Plan Ahead: A Roadmap for Introducing Change
Introducing change to an organization can be difficult and there are dozens of things that can go wrong. John Maxwell's great book 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership has a set of steps that I've found very helpful.
Plan Ahead
- Predetermine a Course of Action
- Lay Out Your Goals
- Adjust Your Priorities
- Notify Key Personnel
- Allow Time for Acceptance
- Head into Action
- Expect Problems
- Always Point to the Successes
- Daily Review Your Plan
The introduction of 6th Sense is usually a big change for an organization, so we have a bit of experience in this area. We gather metrics and that makes some people nervous, so we introduce our product carefully in some shops. Here's how we suggest people introduce our tools (or any new process).
First, predetermine your course of action and lay out your goals.
In other words, decide where you want to go. Set your goals. If you shoot for nothing, you'll hit it every time, so be sure you know what it is you're trying to improve. Know what business problems you're trying to address before you get started. Introducing a new tool because it's a Good Tool is always a mistake.
Next, adjust your priorities.
If this isn't a problem worth juggling priorities over, then don't waste your time. There are many problems in every organization that someone wants solved, but they don't want it solved enough to change priorities. They want it solved for free in your spare time. Until someone is willing to invest into a solution, it's not a problem. It's just an inconvenience.
We don't generally have this a problem at 6th Sense because companies who come to use already know they have a problem to solve. That's why they looked around and found us.
Notify your key personnel
This one is important. Your team's imagination will run wild in the absence of real information, so be sure you tell people what you're doing and why. If you lay out your goals (improved estimates, better risk management, etc), then show them how you're wanting to solve those problems, most teams will help you succeed. It's only when they start hearing rumors about new tools or new processes that people get paranoid.
John Maxwell suggests you identify your leaders and talk it over with them first. The leaders will (on purpose or not) influence the attitudes of the rest of the team, so be sure you explain things to them first.
Another step we suggest is that your management should install our tools first. This lets you speak to your team from your own experience, not our marketing literature. You'll be able to say "It didn't slow down my machine" or "Look at my data". It moves the experience from what they're doing "to us" and to what you're doing "with us". The difference in that point of view is huge.
Step back
Give your team time to think about and acclimate to the idea. Allow time for acceptance. This step is often skipped. We announce a new tool or procedure and try to force everyone to adopt by the end of the day. Don't do that... instead, give your team a week or two to adjust and get comfortable with the idea.
Head into action!
Get the ball rolling. In our case, get the sensors installed and collecting data. When you do get started, start strong.
Will this work flawlessly? No way. Every tool and every deployment has issues at some point. Set expectations realistically and be willing to roll with the punches. Don't get upset, just fix the problem and keep moving.
Point to your successes
Once you're rolling, keep that momentum. As you look at data, you'll start to see trends and you'll change some decisions, adjust priorities, and find some way to fine-tune your team. When this happens, tell the team. Tell them you're giving them more time for features in the next iteration because of what you saw in the estimation accuracy numbers. Anything that'll be viewed as a win for the team, pass it on quickly. This is what Maxwell calls "Always point to the success." It's easy for people to get discouraged anytime you've got a long running program. Remind them of what's worked and continuing to work.
Adjust and adapt
Daily review your plan is the final step. Never get stuck in a rut and always be willing to change direction. I find the most successful teams are the ones who are willing to change direction to keep the project "on the road" and "out of the ditch."
When you start using 6th Sense tools, you'll know what you want to learn about your team. But as you use it, we often find the discovery had nothing to do with the expected areas. And that's okay. It's about discovery and improvement, not proving our existing ideas are correct.
What's the next change you plan to introduce? Whether it's a continuous integration system or a new testing strategy, I suggest you plan ahead. You'll be glad you did.
Previous Post:
End of Our SVG Era
