Seeing & controlling the ‘C’s’ of Change

Once a major problem hits an initiative, and there’s no prevention or fall-back plan, it can then take some time to rescue and put the initiative back on track – or worst case its ‘shipwrecked’ and you salvage perhaps what you can and then hopefully restart the change – but at a cost. For leaders involved in change initiatives, its good practice to stand back and pause from what you are doing - the ‘C’s of Change Checklist’ has been developed to help you do that - it’s a useful tool for leaders which acts as an aide memoire, where ever you are in your cycle of change.

The 10 ‘C’s of Change

So how do you ‘see’ and then ‘control’ the change in your organisation? The ’10 C’s’ of Change are a useful checklist for any leader running a change initiative:

Whilst the ‘C’s’ of Change is not an exhaustive checklist, it is a good accompaniment to whatever change method you choose to deploy.

1.   Customer 

• Identifying and then putting your key stakeholder i.e. your customer first is key to managing change. All stakeholders are important in your change initiative. However, your customer is key to identifying and defining issues and needs, which once specified can help shape a successful change or transformation initiative.

• There can also be a few interpretations of the term customer dependent on your organisation and the type of change you are undertaking, for example customers can be:
• external to your organisation i.e. those buying goods/services or 
• internal to your organisation i.e. those using your services or being part of your change initiative or transformation – typically organisation staff members or business employees. 
• Customers can also be referred to using different terms: in Health organisations for example customers are ‘patients’ or ‘service users’ and in government organisations customers can be referenced as ‘citizens.’ 
• So, defining, documenting, and using the right terms/references, language for your ‘customer’ is important.

• By involving your customer at every key step of the change programme you can make sure the change initiative is producing the right deliverables with the right outcomes. It also allows you to anticipate any major events which could cause risks or issues which can be mitigated and managed, respectively. 

2.   Commitment

• Do you have the commitment at the right levels in your organisation to start the change initiative?

• Do you also have the commitment from staff, employees, key stakeholders, to continue to conduct the change initiative? For example, do the initiatives have the right sponsorship at a senior level to remove ‘roadblocks’ if the going gets tough? 

• Capacity to do the change is often given as an excuse not to change or to slow down the change, however if you have the right commitment these issues can be resolved.

• A good practice for commitment to change is to make sure you have a ‘contract’ or mandate signed off by the relevant stakeholders for the change initiative to go ahead. This mandate is a brief overview document highlighting the outline strategy, goals, the change approach including key customers, stakeholders, major deliverables, a plan, governance, and reference terms, signed off by the main change sponsor. This can be reviewed and revised, if necessary, as the Change initiative progresses, particularly if its over a few years, it’s a good idea to use this mandate as a tool for ongoing commitments.

3.   Culture

• Culture is the behaviours, mindsets, symbols, social interactions in an organisation. When introducing or managing change, bringing people along with you is key in changing mindsets and behaviours. Culture and mindset shift can often be difficult in transformation…not getting buy-in to change can destroy an initiative at any level of an organisation if there’s enough ‘influential voices’ to dismiss or curtail change initiatives. Having a plan to deal with resistance to change is important.

• Participation by those who are affected by the change is important at every stage of your change initiative from the early beginnings to the development, the execution and to the embedding of the change. Creating a team of ‘change champions’ or advocates to help you with your change journey is paramount. Visible leaders supporting the change with local ownership at every level also supports and helps to bring about successful change.

4.   Communication 

• Having a change communication strategy and plan is crucial to managing successful change. It helps you paint a picture of the change needed, start as early as possible to create an awareness of the change including as it develops and delivers. Make sure you also build in a feedback loop mechanism for all stakeholders via a multi-channel choice approach.

• A good starting point in the communication plan is to understand the outcomes and to think of the articles which could be promoted through for example social media or a podcast or headline newspaper article. What would the article say about your change if it went really well? What would it say if things went wrong? What if things escalated to a crisis or critical incident i.e. the highest level of risk? How could you control the narrative? How could this impact your organisation i.e. your brand, your bottom line – how could you control the change narrative both internally and externally? Having a business continuity plan supported by strong communications, which manages issues from change is vital.

• Use a multi-channel targeted communication approach. Communicate regularly and often; for example, using symbols, themes, or stories. Story telling can be an effective communication tool for leaders in change.

• Role modelling, training and reinforcement of the change communicated at the right time to the right people is important particularly in helping to make sure the change is sustainable.

• Tackling objections, resistance to change in a manner and form in keeping with your culture and organisation is a fundamental part of communication.

• Celebrating change improvements as they occur is very important – these ‘moments that matter’ maybe small in nature but should be celebrated along the way not waiting until the end of a deliverable or a major phase.

5.   Collaboration

• As the pace of change quickens across the globe especially with the introductions and advancement seen in the digital world, tackling this change becomes ever more challenging. The human-to-human interface is necessary in the modern world especially in making sure digital works for us, and not the other way around!

• Multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs) or ‘matrix teams’ made up of a cross section of stakeholders internal and or external to your organisation, all driving towards the same goal can help your change programme enormously as they represent the interests and ideas of all parties impacted by the change programme. 

• Creating and collaborating an eco-system of partners, like-minded organisations who are in pursuit of the same goals often ‘lightens the load’ i.e. if partners collaborate well then, the barriers to change often melt away.

6.   Creativity

• Some of the biggest breakthroughs in change have come about through being creative. Every industry sector has fitting examples of how creativity has transformed how people work, and live from breakthroughs in medicine and medical procedures, to rail and road transport to robotic process automation in manufacturing, to name but a few. 

• So, as you move through your change initiative ask yourself, are you being creative, is there an easier, more effortless way to do ‘things’? And can you afford not to be creative?

7.   Cost

• The cost of change can often be underestimated which is why its important to factor sensitivity analysis into your case for change. 

• Understanding the cost of not doing the change whether its large or small is a good starting point – i.e. what benefits can be realised. 

• Cost estimates at the start of an initiative can be within predefined acceptable financial limits and refined as your change specification is honed in more detail.

• Typical costs not only include the obvious, operating costs such as people resources, but also capital costs which maybe needed such as equipment or new technology. Communication costs, and training costs can sometimes be missed; along with internal staff/employees who are not ‘officially’ accounted for in the original ‘case for change’ as the initiative grows in size, should be factored into costs for business impact and true benefit realisation.

• A change in direction or resistance to change, can slow down or stall a change initiative. To prevent significant issues, it’s a good idea to gameplay any potential issues, with communication or public relation messages drafted if needed alongside a potential ‘contingency’ fund to cover critical change issues which may not be factored into the original plan.

8.   Code of Conduct

• Many organisations have their own code of conduct, often in the employee/staff handbook, which reflects for example the professional competences, values, behaviours, and ethics of the organisation. 

• It is important that the change programme reviews and enhances where necessary this code of conduct, and adheres to it in the development, delivery, and post review of the change programme. This may involve legal and commercial teams during the process but it’s vital for the organisation’s reputation and brand to make sure the change programme has a positive impact on all its stakeholders, with an inclusive, diverse and fair approach.

9.   Competition

• The competition maybe the reason why you initiate the change, as your organisation needs to shift to meet market demands or accommodate new innovations.

10.  Change Management

• Choosing a change management approach or indeed a number of change approaches as tools to use for implementing change, is a good idea. There’s no particular change method to highlight here as it really does depend on the type of change and the forces at play in your organisation. However, there are several very well-known change methodologies and standards which are good to follow. Adopting these methods consistently and using them across the lifecycle of your change initiative with key measures, checkpoints and plans is a given in good practice. 

In Summary

The ‘C’s of change is a simple checklist, or an aide memoire for leaders. It is not intended to replace a rigorous change management approach but to stand alongside it, i.e. sometimes it’s useful to stand back from your change management approach and ask:



• Are you heading in the right direction? 
• Are you delivering what the customer wants, do you still have the commitment from key stakeholders? 
• How is your collaborative approach assisting with your change initiative?
• Has the competition trumped what you are doing or are you being creative, are you ahead of the curve? 
• Are the costs under control and the benefits being realised? 
• Is the culture changing, are communications working?
• Is the code of conduct being followed and is the change driving the right results?
• Are you really making a difference and is there more to do?

Planning ahead, understanding the end-to-end mapping of your change transformation including your future state, being consistent with your change approach and using the ‘C’s of change, should help you to deliver sustainable change and steer you into calmer waters especially if the ‘tide turns’ and the going gets rough.

At the Human Digital Collaborative, we can offer through our Business Consultancy, change experts who can understand your needs and see where we can help in your change journey. Do reach out to us – the Human Digital Collaborative.com