laboratory until the prototype is finished, you will need to prepare your organization at the same time.

★ Test: The test phase is a hidden opportunity to strengthen the learning relationship between the implementation team and the organization. User acceptance of the system is only a starting point. What matters most is the user acceptance and awareness of the new organization and of the redesigned processes.

★ Deploy: In the deployment phase, the new organization, its ways of working, and the supporting ERP system are put on the rails. You are bringing the implementation to a point of no return. For this reason, the previous test phase needs a clear sign-off, and each of the steps you take must be carefully planned.

★ Post-Implementation: With the post-implementation phase, the refreezing of the organization is announced. Post-implementation work is much more than two to four weeks of go-live support. This is because your purpose should not only be to stabilize the systems, but also to make sure the new ways of working are sustained.

The Anatomy of an ERP Rollout





In this drawing we are mapping the typical phases of an ERP rollout on the eight stages of commitment.

Next to the names of the project phases you will find examples of moments of truth that can facilitate the transition to a next stage of commitment.

Here are some elements that immediately grab our attention when we make that mapping.

★ The phases of project setup and design are both below the Disposition Threshold and the level of commitment we can expect during those phases goes no further than Contact or Awareness.

★ It takes a prototype to cross the Disposition Threshold. You need to be actively building something and designing an organization around it to create understanding.

★ It takes a drawing like this to realize that the very phase of testing is what tips the organization from the Acceptance Phase right into the Commitment Phase. It looks like the Action Threshold is reached in the middle of the messiest phase of an ERP project!

★ The real Adoption does not come from testing. Rather, this happens during the deployment.

★ Institutionalization and Internalization only happen during the phase of post-implementation.

In the following chapters we will provide a detailed description of each commitment phase and the corresponding moments of truth that will make the transition to the next stage more successful.

What the Mapping Tells Us

It looks like the action threshold is reached in the middle of the messiest phase of an ERP project!





PART

3The Preparation Phase forms the foundation for later development of either support of or resistance to the change.

There are two stages in the Preparation Phase:

★ Contact★ Awareness

Preparation Phase

Stage I is the first encounter individuals have with the fact that a change is taking place in the organization that will require them to shift their behavior and/or thinking. This first stage in the commitment process is intended to result in awareness that a change has taken place or may occur in the future. Since momentum and critical mass of commitment is essential to change success, careful attention should be given to how early contact (as well as later stages) will begin to promote the right energy movement toward realization.

Contact efforts, though, do not always produce awareness. It’s important to separate contact efforts from people being aware of change… It’s dangerous to assume contact and awareness are synonymous. Sponsors and change agents are often frustrated when, after many meetings and memos about an initiative, some targets either are not prepared for the change or react with total surprise when it begins to affect them.

There are two possible outcomes for the Contact Stage:

★ Awareness, which advances the preparation process★ Unawareness, in which no preparation for commitment occurs

Stage I: Contact

Contact efforts, though, do not always produce awareness. It’s important to separate contact efforts from people being aware of change…



The program charter sets a clear mission for the team by describing broad performance objectives. Ideally it describes the rules of the game — not only the structure of the program, but the role of each individual— and the program management processes. The most important elements that need to be described are as follows:

★ Benefits of the program★ Planning and purposes★ Timing of phases★ Resource planning★ Budget planning★ Deliverables per phase★ Risk management and mitigation★ Performance measurement and incentives

“Fair enough” you may think; “Those are just service elements on a sheet of paper, right? Then why call it a moment of truth to make sure Contact advances into Awareness?”

First of all, it is important to see the program charter as the most concrete outcome of the many-month process of information gathering, analyzing, documenting, presenting, educating, negotiating, and consensus building. Second, the signing of the program charter by the members of the steering committee (including the program owner and the program manager) conveys official confirmation that the organization will implement an ERP program and the underlying benefits. It must be physically signed as an indication of commitment from both sides.

The Declaration



How serious are you about the realization of the benefits of your program? Successful programs have sets of governing principles that are carved in stone. The fact that sponsors explicitly agree that these rules are treated as sacrosanct is what advances Contact into Awareness.

Here are some examples of these holy rules:★ No other major initiatives run in parallel (e. g., installing a new organization structure

independent of the program)★ Clear sponsorship of executive management (i. e., through the appointment of program

directorship and steering committee membership)★ Business engagement (i. e., through the appointment of stream leaders and process owners

and through the use of a business case)★ Declare holy standards (e. g., one global chart of accounts, global reporting process)★ Validation committees ensure business involvement and sign-off (i. e., the steering

committee and various validation workshops with business representatives)★ Safeguard continuity during the transition (e. g., by monitoring sign-off criteria and benefits

realization)★ Use a disciplined and structured approach (e. g., through the use a program approach as

well as choosing for and committing to a program management methodology)★ Know the business (i. e., through the use of business process mapping in swim-lanes)

Carved in Stone



Awareness is established successfully when individuals realize that modifications affecting them have occurred or are pending. It requires that initial communications about the change reach the desired audiences and convey the message clearly.

This awareness, however, does not mean people have a complete understanding of how the change will affect them. They may not have an accurate picture of the scope, nature, depth, implications, or even the basic intent of the change.

For instance, targets may perceive that a change is coming without knowing the specific ways they will need to alter their mindset and behaviors. Before targets can progress toward acceptance, awareness must be developed into a general understanding of the change’s implications.

There are two possible outcomes for the Awareness Stage:

★ Understanding, which advances the process to the Acceptance Phase★ Confusion, which reduces or precludes preparation

Stage II: Awareness of Change



Before targets can progress toward acceptance, awareness must be developed into a general understanding of the change’s implications.

There is one important detail when it comes to crafting a design for an ERP rollout. The so-called “truth” should be represented in swim-lane diagrams. The use of swim-lane diagrams in the design stage of an ERP program may seem like a strange detail to zoom in on, but we learned the hard way that they are by far the most vital communication tools of any ERP rollout. This is because they will serve as an essential input for multiple other steps and deliverables, such as:

★ System access

★ Local coaching by the local transition teams

★ Training manuals

★ User acceptance testing

★ Role descriptions and assigning who is responsible for what

★ Standard operating procedures

★ Conflict resolution

Explicitly treating this validation as a moment of truth will unlock the motivation of people to reflect on the personal relevance (crossing the Disposition threshold). In project management terms: this the moment you can start building.

Swim-lanes!





PART

4The Acceptance Phase marks passage over the Disposition Threshold. This is an important momentum and critical mass milestone; people shift from seeing the change as something “out there,” to seeing it as having personal relevance. This perspective enables them to make decisions about accepting or not accepting their part in the change.

There are two stages of the Acceptance Phase:

★ Understanding the Change★ Positive Perception

Acceptance Phase

People often engage in individual activities designed to move themselves across this threshold in order to proceed from awareness to understanding. They ask questions, pose challenges, seek additional information, and make inferences in an effort to clarify their picture of the change.

Sometimes leaders wrongly interpret this behavior as resistance to the change initiative. Although it is possible for people to use endless questions and challenges as part of their resistance strategy, true resistance to the specific change at hand (rather than to the notion of change in general) can be manifested only when people understand it well enough to be able to formulate an informed opinion.

Beyond the Disposition Threshold



They ask questions, pose challenges, seek additional information, and make inferences in an effort to clarify their picture of the change.

In Stage III, people show some degree of comprehension of the nature and intent of the change and what it may mean for them. As they learn more about the initiative and the role(s) they are likely to play, people begin to see how it will affect their work and how it will touch them personally. These insights enable them, for the first time, to judge the change.

Each person’s judgment is influenced by his or her own cognitive and emotional filter systems—the unique set of lenses that he or she uses to view the world. In addition, change of any significance usually has multiple aspects to it, and may produce both positive and negative reactions at the same time.

For example, a target may have a negative view of a new company policy regarding relocation every four years but sees positive benefit in the level of job security he or she would experience. People combine these positive and negative reactions to form an overall judgment of the change.

There are two possible outcomes for the Understanding Stage:

★ Positive perception, which represents a decision to support the change★ Negative perception, which represents a decision not to support the change

Stage III: Understand the Change



These insights enable them, for the first time, to judge the change.

Now that the processes have been designed down to the level of swim-lane diagrams you need to get specific on how the workload will be distributed across these processes. More specifically, it is time for people to get an idea of who will be responsible for what in the future. Since people are enabled for the first time to judge the change, you really need to seize this moment to set the right expectations with regards to “who-does-what”. It’s the very first step in the creation of a social architecture and it is one of the biggest catalysts in this stage.

Assign persons to each of the roles as early as you possibly can and - above all - make sure you maintain a database of all the changes in the assignment of roles. This assignment is a first big opportunity to interact with the organization at large. Whether conducted in focus groups, interactively over the intranet, or by e-mail, the organization should take ownership of this exercise through a formal validation.

Be humble when you engage in the assignment of people-to-roles, because this is the very moment you will discover that the watertight business processes may need some redesign in order to make any sense in the field. Don't take it personally and use it as an opportunity to build a relationship with the target population.

Warning: In terms of project management the odds will be against you, because this is when the technical architecture is being built against tight budgets and deadlines. The tendency at those moments is to isolate and control all resources and to reduce all contact with the target population. This would equal opting out of an opportunity to facilitate the transition to the next stage of commitment and it would increase the dropout rate.

Who does What?



In Stage IV, people decide whether to support or oppose the change. The forming of an opinion about change is not done in isolation—people typically weigh the costs and benefits of the change against the costs and benefits of other alternatives, including doing nothing. Ideally, the benefits of a change to an individual so clearly outweigh the benefits of any alternative course of action that it requires little thought to decide to move forward. However, this is not typically the case.

In many organizational change situations, the benefits of moving forward are only marginally more positive than the benefits of the best alternative course of action. In some changes, the path forward has such significant costs associated with it that the individual reaches an overall positive perception only because all of the alternatives are worse.

Positive Perception is an important stage in the process of building commitment, but at this point the change is still rather theoretical. To reach true commitment, people must begin to try out the new way of operating—they must alter their mindset and behavior.

There are two possible outcomes of the Positive Perception Stage:

★ Experimentation, which is an initial trial of the new way of thinking and behaving★ Inaction, which is failure to make initial shifts in thoughts and behaviors

Stage IV: Positive Perception



To reach true commitment, people must begin to try out the new way of operating—they must alter their mindset and behavior.

The best way to navigate the organization into the stage of Positive Perception is through the organization of local transition teams. They make sure that all local requirements are being prepared in order to be able to cut over. Examples of typical coaching assignments include the following:

★ Attaching people to new functional roles and having the subsequent trainings validated★ Communicating the future processes and translating these to the level of the site (“Does this

make sense to you?”)★ Local testing of processes★ Implementation and follow-up of key performance indicators (KPIs)★ Following up master data collection and data cleansing★ Supporting local training initiatives★ Assisting with the local technical systems deployment★ Assisting with the changes in the workplace, such as the cleanup of warehouses

Don't underestimate the “soft” returns on this investment because local transition teams prevent simple things from going wrong and help people make their first small victories in “real life”.

★ By their physical presence and time they spend locally, the coaches can do the job of “handholding”

★ They provide psychological safety by translating the central concepts to local practice★ They leverage the impact of the experts in the central project team because they form a

bridge between the local level and the implementation team★ Here is a hint for accelerated project results: gather them on a weekly basis and facilitate

their weekly meeting; in return they will share best practices from the floor and ensure that common standards are maintained locally.

Local Transition Teams



Another way to facilitate this phase is through the setup of DILOs. DILO stands for “Day In the Life Of.” The only way to convince users to let go of current ways of working and give the new ways of working a chance is by showing them exactly how it will work in a lab situation.

In ERP projects we usually set up a room for two days where all roles involved running their data through the system from “end-to-end” (e.g.: from customer order to invoice verification). Warning: Again-the odds will be against you and the project team will hide behind excuses like “no time”, “not relevant” and “not important”, rather than to be vulnerable in the face of future users.

Push through. Your project needs this moment of truth. Your target population needs it as well. It is the one moment of truth that will make the difference.

If you handle this well, two important things will happen:★Users will decide to actively commit to the project (reach the Action Threshold)★Your project team will gather tons of pragmatic information, insights and lessons about the solution.

A Day In the Life Of (DILO)





PART

5

Commitment occurs when people see a change as more positive than negative and take action accordingly. There are four stages in the Commitment Phase:

★ Experimentation★ Adoption★ Institutionalization★ Internalization

Commitment Phase

The Commitment Phase marks the passage over the Action Threshold. In this phase, the perceptions that have been created in the Acceptance Phase result in actual commitment. This is a critical step in the building of momentum and critical mass.

There are many situations in which people will say that they view a change as positive. However, they will not actually take the first steps to alter their behavior or mindset. There can be several reasons for this, including:

★ Lack of a setting in which to try the new behavior★ Absence of needed skills★ Insufficient time, energy, or adaptation capacity to engage in the new behavior

Crossing the Action Threshold



In this phase, the perceptions that have been created in the Acceptance Phase result in actual commitment.

In Stage V, individuals take action to test a change. This is the first time people actually try out the change and acquire a sense of how it might affect their work routine. This stage is an important signpost that commitment building has begun, although greater support is possible.

Because of the inevitability of surprises, some degree of pessimism is unavoidable during change. Nevertheless, the confidence of those involved in a change increases as a result of resolving such problems. An environment that encourages the open discussion of concerns tends to solve problems, promote ownership, and build commitment to action.

As these problems are resolved, a more realistic level of conviction toward the change builds. This conviction advances commitment to the Adoption stage.

There are two possible outcomes for the Experimentation Stage:★ Adoption, in which individuals continue their exploration of the new mindsets and behaviors★ Rejection, in which individuals cease their exploration of the new mindsets and behaviors

Stage V: Experimentation



An environment that encourages the open discussion of concerns tends to solve problems, promote ownership, and build commitment to action.

We have now reached a level of commitment where people demonstrate a willingness to try out and experiment with the new solution. Unfortunately this is also the stage where the system is not yet very mature and needs to be tested thoroughly.

In ERP projects testing is done by means of different test-cycles. The final round of these test-cycles is called User Acceptance Testing (UAT). UAT requires representatives of the target population to step in and actively test and validate the solution.

It is extremely important to guide the participants during this stage by making sure that those tests are well organized into bite-sized sessions. Another important element is making sure that the feedback and the experimentation of the users is taken seriously. God knows how many projects fail at this stage, just leaving users on their own to dabble in the system. Don't do that, because at this stage, people need hand-holding and sense-making.

Engage in the Testing Mess



God knows how many projects fail at this stage, just leaving users on their own dabbling in the system. Don't do that, because at this stage, people need hand-holding and sense-making.

Stage VI, Adoption, is reached after individuals have successfully navigated the initial trial period. The differences between the Experimentation and Adoption stages are important, even though their dynamics are similar. Experimentation focuses on initial, entry problems, and adoption centers on in-depth, longer-term problems. The former is a preliminary test of the change. The latter tests the ongoing implications of the change. Experimentation asks, “Will this change work?” Adoption asks, “Does this change fit with who I am as a person/who we are as an organization?”

Although the level of time and resources necessary to reach Adoption is great, a change project in this stage is still being evaluated and can possibly be stopped. If the change is successful after this lengthy test period, it is in a position to become the standard new way of operating.

There are two possible outcomes for the Adoption Stage:★ Institutionalization, in which the new way of operating is established as a standard★ Termination, in which the change is ended after an extensive trial

Stage VI: Adoption



Experimentation asks, “Will this change work?” Adoption asks, “Does this change fit with who I am as a person/who we are as an organization?”

Regardless of the level of quality you achieved by testing the systems, the processes need to be tested separately. You may wonder how on earth it is possible to test a new process in the current organization that is still running on legacy systems. Indeed, this requires some creativity, but the bottom line is to try to come as close as possible to operating along the constraints of the future way of working. Awkward indeed – but this kind of “faking the future on-site” has helped a lot of multinationals discover serious flaws in the solution before they went live with it.

The testing of processes on-site is an important step because of the following reasons:★ It allows people to experience the way the ERP implementation will influence their daily

work★ It tests the support of the local hierarchy and their readiness to cooperate with the

implementation team; important: go local and keep your eyes and ears open★ It sets a benchmark for multiple testing rounds and post-go-live comparison★ It provides the opportunity for local coaches and key users to test their cooperation skills★ It tests whether your instructions have been communicated to the shop-floor level and how

well they are understood

Test the Processes



Awkward indeed – but this kind of ‘faking the future on-site’ has helped a lot of multinationals to discover serious flaws in the solution before they went live with it.

This example illustrates the process steps that have been tested in the logistics area of an ERP implementation for five sites. The first six columns describe the roles that are involved in the test and to which process steps they contribute. The column in the middle describes the process steps, ranging from critical-path to essential-but-not-critical to necessary for long term. The five last columns indicate whether the test of the process steps were successful site per site.

There is a fundamental difference between UAT and testing of the processes. In the first, we ask the question: “Can the system run according to our constraints?” In the second, we ask the question: “Can we run according to the constraints of the system?”

Process testing is a tangible intervention. This is the closest you can get to a moment of truth at this level of commitment. Therefore, it is important to take local process-testing initiatives seriously and ensure they get the full support of middle management and supervisors. Ideally, the tests are done twice with a period of three to four weeks in between. The first time, some learning is needed and people may not perform well because they do not know exactly what is expected of them.

This is also a moment to level-up in terms of social architecture because, inevitably, you will need to dig up the roles catalogue and put it to the test of practice. Comparing departments and discussing the consequences of the assignment of certain people is very time-consuming, but necessary for people to have a sense of institutionalization. (This is the next stage.)

An Example of Process Testing



99% of what “Learning” really is occurs outside of the classroom. But why are we then investing such a large amount of time, money and manpower into classroom training?

That is because classroom training is mainly an investment in attention and the effect on learning is accidental rather than linear, just like the Hawthorne effect. The strategy and advertising around and about classroom trainings is at least as important as the content taught. A well-performed training organization can make the difference at this level of commitment. When we say “well-performed” we mean the following:

★Anthropologically speaking, the classroom training serves as a ritual in which participants allow learning to start (and implicitly choose “not to learn” before that event takes place). ★Mentally speaking, the participants flip their learning-switch “on”. It’s a learning moment of truth.★In medical terms we would rather call this a placebo effect: a treatment with (almost) no therapeutic activity for the condition, but one that has a healing effect nevertheless.

We could have endless discussions on the cause-and-effect of classroom training on learning but the evidence is clear: classroom training is necessary to get people started. When people flip that learning-switch, it is the sign that you are reaching the Reversibility Threshold. When you are doing it right, people will be prompting you for concrete instructions for startup.

Training is a Learning-Switch



One of the biggest names in the history of management is not the name of a guru but the name of a factory: Hawthorne Works. This is the factory where a series of experiments on factory workers were carried out between 1924 and 1932. There were many types of experiments conducted on the employees, but the purpose of the original ones was to study the effect of lighting on workers’ productivity.

When researchers found that productivity almost always increased after a change in illumination, no matter what the level of illumination was, a second set of experiments began, supervised by Harvard University professors Elton Mayo, Fritz Roethlisberger and William J. Dickson.

They experimented on other types of changes in the working environment, using a study group of five young women. Again, no matter the change in conditions, the women nearly always produced more. The researchers reported that they had accidentally found a way to increase productivity. That’s why people call it the “Hawthorne Effect.”

The Hawthorne Effect



An aerial view of the Hawthorne Works plant ca. 1920, from their pamphlet "Hawthorne works for the manufacture of power apparatus".

Stage VII reflects the point at which people no longer view the change as tentative. They consider it standard operating procedure.

As part of the institutionalization process, the organizational structure may be altered to accommodate new ways of operating, and rewards and punishments implemented to maintain new mindsets and behaviors. What was once a change requiring substantial sponsor legitimization has become part of the organizational routine that is monitored by managers.

The move from Adoption to Institutionalization is a significant one, and a double-edged sword. The threshold that is crossed here is that of “reversibility.” Once a change is institutionalized, it becomes the new status quo. Ending an institutionalized pattern that is ingrained into the fiber of an organization is extremely difficult.

This stage reflects the highest level of commitment that can be achieved by an organization. The level above it, Internalization, can only be achieved by individuals who make a personal choice to go there.

Stage VII: Institutionalization



Once a change is institutionalized, it becomes the new status quo. Ending an institutionalized pattern that is ingrained into the fiber of an organization is extremely difficult.

At this stage your ERP rollout is going full speed ahead: users are being trained, the technical cutover is being prepared, the master data are loading and probably suppliers, partners, customers and other stakeholders have been informed about the cutover to a new system. People are ready to go ahead and the famous “go/no-go” meeting with the steering committee and the board of directors is nearing. You may think that this meeting is the only moment of truth at this stage, but it is not. It is the way you organize the activities around the cutover that will make the difference.

In consultant speak this is often called 'hyper-care'. An easy metaphor to describe hyper-care is that of a patient who has just had a heart transplanted. Hyper-care is the period of revalidation. During that period, the doctors must monitor rejection symptoms and make sure the patient can re-integrate in their environment. Sometimes this requires letting go of old habits (eating differently) and learning a new discipline (regular work-out). An ERP implementation is no different. The new heart (an ERP system) may increase the lifespan of an organization, but only if we adhere to a new discipline in the maintenance of master data.

Have you invested heavily in local transition teams? Then this is the first moment to expect a return. Another metaphor one could use in this context is the comparison with UN Peacekeeping troops who are handing over the governance to the local police. The moment of truth in this stage will totally depend on the relationships that the local transition teams have established with the users and how well you deeply you have worked on the who-does-what (the roles-catalog)

Cutting over



Have you invested heavily in local transition teams? Then this is the first moment to expect a return.

Stage VIII represents the highest level of commitment an individual can demonstrate toward an organizational change. It reflects an internal motivation in which individual beliefs and desires are aligned with those of the organization, and there is a high level of consistency between an individual’s mindset and behavior.

While an organization can legislate the institutionalization of a change, internalization requires the active cooperation of each individual. At this last stage, people “own” the change; they demonstrate a high level of personal responsibility for its success. They serve as advocates for the new way of operating, protect it from those who would undermine it, and expend energy to ensure its success. These actions are often well beyond what could be created by any organizational mandate.

Enthusiasm, high-energy investment, and persistence characterize internalized commitment, and it tends to become infectious. Targets who have internalized a change often cannot be distinguished from sponsors and advocates in their devotion to the task and their ability to engage others in the change effort.

Stage VIII: Internalization



At this last stage, people “own” the change; they demonstrate a high level of personal responsibility for its success.

For people to take personal responsibility for the new world after an ERP implementation they must feel connected to the benefits of the project. Did you build a network of Business Representatives during the implementation who attach their professional identity to these engagements? That is when institutionalization becomes internalized at the individual level.

The small community around a certain expertise is how people identify with the bigger picture (e.g., a community of key users of different plants who connect with one another based on their domain of expertise).

More than anything else, internalization is about connection. Being part of a community and being granted the platform for connection is essential here. The only way to reach this stage is by building a social architecture (i.e. the conscious creation of communities around the benefits that matter in the long run). The best part is that communities around these benefits exist already. The only thing they lack is a platform that is facilitated by a leader.

Social architecture begins with the organizational design, the roles catalog and the countless meetings you had have had up to this point in time. The fabric of social architecture resides in the who-does-what. In the long run people need an architecture that helps them connect and share knowledge; this is a three-step process.

★ You need expertise in order to get the job done. This gets your foot inside the door★ Next, you need to consistently prove that you are worthy of people’s trust★ Finally, when people allow you a landing slot on their airport of trust, you are ready to build

a platform

Social Architecture Matters





In the end, what does this mean for you as an organizational change practitioner?

Consider the following entry criteria in order to enter the next level:

★ Be an expert-that is the bottom line

★ Next, let go of the attachment to being an expert and do the emotional labor that builds trust

★ Finally, in order to build a platform, you will need to get out of the way and allow the community to take over

Although institutionalization is sometimes all that is required to achieve the organization’s goals, it has some potential problems. If a change has been institutionalized but not internalized, those affected may be motivated to adhere to new procedures primarily to comply with organizational directives. Their compliance is achieved by using organizational rewards and punishments to motivate them to conform despite their own private beliefs about the change. If their perception of the change is generally negative, but they have chosen to go forward because the costs of not doing so are prohibitively high, they will likely only mimic acceptable behavior. They will learn to say and do the “right” things, but their actions will not reflect their true perspective. Because their mindset (frames of reference and priorities) does not align with their behavior, a great deal of managerial pressure will be required to ensure the ongoing presence of the desired behavior.

Forcing change implementation often results in a halfhearted effort without a full return on investment. Institutionalized change, as powerful as it is, only delivers the target’s behavior, not his or her mind and heart. This doesn’t mean that institutionalization isn’t the way to go sometimes because there are situations where leaders have to engage unpopular change. The point is to be aware of the benefits and limitations of institutionalized change. Internalization can begin very early in a change if the new way of operating is strongly aligned with individual beliefs and assumptions; it can also emerge along the way as individuals begin to see the advantages of the new approach. In some cases, it can fail to surface at all.

Sustaining Commitment



Institutionalized change, as powerful as it is, only delivers the target’s behavior, not his or her mind and heart.

Target audiences need to go through the roller-coaster of emotions and push-backs. But there is one thing we CAN do to make sure they don’t jump off and DO build commitment over time. It all has to do with how we can influence the way these deliverables are ordered and paced over time.

In this case, we are jumping back to the ’60s for evidence. In 1966, the researchers, Freedman and Fraser, found that people were more likely to agree about bigger requests when asked for a small one first. They asked to put a “Drive Carefully” sign into people’s gardens and only 17% agreed. However, when they asked to put a smaller sign (“Be a Safe Driver”) in their gardens first, 76% of the people agreed to the bigger “Drive Carefully” sign two weeks later.

Social scientists call this the foot-in-the-door technique (FITD). The more a subject goes along with small requests or commitments, the more likely that subject is to continue in a desired direction of attitude or behavioral change and feel obligated to go along with larger requests. FITD works by first getting a small 'yes' and then getting an even bigger 'yes.'

This goes to show that every commitment, no matter how small and insignificant, makes the next commitment possible.

The Anatomy of Commitment



Every commitment – how small and insignificant it may seem – makes the next commitment possible.



The eight stages of commmitment & the fabric of community

The careful planning of moments of truth is the best shot we have during ERP implementations to transition from one stage of commitment to the next.

A commitment builds on the previous one and that’s how we get to buy-in and ownership.

At the same pace the plan becomes the prototype. Later it becomes the construction.

The eight stages of commitment demonstrate that every commitment – how small and insignificant it may seem – makes the next commitment possible. This is why it makes sense to spend time with people.

Mapping the phases of an ERP implementation on the eight stages of commitment gives us clarity on the level of commitment we can expect in each phase. We can focus on specific moments of truth that make the transition from one stage of commitment to the next more likely.

Our role as organizational change practitioners is not only to chunk the deliverables in reachable goals per target audience. We should do so in increasing order of commitment. If we align these moments of truth with the level of commitment we are strengthening the fabric of community.

Conclusion



If we align these moments of truth with the level of commitment we are strengthening the fabric of community.



Sources

★ Marc Beaujean, Jonathan Davidson, and Stacey Madge (2006) The ‘moment of truth’ in

customer service, The McKinsey Quarterly, 2006, Number 1.★ Conner, Daryl:Managing at the Speed of Change, John Wiley and Sons 1992★ Freedman, J.L., & Fraser, S. C. (1966). Compliance without pressure: The foot-in-the-door

technique".Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4, 195-202.★ Galoppin, Luc & Caems, Siegfried: Managing Organizational Change During SAP

Implementations, SAP Press 2007★ Normann, Richard: Service Management: Strategy and Leadership in Service Businesses,

John Wiley 2001

★ A direct link to Daryl Conner’s Commitment model: http://www.connerpartners.com/blog-posts-containing-downloadable-tools/the-eight-stages-of-building-commitment

★ A direct link to Luc Galoppin’s ebook on Social Architecture: http://www.slideshare.net/lucgaloppin/social-architecture-ebook

http://www.connerpartners.com/blog-posts-containing-downloadable-tools/the-eight-stages-of-building-commitment




http://www.slideshare.net/lucgaloppin/social-architecture-ebook

http://www.slideshare.net/lucgaloppin/social-architecture-ebook



aboutthis

ebookThis ebook was created on November 25th, 2012.

Feel free to copy and distribute it as it is; as freely as you wish.

We welcome your feedback on [email protected] and [email protected]

★ More on the work of Luc Galoppin: www.reply-mc.com

★ More on the work of Daryl Conner: www.connerpartners.com

Good luck. Have fun & thanks for reading!

mailto:[email protected]




http://www.reply-mc.com

http://www.reply-mc.com

http://www.connerpartners.com

http://www.connerpartners.com