These days, associations must be:
- Nimble and ready to act — but also prudent and thoughtful about their strategy
- Understand the latest trends — but protect the history and personal connections that built their business
- Must leverage the expertise of their team — but keep their skills fresh
And everything must be available 24/7, member focused and delivered with authority.
It’s a huge task. Business runs faster than ever these days, and associations aren’t immune to the pressure to stay current. However, associations tend to move more slowly than their for-profit counterparts. Consequently, they can resist change for longer. But change is the new constant and managing it well is a pressing need in most associations.
Most of us aren’t thrilled about change and often respond to it with a mixture of fear and uncertainty, even when the change is positive. At Dennison & Associates, almost everything we do involves change, and we see the benefits of overcoming resistance and proactively managing change.
If you’re starting a new project that will challenge the status quo, try these best practices to manage the resulting change.
[Related: Does Your Association Really Need an AMS?]
1. Start With a Plan
Gather data to demonstrate the need for the new program and create as much of an outline as you can. Include:
- Budgets
- Timelines
- Personnel involved
- Resources required
- Possible concerns
- Estimated outcomes
You might consider doing a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis that lists your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as you begin your planning. You’ll also want to determine the metrics you’ll use to monitor your progress.
2. Share as Much as You Can
We’ve discovered that when senior leadership starts a series of private meetings, team members notice, and office rumors start to fly. When they see atypical collaboration, teams often believe the worst and fill in what they don’t know with guesses.
To keep speculation and uncertainty at a minimum, be as transparent as you can – as early as you can – about a coming change.
[Related: Building Collaboration Means Saying Goodbye to Silos]
3. Be Authentic and Tell the Truth
If the change is positive, it should be easy to share good news. If the change has negative consequences or is in response to a negative situation, be careful to be accurate when you share information.
Don’t paint a rosier picture than is necessary or overpromise the outcome. Either tactic can destroy trust with your team. Your team’s trust is extremely valuable and the key to all future work. Play it straight. Don’t be afraid to discuss the negatives. Don’t speculate. And admit it when you don’t know.
4. Keep Lines of Communication Open
If you already have great communication with your team, now is the time to demonstrate it.
Set up formal communication with regular team meetings, smaller group meetings or one-on-ones. Employ collaborative platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Asana or Basecamp. Encourage team members to connect via Slack or other internal communication software.
Make it easy for team members to share their concerns informally. Team members often have an in-the-trenches viewpoint that can inform plans at a higher level. Make it easy for them to share.
[Related: Member Engagement Focus Groups: Best Practices]
5. Create Context
Answer the questions, “Why are we changing this?” and “Why are we changing this now?” You may need to explain where the association is now, where it’s been and where it’s headed, and a strong mission statement can help.
Aspirations for the future often require associations to change outdated systems or processes in order to reach their goals.
6. Train, Train, Train
Don’t expect your team to get excited about something new if they don’t know how to use it or don’t see the benefits. Give them opportunities to use the new system in training sessions.
Answer their questions. If you perceive pushback, root it out and work to neutralize the objections.
We often run reports on both the old system and the new system and compare the two. It allows us to see any discrepancies, and it helps team members see for themselves that the new system is accurate.
[Related: Why Your Organization Needs a Learning Management System]
7. Welcome Suggestions
No leadership team has all the answers. Your team members have great ideas, and it’s easier to get buy-in for a big change if they contribute to its planning and execution.
Be authentic about asking for their help and don’t ask if you don’t really want to know. Your team’s participation can be critical to success, so make it easy to solicit their ideas.
Build multiple channels for feedback and conversation. Encourage your team’s use of collaboration software like Microsoft Teams and internal chat functions such as:
- Slack
- In-person meetings
- Video chats
- Informal conversations
If your culture doesn’t support candid conversation, think about the benefits of changing how your employees interact with leadership and each other.
8. Implement Slowly but Steadily
Your members and staff can handle abrupt, dramatic change if they must, but it’s generally a better idea to implement changes slowly and steadily.
A paced roll-out allows time to answer questions and gives everyone a chance to learn new systems or technology. It also gives you an opportunity to assess how well each stage of implementation is working before moving forward.
9. Track Your Success
In your initial planning, you established success metrics for your project. As you move through implementation, keep an eye on the metrics you’ve developed. You’ll be able to share positive results with everyone or correct unexpected challenges as soon as possible.
[Related: Five Ways to Reduce Stress and Boost Morale in Your Association]
10. Expect Strong Leadership
Leaders exist at all levels of a project, starting with you. The team deserves your best, so model the positive leadership skills you expect from others. Coach leaders at all levels and consider providing leadership training as part of the project.
Change is inevitable. It’s also necessary because if we don’t change, we stagnate. And no one starts a new project intending to make things worse. As you plan and implement your next project, focus on the benefits the change will bring and share your vision with your team members.
[Related: 9 Tips and Tools for Successful Technology-Focused Projects Within Associations]
Contact Dennison & Associates for Quality Change Management Guidance
At Dennison & Associates, we thrive on helping associations implement technology changes. Our clients come to us because their current procedures and systems aren’t working optimally, and they need our help to:
- Free their staff from repetitive chores
- Better understand their members
- Eliminate wasteful procedures
- Tame the tiger that is their database
We can help with the initial assessments you’ll need, create focused recommendations, provide tested strategies and serve as your partner during implementation.
Contact Dennison & Associates today for a consultation.
Featured image via Pixabay
