Questions on My Change Checklist

Being a pilot, I’ve discovered the power of using a checklist for many things in life. As an anesthesiologist, checklists are also paramount to ensure a safe anesthetic is provided to the patient.

However, when we go about changing a process in our businesses, it frequently seems there is no rhyme or reason to the decisions that are made. This perception, whether real or imaginary, can have a deleterious effect on your efforts.

To help you approach your change management efforts, I’d like to share a few questions I have on my process improvement checklist. I recommend spending some time asking and jotting down the answers to each of these questions. You will discover you will not only have greater focus but also easier implementation of your change.

Questions

1. Will this change benefit your customers? How will this change benefit your customer? Does this change make it easier for the customer to receive our services? Will this change delight the customer or increase their dissatisfaction? Try to put yourself in your customer's shoes as they would experience this change. Attempt to empathize with them as they experience the change.
2. Will this change benefit your people? Does this change create more work for your people? Will it save them time and energy? Knowing every step of your process will help you answer this question. If you don’t understand each step in the process you are attempting to change, stop and create a diagram of the process. Interview employees to obtain a clear picture of the work involved. You might even go as far as to experience the process yourself as your employees do.
3. Does this change support the mission and purpose of the organization? To answer this question, you know the mission and purpose of your practice. Your mission and purpose is what you and why you do it. If they change you want to make doesn’t support your mission and purpose, don’t spend the time and energy developing and implementing the change.
4. Is this change specific and understood by everyone? Once you understand your mission and purpose, you can then explain why the desired change is needed. You will be able to get buy-in from those people involved in the process by explaining how the change supports the mission and purpose of the organization. Also, describe how the change will help them achieve the mission and purpose of the organization. Change without this understanding and buy-in will be met with resistance and complacency.
5. Are the influencers of the company on board? Every organization has members who are looked to as leaders whether they hold leadership position and titles. Know who your influencers are and keep them to commit to the change. You might even need to include them in the decision making process. Their support will go a long way to making your change implementation easier and smoother.
6. It is possible to test this change? Find an area where you can make a small change and see what happens. Decide upon the metrics you want to monitor before you implement the change and then implement the change. See how things proceed and if the change works. If things go as you hoped, you can then roll the change out into the organization. If it doesn’t, then you’ve only affected a small portion of the organization and can redesign your change efforts.
7. Are there adequate resources for this change? Determine if you have the physical resources for this change. What equipment and technologies are required and are those available? Do you have the financial resources to implement this change? Do you have the financial resources should the change have a negative impact? Do you have the necessary people in the key positions to make your desired change easy and stick?
8. Is this change reversible? Once this change has been made, is there no going back? Not only do you want to test your change in a small area, but make certain if the changes work, you can change the changes you’ve made.
9. Does this change make sense? Don’t change for change's sake. Sometimes, people get caught in the thought trap of “any change is good.” Not all change is good, not does it make sense. If your desired change is rational and supports your mission and purpose, it highly likely it will make sense to you and your organization.
10. Is this the right time for the change? Getting the timing of your change right is critical to the success of your change. Don’t push your change if you don’t have all the resources and buy-in’s you need. If you’re missing a key ingredient or resources, hold your change until you have what you need. There is a difference between the time for change and the timing of your change. If you want your change to stick, get the timing of your change right.

As you design and implement your change, use these questions to help you craft the most effective, efficient and purposeful change possible.