Managing Change for the better

We all love that cliche -- life is a journey, add in a dramatic rain effect with storm clouds in the background and a tearful hero/heroine and you've got yourself the next box office topping romantic comedy. However, the earth and all its inhabitats have taken a hard journey over the past year -- coal mine disasters in Chili and West Virginia, the deadly tsunami and earthquake in Japan, BP's Deepwater Rig explosion. Add in yet another cliche -- it's time to change for the better -- and you've got a world that needs to change but hasn't yet mastered how to do it.

Managing change is one of the hardest parts of hotel operations -- trust me, working in a restaurant and trying to roll out a new menu is both hilarious and infuriating (cooks will moan and groan and pretend not to see the new items on the ticket, servers will refuse to sell the new dishes, and management will have to deal with managing the change or see the menu crash and burn). Seeing as my project is focused on implementing a new green program, managing change is also one of the most important parts of successful green initiatives in the scope of my project.

We can preach change, make beautiful posters about change, and even create workshops on change. But, until we live it, study it, and know how we're going to manage it, we won't see the results we really need. First step, as always, is knowing the right questions to ask:

1) What behaviors are we trying to change?
2) How do those behaviors affect the goal?
3) What part of the problem can we help solve?
4) What do we want to achieve through this behavior change?
5) What's our short term plan?
6) What's our long term plan?
7) How can we involve all the stakeholders/parties? (guests, employees, management, executives, shareholders?)
8) What are the barriers to changing these behaviors?
9) What are the benefits to all the stakeholders?
10) What is the environment the change is occurring in? Is it conducive to change or do we need to change it and how?
11) What incentives can we provide? Rewards for good behavior?
12) What decisions lead to certain behaviors?
13) How will we quantify success?

It's common sense, exemplary performance and exemplary management produce all the tools needed for change management, you just have to be vigilant in leading change for the better...