My short answer: yes, but.
My long answer: do the following to make it trainable.
Background
Corporate HR and L&D teams sometimes push initiatives which, from the early stages, sound like a lot more than just training. Some of my favourite are 'An Agile Mindset', 'Omni-channel', 'Customer Centricity', and 'Digital Literacy'. The thinking often goes like this: we have this cool business concept that we see other companies adopting and can help us improve our performance. Let's get everyone behind it! We will create a training to make sure all teams are on board.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with creating a briefing piece to help an audience understand a new concept. What I'm often missing is an integrated change management perspective accounting for all factors involved in adopting new business practices.
Here are some key aspects that are often sidelined when embedding a new business concept.
Communicating the vision
Remember: teams are unlikely to be excited about the change at first. They need to understand the need, the vision, and how it may impact them. If it were a map, they should understand where they are today, where you want to be in the future, and why.
Do it in a direct, down-to-earth language. Be ready to break it down: everyone should understand what you mean. Quit the business lingo and talk in specific, transparent terms.
developing a conversation
Talking to different teams about the change helps you spread the word and foster readiness. You might also find out there's other connected initiatives, or stakeholders who have already developed your concept.
These conversations can give you a sense of how ready the organisation is for change. In an ideal scenario, other teams might have already been trying something similar, or had identified the same need as you. The ADKAR model can help you shape these conversations.
supporting champions
It's unlikely you will have enough leverage to talk the entire organisation into changing what they're doing. There will be influential team members (managers, SMEs) who you want to have on you side to help you shape and communicate the message. Consider who are the catalysts who will help you shape and drive new practices: you won't succeed without them.
defining your success model
It's easy to talk about digital being a priority--but not enough by any means. You will leave people with questions such as: 'What does it mean in practical terms? How does it impact me? What am I supposed to do?'.
Explain which areas will be the priority and why. Connect them to the real business context. Dive into details with behaviours, activities, metrics.
Consider using a skills or capabilities framework teams can use for themselves. More often than not, if teams support your vision and they know what is expected, they will figure it out by themselves.
listening
You won't bring about change by forcing your message down on others. Talk to teams, understand where they are at with regards to your concept, identify what's keeping them away from the desired state. You may find out some solutions are just operational, and get a better idea about the skills you actually need the training for.
What's your experience?
Have you used other strategies to support organisational change? What has worked for you? Let me know in the comments!
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