Strengthen Your Change Management Effort with a Health Check

If you’ve been involved in a business transformation program you know that sustaining change on a large-scale over time can be very difficult. This is especially true for programs that require a lengthy implementation period such as ERP implementations and multi-year enterprise cost-cutting programs. The progress generated by short-term wins often propels the change effort forward in the early stages, but it is important to be aware of the pitfalls that can follow short-term successes.

During long programs the change process can still fail to take root if the adeqaute pressure isn’t maintained. It is important for change leaders to continue to drive commitment among employees and managers in order to sustain action through full implementation of the change, and to monitor and progress regularly.

One method for monitoring progress and maintaining adequate focus on the change effort is the use of a periodic “health check.” Our Change Program Pulse Check is one such tool that provides a practical way for you to evaluate the effectiveness of your change effort while it is still in process. It helps the program team determine the appropriate level of resources and whether there is the right level of commitment from executive sponsors, the program team, and business leaders.

>>Click here to download the Change Program Pulse Check

Suggestions for using the tool:

1. During a long-term program this tool is best applied at regular intervals such as quarterly or twice a year (perhaps even every-other-month if the program introduces a lot of change at once).
2. Ask program team members to answer the questions individually and then follow it up with a facilitated team discussion to discuss the ratings
3. Discuss each question, spending more time on those where there are issues (e.g., items that the team members rated a 1 or 2)
4. Brainstorm actions and interventions that should be pursued to address any issues that the team identified
5. Define accountability and timing for actions/interventions and integrate those into the overall program plan and change management strategy

If you found the Change Program Pulse Check helpful you may want to check out other tools available in Change Accelerator.