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252 C o n t i n u o u s I m p r o v e m e n t e f f e c t i v e C h a n g e M a n a g e m e n t 253
Strategy #2: Mentoring. In Greek mythology, Mentor was an elderly
man, the trusted counselor of Odysseus, and the guardian and teacher of
his son Telemachus. Today the term “mentor” is still used to describe a
wise and trusted counselor or teacher. When this person occupies an
important position in the organization’s hierarchy, he or she can be a pow-
erful force for eliminating roadblocks. Modern organizations are complex
and confusing. It is often difficult to determine just where one must go to
solve a problem or obtain a needed resource. The mentor can help guide
the project manager through this maze by clarifying lines of authority. At
the same time, the mentor’s senior position enables him or her to see the
implications of complexity and to work to eliminate unnecessary rules
and procedures.
Strategy #3: Identify informal leaders and enlist their support.
Because of their experience, mentors often know that the person whose
support the project really needs is not the one occupying the relevant
box on the organization chart. The mentor can direct the project leader
to the person whose opinion really has influence. For example, a project
may need the approval of, say, the vice president of engineering. The
engineering VP may be balking because his senior metallurgist hasn’t
endorsed the project.
Strategy #4: Find legitimate ways around people, procedures, resource
constraints, and other roadblocks. It may be possible to get approvals or
resources through means not known to the project manager. Perhaps a
minor change in the project plan can bypass a cumbersome procedure
entirely. For example, adding an engineer to the team might automatically
place the authority to approve process experiments within the team rather
than in the hands of the engineering department.
These concerns must be addressed. Change cannot occur without buy-
in from the key stakeholders responsible for change.
The following steps can be used to achieve buy-in within the organiza-
tion (Keller, 2011a):
1. Define key stakeholders. These are the individuals or groups who can
make or break the change initiative.
2. Measure baseline level of buy-in for each key stakeholder. How
committed are they to change?
3. Analyze buy-in reducers and boosters for each key stakeholder or stake-
holder group. Understand the concerns of the stakeholders, which
may vary from one stakeholder to another.
4. Improve by addressing issues.
5. Control with a plan to maintain buy-in.
Notice the DMAIC approach, which will be discussed shortly as the
model of process improvement, applied here to the problem of buy-in.
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