Fit the man

Tough loveUse role-playing when determining consequences. Imagining the project to be a tremendous success that meets each future state desire helps identify the positive consequences. Then, imagine the project as a partial or total failure that meets none of the future state desires to help identify negative consequences. Then, classify those consequences as:Positive or negativePositive consequences make it more likely a behavior will recur. Negative consequences make it less likely.Present or futureConsequences that happen during or immediately after a behavior exert a stronger influence than do delayed consequences.Certain or uncertainConsequences that always follow a behavior exert a stronger influence than consequences that may or may not happen.Consider some examples. Positive immediate consequences include sincere praise from a boss or peer, public recognition or finding a shortcut that completes a task more easily than before. Remember, frequent positive feedback sustains a behavior change much longer than any celebration dinner.On the other hand, negative immediate consequences might include adding arbitrary, complex and unnecessary steps to a work process or being embarrassed in front of a co-worker.Mold the information gathered into one or more comprehensive plans of action. Measurement tools will be needed to supply timely and accurate data regarding implementation progress. A communication plan is necessary to provide positive feedback to employees and to the departments involved with the implementation. If the soft science of people issues is not a strong suit, consider using a competent consultant to guide the implementation process.History can hauntA person's past experiences predict, to a large degree, their current readiness for change. Those who have experienced or perceived negative consequences from change may resist the new CMMS project. Examples of negative experiences might include:Being kept uninformed about expectations.Hearing mixed messages from different levels of management and areas of the organization.Never being given the business reason for the change.Feeling as though one's concerns are ignored.Not being given an opportunity to contribute to the project efforts other than as a drone.Being assigned additional work without the necessary resources.Losing a comfortable work process, work environment, tool or product.Having to learn new skills without understanding the benefits.Being taken away from regular work for special activities whose value is unclear or dubious.On the other hand, it's also possible to carry over positive experiences. To increase the likelihood of success, the project team can leverage these types of events:Feeling included in the process.Having a project team and organization leaders that value a person's contributions.Being given extra resources to offset an additional workload.Having more control over their work when the change process is completed.Being told clearly why the organization needed to change.Benefiting personally and clearly from the change.Be careful when analyzing employee's realities and perceptions. Never take the explanation of the technology too far if you haven't provided a comprehensive training program to bring employees up-to-speed before expecting them to perform. It's unfair to judge a person's performance until they have the tools to do the job. Carl C. Hughes is an independent CMMS implementation consultant. He can be reached at carl_lee_hughes@msn.com. He would like to acknowledge the ChevronTexaco CPDEP process for some of the research material used for this article.