- Examine weaknesses among the coalition team.
- Create an emotional commitment between the involved people.
Kotter’s 8-step Model Step 3: Formulate a strategic and innovative vision
This step in Kotter’s 8-step Model includes creating a clear and compelling vision for the future and identifying the initiatives needed to achieve the vision. The vision must be communicated to all stakeholders to ensure everyone can work toward the same goal.
When you start thinking about change, you’ll probably have a lot of great ideas and solutions floating around in your head. Link these concepts into an overall vision that people can easily understand and remember.
A. clear vision will help everyone know why you’re asking them to do something.
To form a strategic vision:
- Determine the primary value of the change.
- Ensure your change coalition members can succinctly describe the vision.
- Develop a strategy to implement this vision.
Kotter’s 8-step Model Step 4: Communicate the vision for change
Don’t just hold special meetings to communicate the vision. Instead, talk about it every chance you get. When you keep it fresh in everyone’s mind, they will remember and respond to it. It’s also important to do more than “talk” because what you do is much more believable than what you say. In other words, you should show what behavior you expect from others.
To communicate with an organizational change management perspective, do the following:
- Address people’s concerns and frustrations openly and honestly
- Apply the vision to all elements of operations from training to performance reviews
- Define everything based on that vision so people know they are taking steps toward it.
Kotter’s 8-step Model Step 5: Enable actions by removing barriers
This step in Kotter’s 8-step Model includes identifying and removing any obstacles that may prevent the change initiative from moving forward. Potential barriers can include processes, systems, culture, and even people.
If you’ve followed Kotter’s 8-step Model’s steps and reached this point in the change (and organizational change management) process, you’ve communicated your vision and its value at all levels of the organization. But obstacles are always in front of the successful implementation of change.
To empower actions and remove obstacles:
- Identify or hire change leaders to play a key role in delivering change
- Look at the organizational structure, job descriptions, and performance and compensation systems to ensure they align with the vision
- Recognize and reward people for making change
- Identify people who resist change and help them see what they need to buy into the change
- Take quick action to remove obstacles (human or otherwise).
Kotter’s 8-step Model Step 6: Create short-term wins
This step in Kotter’s 8-step Model includes identifying and celebrating early successes to build momentum and maintain motivation. A short-term win can help demonstrate the benefits of a change plan and satisfy stakeholders.
This short-term win step is crucial because it incentivizes everyone involved in the change. It helps to write three questions to answer on a board: