Being clear on the benefits

Change can be costly, disruptive and potentially dangerous. It’s vital that, as part of the planning process, the benefits are clearly identified.

This is not only crucial from a strategic perspective, but also from a people perspective – that is how you as a leader or manager bring your people with you on the change journey.

Identifying benefits help in the following ways:

• The reason for change is clear; the benefits provide a focus for everyone.
• Success can be identified, recognised and celebrated, thereby having a positive impact on future change initiatives.
• There is clear agreed accountability for sustaining change.
• Progress can be tracked, monitored, delivered – and each step can be communicated.
• Stakeholders are clear about both current and expected performance.
• The credibility of the change is enhanced through realisation and recognition of the benefits.

This is important in the next activity where we start to consider ways we can engage people in change and is something we’ll build on throughout the course.

Your own context

Are you planning a change project? How clear are the benefits? Have you established ways to measure this? Can you anticipate what sorts of information people would want and need to hear about the benefits?