CPA_Practice_Advisor_April_2020 - 34

LEAN SIX SIGMA ADVISOR
The Continuous Improvement
Approach to Leading Change
JONATHAN MACDONALD, A noted author and expert on change management, once said,
"Change is the only certainty. Today is the slowest rate of change we will ever experience.
And those who are most adaptive to change stand the greatest chance of survival."
The accounting world is changing
dramatically - so much so that change
has become "business as usual" in
many firms, and success depends on
how firm leaders manage and execute
change. So how are you approaching
the changes happening in your firm? If
you feel like you could be doing better,
consider taking a continuous improvement approach.
Continuous improvement is the
ongoing effort to improve products,
services or processes. Simply put, it
means getting better all the time. As
it pertains to change leadership, there
are four overarching areas in which it
applies.

ALIGNMENT
Having helped many firms with change
management strategies, I recognize
that firm leaders must have clarity and
get in alignment with their responses
to the following questions:
■ What is your firm's strategy for change?
It's difficult to manage change and hold
people accountable without a strategic
plan based on a shared vision. To lead
change, firm leaders must spend time
strategizing ways to position the firm
for increased potential and growth.
Annual strategic planning sessions
and accountability reviews can help
firm leaders get in alignment and
accomplish positive change.
■ Who is leading change in your firm?
Every firm needs a change leader
whose job it is to pave the way for
others to buy in. A change leader needs
to actively interact with the team,
communicating early and often. To be
effective, that communication needs to
provide an understanding of what is
changing, take into account the human

APRIL 2020 ■

response to change, and help convince
people that the work is "worth it."
■ Have you included the Voice of
the Client in your strategic plan?
Everything you do should start with
a consideration of what clients want,
think, expect and value. If you aren't
listening to that voice, you risk missing
the mark in your strategy, and missing
opportunities to improve work product
and service delivery - both of which
must be continuously improved to be
competitive in a crowded marketplace.

AWARENESS
With the profession experiencing significant change, you need to effectively
lead people through difficult times. To
do so, you need to have an awareness
of how people react to change.
■ How is change impacting the firm's
talent? The future will look different - from how the organization is
structured to the components that
make up the technology and talent
workforce. New technologies and
automation are impacting the work
being done, the workforce being used,
and where the work gets done. Talent is
no longer just your full- and part-time
employees. It includes technology and
independent contractors as well.
■ How are you addressing the emotional
side of change? One challenge for
firm leaders is that everyone reacts
differently. Some get hung up on the
past, others approach with hesitation,
while others embrace change and get
excited about the prospect of a positive
future. Think about how each member
of your team may react to current and
future changes. Sometimes, effective
change management requires leading
one person at a time.

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■ Do you expect 100% buy-in? Every firm
wants to get their people on board and
excited about the future, but assuming
that everyone will get there at the same
time is unreasonable. If you're waiting
for 100% buy-in to make necessary
changes in your firm, you're setting
yourself up for failure. The reality is,
you need to move forward. Hopefully,
the hold-outs will see that the change
benefited the firm and get on board.

ACCOUNTABILITY
Holding others accountable is how
leaders reinforce and communicate
how much a goal matters and how
much the people who will meet the
goal matter.
■ How are you measuring and tracking
success? Measuring performance is one
of the most clear and universal ways
to hold people accountable. Every goal
in your plan should have a measurable
result that allows you to track your
progress. Revenue and profits are a
given, but you may also track other
metrics, such as leads generated from
marketing, the number of hours spent
meeting with clients outside of normal
deadlines, etc. You'll have to decide
what makes the most sense given the
goals you've established.
■ Are success metrics visible and
transparent? All of the work you put
into measuring and tracking activity is
meaningless unless the people involved
know the numbers. Share them with
your team to help drive focus.
■ Are you leveraging peers and outside
resources? Keeping pace with change
can be difficult, especially if you're not
looking outside of your organization for
new ideas and best practices. Joining a
peer community can push you beyond

ARIANNA CAMPBELL

Director, Boomer Consulting, Inc.
arianna.campbell@cpapracticeadvisor.com

your current limits and ensure you are
on the right path.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Engaging everyone in the process of
change requires acknowledging the
value of each contributor within the
organization.
■ Are you gathering and sharing feedback
effectively? All change practitioners
know how important communication
is to any initiative, but it must be a
two-way street. People become disconnected or misunderstand what's going
on if they're just blasted with updates.
Turn communication into a loop by
developing a feedback system. Listen
to how people are feeling and look for
ways to improve communication to
keep change moving along.
■ Are you acknowledging and celebrating
successes? It's essential for teams
and individuals working on complex
initiatives to achieve small wins
regularly. Setbacks are common when
working through big problems, and
people can become disheartened unless
they can point to some achievements,
even if that achievement is minor.
Acknowledging and celebrating successes, no matter how small, gives an
emotional uplift and helps build faith
in the effort.
■ Are you leading with courage? It takes
courage to leave behind what is familiar, move forward with something new
and push through the learning curve.
Courage is the deciding factor. Get help
from other successful firms and enlist
the help of outside facilitators. If you
feel like you don't need courage, your
goals aren't big enough! ■

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