CLIENT EXPERIENCE: LEVEL OF READINESS ASSESSMENT
Professional Services Firm
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Background

A successful professional services firm was introducing a contact management system as part of a shift in corporate culture. When adoption of the new system didn't meet their expectations they completed a Level of Readiness Assessment to discover what specific factors were preventing people from making the transition.

TCM asked the client a few questions after the process was complete.

TCM: What value did the Level of Readiness Assessment give your oganization?

CLIENT: The results aren’t intuitive, so there is value in learning things that may be counter to your intuition. It gives you actual information on which to base decisions, rather than relying on assumptions or best guesses.

There is also tremendous value in understanding how individuals deal with change, and in getting insight from someone who has made change their business. It’s good to work with someone who has a solid understanding of how change works and can really help you move through it more successfully.

TCM: Now that you have seen the results, what, in hindsight, might you have done differently?

CLIENT: If I was doing it again I might have spent more time trying to get some of the thought leaders on board sooner. We thought we already had unanimous approval from the senior decision-makers, but when it came time to implement, it was as if people had forgotten. We were constantly reminding them “Hey, this was approved already.”

In hindsight, I think we would have spent a lot more time building their understanding and commitment. I’d probably spend more time on the front end reminding people, coaching them along, explaining the process and walking through it in more detail. I think everybody pretty much understands the value this has for the firm, but there’s still room for us to improve in demonstrating its value for the individual.

TCM: Would you recommend to other companies that they conduct a Level of Readiness Assessment early in the change process?

CLIENT: Yes -- organizations definitely need to undertake this process at the earliest opportunity in their change. Evaluating readiness early is helpful to the way you package and present the change – even before the decisions have all been made.

Once you know where people are in terms of readiness, you can tailor the messages and delivery to different groups in ways that are specific to their particular concerns or issues. Doing this early would help smooth implementation and build more of a sense of commitment in everyone.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LEVEL OF READINESS ASSESSMENT