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Integration Means Change
May 22, 2009
By Lance Dublin
Finding strong content, identifying knowledgeable subject matter experts, and designing great e-learning programs are all certainly important. But the long-term success of any training curriculum, e-learning program, learning management system (LMS), or learning content management system (LCMS), as well as any new business process, software application, or organizational change, really depends on how well you integrate them into the culture of your organization. Piloting programs, installing systems, and launching communication campaigns are necessary, but ensuring an effective implementation and moving into integration is critical.
Any new curriculum, program, initiative, application, or process is a change. Change implementation is a process-based, inclusive, and systemic approach to ensuring the long-term success of any change. It draws upon both change management and consumer marketing concepts and practices. It applies principles of both cognitive and behavioral psychology. It focuses not only on ensuring individuals think and act differently, but also on the development and reinforcement of the necessary new individual and organizational attitudes and behaviors necessary to sustain the change.
Implementing Change
The I3 Change Implementation model consists of three phases, which form a continuous cycle:
Phase 1: Inform-Generate Awareness
Through information and messaging activities (i.e., marketing communications), employees, managers and the organization receive simple and clear answers to the "what, why, how, who, and when" questions.You also begin to answer the 'what's in it for me' question. The goal of this phase is to make sure the messages you want to be heard are heard and are heard in ways they will be recognized, recalled, and remembered. Activities might include newsletters, presentations, e-mails, Webcasts, voicemails, documents, and speeches.
Phase 2: Involve-Generate Involvement
For your change to be successful, you also must change the attitudes and behaviors of the people involved. Behavior change seldom happens based solely on someone passively receiving information or tokens. The key is engaging everyone and paying particular attention to the key influencers within the organization. You want to provide a first-hand experience of the change to give them a chance to experience it for themselves, to "try it on," to ask questions, and to form their own opinions. The goal of this phase is to have them internalize and personalize the benefits of the change; to have it become theirs not just yours. Activities might include videos, department meetings, lunchroom fairs, hallway expos, and traveling "road shows."
Phase 3: Integrate-Generate Commitment
The long-term success of the change depends on it becoming a recognized part of your organizational culture, fully integrated into the work life of the employees, supervisors, managers, and executives. In this stage, you want to identify the ongoing organizational processes and systems, and any critical business initiatives the change both impacts and supports. The purpose is to ensure the change becomes accepted as the "norm," critical to the success of individuals and the ongoing survival of the organization. Activities might include integration with the performance management process, linkage to a new key business initiative, and integration with a critical business process.
The combination of hard work and a process-based, systemic approach will ensure you move smoothly from implementation to integration, thereby ensuring your long-term success.
Lance Dublin is the chief solution architect at Dublin Consulting, specializing in applying strategic thinking and design to the development of learning strategy, development programs, and organizational change initiatives. He has more than 30 years' experience in training, change leadership and management, and organizational development. For more information, visit www.dublinconsulting.net.
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