You are in the midst of changes. Are the changes successful? When will you know? How will you know? Our clients grapple with these questions, and so do we with every change. It is important to have a plan, but also resources that are benchmarks for what successful change looks like. More important is to set your change apart from others and understand what successful change looks like when you have developed a dependable competency for change.
Change Management Communications Center likes to compare apples and oranges when it comes to measuring the success of your change. The reason why we like to look beyond “other changes like this” is because the success rate for change has been researched and determined to be very low for more than forty years. For instance, if you are working on a merger or acquisition, and you know that industry standard estimates only 9 percent of mergers and acquisitions are profitable over time, do you want to compare your success with “industry standard,” or would you like to compare to the target of your own profitability expectations of the merger? Would you also like to know the impact on stakeholders and what retention rates and customer loyalty look like before, during, and after the merger?
A recent PMI Report found that strategic focus on change management is one piece of the puzzle in realizing successful implementation of strategic initiatives. In fact, only 56 percent of strategic initiatives meet their goals. This is clearly not a great track record but, does it truly affect the bottom line of your business? The answer: a resounding yes!
Heart Posture is essentially “the way mom always told you to stand” – shoulders back, stomach in, head held high. This posture conveys a sense of trust, which is an important signal to send whether you are pitching a new idea, interviewing for a job or trying to close a deal. The last thing you want is for your posture to be interfering with what you are trying to communicate.
Body language is an important factor in how you exert power, influence and create buy-in with others. Just how important is often under estimated. Others will make a decision about your competency in a given situation in less than a second, leaving no time to speak eloquently on a subject or even begin to make your case. In fact, once you do get around to speaking, what you say during an interaction with another person only accounts for about 7% of the impression you make. That being said the way you carry yourself, walk into a room or sit in the waiting area can have a profound impact on your ability to convey your message, sell your product/idea or get your team members onboard.
