Utilize change management for a successful rollout

Rogers Law of Diffusion of Innovation, made popular by Professor Everett Rogers, is a social science theory that explains how, often time, an innovation or a product (like 15Five) gains momentum and diffuses, or spreads, through a social system. The end result is that people adopt a new idea, behavior, or product. Within any social system, such as your organization, you'll find the following types of people: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority, and Laggards.

• Innovators don't need a lot of information to buy into a new idea: they're excited to try something new quickly because it's innovative. 2.5% of your organization will typically fall into this bucket.
• Early Adopters are excited to try something new once they understand the benefits. 13.5% of your organization will typically fall into this bucket.
• Early Majority & Late Majority are the largest groups, making up a collective 68% of your organization. Early Majority individuals are more likely to adopt new technology after hearing the experiences of Early Adopters. Late Majority individuals are more skeptical and prefer to wait until the value of the new technology is tested and proven before adopting.
• Laggards typically delay adopting a new technology until they absolutely have to. 16% of your organization will typically fall into this bucket.

Thanks to Innovators and Early Adopters, about 15% of your company is going to be sold into 15Five as soon as you announce it. But for your organization to realize the true value of 15Five, you have to cross what's known as "The Chasm" to reach critical mass. You need the Early Majority to be bought in to get everyone else to buy in and achieve stickiness with 15Five.

To drive adoption for Early Adopters and Early Majority and cross The Chasm, you should focus on targeting these groups in your communications and trainings, building demand for 15Five. To achieve this, you may choose to first launch 15Five to a set of volunteers before rolling it out to your entire organization. Let people try it out and give you feedback about what they like and where areas of opportunity lie. Then, adjust your strategy based on feedback and highlight successes that the Early Adopters have experienced with 15Five. This will help build a natural transition to the buy-in of individuals who fall in the Late Majority and Laggards categories.

Learn more about the Law of Diffusion of Innovation.

Did you know that almost two-thirds of major changes implemented within organizations are unsuccessful? To combat this, it's important to understand the common reasons why people resist change so you can confront them head-on.

Author Rick Maurer identifies three reasons why people are resistant to change:

1. They don't get it. This type of resistance may occur when employees don't receive enough information about the change, they disagree with the data presented to them, or they're confused over what the change means for them.
   To combat this resistance, it's important to make a strong case for why the change is needed and to communicate the "why" in a way that resonates with your people.
2. They don't like it. This type of resistance is more emotional. Maurer says, "It is based on fear: People are afraid that this change will cause them to lose face, status, control – maybe even their jobs." When people don't like a change, it makes it difficult to communicate with them about the logistics: they will oftentimes stop listening to communications because their fears are stronger than their interest in engaging.
   To combat this resistance, leaders need to explain what's in it for their employees. Create excitement by explaining the benefits of the change and allowing employees to be active participants in the process (e.g. through collecting feedback, asking for recommendations, etc.).
3. They don't like you. This type of resistance occurs when people are hesitant to put their trust in the team/leaders who are pushing the change. This could be because they doubt that the change will really take effect (based on historical situations) or they don't have confidence that the change will be actualized. 
   To combat this resistance, it's important for leaders to address past situations in which they may have "dropped the ball" and take responsibility. It's also vital for the Implementation Team to stick to commitments, thus demonstrating that they can be trusted to create positive change. It's also valuable to seek and act on feedback from employees so they feel like they're part of the process and that their ideas and concerns are valid.

In his book "Leading Change," Professor of Leadership and Change Expert Dr. John Kotter presents a change management process that contains the most common success factors for leading— not just managing— change.

These eight steps are:

• Create A Sense of Urgency: Motivate people to take action with enthusiasm and purpose toward an exciting future goal. Build excitement and unity around a clear vision. This can be done by determining your "why" and communicating it to employees prior to training and launch.
• Build A Guiding Coalition: Create a team of people committed to the success of 15Five to guide implementation and launch. This can be done by creating an internal 15Five implementation team.
• Form A Strategic Vision: Explain how the introduction of 15Five will lead to a better future and gain support for making that future a reality through specific plans linked to the vision.
• Enlist A Volunteer Army: Rally a group of 15Five champions around a common opportunity. Individuals should want to actively contribute to the success of 15Five and work together to achieve successful adoption.
• Enable Action By Removing Barriers:  Get rid of anything that slows progress or creates obstacles. Make it easier for people to innovate, collaborate, and achieve results quickly. This can be done by creating and implementing a strong training strategy that makes it easy for employees to get the information they need to adopt 15Five and then creating a simple way for employees to get answers to their questions and share feedback.
• Generate Short-Term Wins: Recognize and share small victories regularly to track progress and keep your team motivated. Consider highlighting people who are adopting 15Five in their day-to-day work during company-wide meetings or in community-wide communication channels. It can also be helpful to offer awards to teams or individuals who are exceeding expectations.
• Sustain Acceleration: Keep pushing for change even after initial successes. Your growing credibility can improve systems and policies. Continue making changes until the vision becomes a reality. This should be done by collecting and acting on feedback from employees, especially during the early stages of launch.
• Institute Change: Highlight how the use of 15Five is leading to organizational success so that people are motivated to replace the "old way" with the "new way" of doing things. and ensure they become strong enough to replace old habits.

Learn more about each of these steps on Kotter's website.