How can you create a sustainable vision of change within your company?

Is your organization planning on implementing a new CRM solution? Have you clarified your vision for the change? When your employees understand the purpose of the project, they are more likely to embrace it. Here's how to solidify your vision so your team supports the change.

One of the first steps in having an impact on your human resources if your company is considering implementing a new CRM solution or any other technological transformation, is to have a sustainable vision of change. Having a common vision will guide everyone down the right path. Your employees will be more likely to adopt this new implementation once they have understood its future purpose. Failure to make your employees see this, will often result in the failure of your CRM solution implementation project.   What attributes should your vision have? And how can you make it powerful enough to ensure that the whole company will support your project? MUST READ:The 9 best change management practices This third article in our series on improving user adoption will show you how to create a solid vision that will get you on the right track from the start of your implementation and ensure you reach a successful digital transformation:

What is a vision of change?

We define a vision as a message used to clarify the objectives and benefits of change. A vision is what resonates to all the parties what the company will look like once the transformation process has been completed. Establishing a good communication and training plan, will also be required.

Why is a vision for change necessary?

The bigger your team gets, the more the vision must be conveyed with fluidity to all the collaborators. This is regardless of the function they have within the company. Creating a vision of change is essential for the following reasons:

• Improve coherence in the tasks of others
• Encourage users to adopt a new way of working
• Address fears by providing in depth details of the processes to come
• Reduce the risk of project failure

Which way towards change?

The involvement of everyone is essential in ensuring that change is adopted by all team members. It is still the role of the management team to define what direction should be taken and what values should be adopted by the company. You can then complete the road map by involving the managers of the different departments.   Advice for a strong common vision:

• Identify the needs of your company
• List the reasons why change is essential
• Using the most pertinent data available on the market will prove the pertinence and necessity of change
• Plan ahead for areas that might become problematic and think of solutions
• Pinpoint the risks that come with status quo

What attributes constitute a sustainable vision of change?

Your employees must be able to understand how change is positive for both themselves and the company. They also need to know exactly what the impacts will be on them on a daily basis.  Kotter is still used as a reference in our modern-day visions of change. Drawing on his analysis and our observations in the field, we have identified the following necessary attributes to creating a strong vision:

• Communicable — must be easy to explain in less than two minutes
• Evocative — must be able to create a strong emotional and symbolic connection with users
• Flexible — must remain global enough to allow flexibility for adaptation along the way
• Defined — must be able to help everyone in their daily decision-making
• Realistic — must be able to achieve realistic goals
• Appealing — must exert a significant appeal through the expected benefits
• Pertinent for everyone — in addition to the benefits that the company will reap, you must be able to clearly demonstrate the benefits each employee would be gaining on a daily basis

Creating an effective common vision entails much more than explaining the purposes of change. Starting a digital transformation requires that your employees change their habits, tools, ways of doing things and thinking. It is a whole culture that must be transformed. And communicating the ideology behind it is the driving force that gives purpose to these efforts. Unfortunately, we do not always have the ideal budget to implement all the best change management practices. But it is important to invest in change management, even if only a little. Because you will get results even if you only invest partially.

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