Creating Spend Management Change Super Heroes
Spend Matters welcomes a guest post from Jim Heininger, Founder of Dixon|James Communications.
Success of spend management initiatives, especially in those settings where leadership doesn't apply mandates to require adoption and compliance, requires a team what can effectively persuade stakeholders to the benefits and value of new procurement approaches. In these settings, change management trumps technology and process. Team members must actively campaign on behalf of the effort.
Here are some important steps to help groom your team members to become super change agents:
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A personal insight I've arrived at is the importance of having an underlying structure of continuous measurement covering how change is progressing. This provides the leadership team with the information they need to Heap on Awards and Provide Continuous coaching at the right place and time.
My wife and I are training a puppy and the trainer is heavily emphasizing ‘immediately marking good and bad behaviors’. While I’m DEFINITELY not implying that people are dogs, there is a change management parallel here. Good measurement let’s management quickly reward success and remove barriers before they become systematic problems.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borg_(Star_Trek)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borg_(Star_Trek)
"Change occurs when we can successfully and compellingly tell our reason for being, our value."
Any group trying to meet goals needs to successfully meet them AND ALSO communicate those results to the organization. The same is true for explaining the benefits of a system or a process. Being up against previous failed attempts doesn't make the situation any easier, because our audience may be event less willing to listen than usual. Any plans we make to alter our role requires both planning for the change and a deliberate strategy for communicating the rationale and benefits.