Business, like life, is a journey that involves constant change. The business side of your law practice is changing all the time. Without change initiated to improve the effectiveness and efficiency, negative change is occurring. Expenses are rising to meet income and work (non-billable work) is rising to use available time. You have to be constantly at work simplifying and eliminating — changing practices and procedures in pursuit of excellence and more partner income.
If change is constant, you better know how to manage it and, before you can manage change, you have to understand it. We change to move from one level of performance or benefit to a higher level. Unfortunately, the benefits of change are not immediate and do not represent a smooth linear line of improvement. If you drew a graph representing change, this is what it would look like.
Change results in a downward spike in performance. It takes time and “KASH” before the change curve turns upward and the new targeted level of performance is achieved. KASH stands for new Knowledge which, when combined with the right Attitude, results in new Skills which, through use, become Habit. It is at the point when use becomes habit that the change curve finally reflects the achievement of the targeted higher performance level.
Management’s job is to take action to reduce the size of the downward spike and to provide the conditions for the curve to turn upward sooner rather than later. Start with the right way to implement change - incrementally. The smaller the change the shallower the downward spike. Second, use the following tools:
1. Form a change group. People resist change they don’t understand or change that is “done to them”. By forming change groups to help prepare and plan for the change, you give people the opportunity to buy in to it. That makes the change, and the plan for making it successful, their own and that supplies the key ingredient of successful change - Attitude.
2. Make sure all those affected have the needed new knowledge. Don’t skimp on training. Let the change group participate in determining the training plan and in disseminating the needed new information throughout the firm as needed.
3. Recognize (ceremonialism) early achievements and people accomplishments.
4. Give the areas affected by the change extra management attention, until the desired improvement has been achieved. Increased attention alone has a positive, if short term, impact on performance, thus flattening the down spike of the change curve.
5. Give change a chance - remember it takes time for new skills to become habit.
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Filed under Management by Tom Collins