LeadSimple Blog
Introducing something new in your company is a daunting task. What makes the difference between success and failure? Planning, planning well, and planning well in advance. In our latest blog post, learn how to manage major changes in your business like rolling out systems and processes with a simple 3-phase transition plan!
Change management. Team buy-in. Enrollment. Implementation. Rollout. Adoption.
Hot topics in the property management industry today.
Why? Because great ideas die in organizations every day.
What kills them?
Loss of momentum.
Consider that for a moment. It’s not because the idea was a bad idea. It’s not because of lack of time, or lack of capacity, or lack of anything else. It’s because the idea lost the momentum it had in its infancy.
What makes the difference between success and failure here?
Planning, planning well, and planning well in advance.
Be careful and intentional when implementing something new. Don’t fall victim to the idea that if it’s a great enough idea with great implications and expected results, it will implement itself. It won’t.
The problem is that there is a huge amount of work involved in switching from the “old way” to the “new way”. We naturally cling to our habits and our ways of thinking. Breaking from them and shaping a new world takes work.
As everyday work comes up and gets in the way, the tyranny of the urgent pulls us away from the project. Friction, gravity, obstacles, give it what name you will. The truth is that the laws of physics apply just as strongly here as they do out on the road.
Which means you have to keep intentionally pressing on the gas.
Doesn’t matter how big or small the project is, the way you approach it is absolutely critical to its success.
And when you are implementing a whole new way of operating your business by turning it into a systems-led company? It’s even more critical and (potentially) difficult.
Your team needs YOU to manage the change process with them well. You cannot leave it up to chance whether it will get across the finish line.
We’ve seen clients do an incredible job with enrolling their team and smoothly rolling out LeadSimple to full adoption, achieving incredible results with their team and company.
We’ve also seen clients have a hard time getting their team on board and in some cases take far longer to achieve the results they set out for then they needed to.
Don’t underestimate the power of timing and technique here.
YOU can do this well.
To start, I want to warn you of the traps that are easy to fall into here. Recognize the risks early and you will be able to proactively avoid them.
It’s easy for a leader to get excited about a change, take it to their team, and then get discouraged by a lackluster response.
What we forget is that this is the first time the team has heard about our great idea.
They won’t get it. At least not right away.
You need to take your team on the same learning journey that you took. Share the reasons behind the change, share the vision for the future, talk about the impact. Get concrete about the details - how it will affect them and make their life better. Make it clear as needed that this is the way it's going to be, but also show your openness to feedback and ideas.
Lead by example and show how much you mean it through your passion, commitment, and eagerness for the project. Passion for the work is attractive and is your number one lever in impacting your team’s commitment.
No one will have more passion for the project than they’ve seen from you.
Your team will take their cues from you. Remember though that no matter how much passion you have internally for the project, if you don’t show it regularly and often, your team won’t feel it. Share it, share it often, and share it WAY more than you feel like should be necessary. Go over the top with it and you’ll be surprised at how much of a difference it makes.
Now that we’ve gotten those out of the way, let’s dig into the three phases of rolling out systems and processes in your company. (We’ve incorporated principles here from Jeffrey Hiatt’s book ADKAR: A Model for Change in Business, Government and our Community.)
This first phase is the move from inspiration to vision to a concrete plan.
The first thing you need is a project lead. This might be you or it might be someone on your team. Don’t just delegate it to them though! Share the vision with them, listen to their concerns and feedback, and get them bought in and owning the project before you move a step further. This person carries the responsibility for leading the project and getting it from start to finish. Clear their plate, add time blocks to the calendar and protect this person’s time at all costs.
Next you need to create realistic goals and a great plan for the project. When implementing processes and systematizing your company, start by answering these questions:
Next, create buzz with your team! Share the goals for the project with your team and what will be expected of them. Talk about the benefits and ask them what improvements they want to see in their processes. “Hey, won’t it be great when I don’t have to interrupt you anymore because I can find this info in LeadSimple?”
Encourage them to be thinking about ways to automate in their day to day. Address head on any potential fears about learning new software or automating away their work.
Then start building your processes with our implementation team! They will take you through each process, working through what you currently do, adding improvements and best practices, training you on LeadSimple, and getting you comfortable building and editing your processes on your own. This is a critical step to ensuring the project will be completed on your desired timeline.
The next phase is to roll out a process to a beta group on your team (e.g. rolling out the application screening process in your leasing department).
Meet with your beta group to launch the process. Walk through it with them and ask for feedback. Send them to a Learn LeadSimple Live class to get familiar with LeadSimple and then have them start using the process going forward, with accountability and always with an open door to suggest changes and process updates.
Add LeadSimple process improvements to your meeting agendas and make any necessary changes immediately to protect the momentum. As your team starts to use the process, ask them to share any wins that they see. 🎉
Keep building and rolling out processes to beta teams until you have the major core processes complete.
Pick an official launch date and make a splash! Make it a fun team event and celebrate the wins that have already come out of your processes. Revisit the vision and highlight that the team will be expected to use the processes and stay on track with their tasks going forward.
You can make it fun by gamifying it - even create team giveaways and awards around sharing celebrations, suggesting improvements, and building new processes.
Now keep up the momentum by establishing a new work cadence. Add process review and improvements as an agenda item to meetings, establish ownership of each process, and share wins regularly as you manage, review, and track all your work in LeadSimple!
Organize all your hundreds of property management tasks into simple, documented, and automated workflows that integrate directly with your property accounting software. Give your team one place to work and manage more with less! Learn more and get started with LeadSimple Operations today.
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Aimee is the Content and Customer Education Manager at LeadSimple. She creates training, educational, and other content to help clients achieve success in sales, operations, and the health of their business. When she isn't working, she enjoys the outdoors, crafting, family time, and learning new skills.
Sales doesn't have to be an afterthought, and your processes should be automated. With LeadSimple, you will have a seamless handoff between sales and service teams, and help you turn cold prospects into raving fans by delivering a great customer experience.
