When dealing with any type of change especially significant change within an organisation, people can often be a little fragile when it comes to opening up to new possibilities of being more effective. In most cases there maybe a number of considerations here including; how much change the organisation has been through in recent times, and how well the people within the organisation have embraced the implementation of previous Service Management Initiatives, if any.
This topic is not normally associated with IT Service Management, but one you should certainly consider if you really want to make a difference. It's really important to hone your 'People Change' skills when implementing Service Management effectively, beware and understand the current landscape of the organisation and be able to map your path to success by getting people on-board and endorsing the capabilities you are building. This is often difficult when there are people who are resistant, and often feel the work you are undergoing is a threat to there current workload, or they are just not prepared to take a new journey that will take them outside their established comfort-zone. Changing the way people work, can often be perceived as a threat to ones ego, therefore understanding and addressing their concerns as soon as possible is the key.
What is ego? 'an inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others' When dealing with the ego try to understand the underlying nature of the ego, Do they perceive the change to be extra work? or is there just resistance to changing their current behaviors?
Don't dwell on it and try to work it out in detail, just understand the nature of what you're dealing with so you can better prepare for potential ways of working around it.
Spend the time to talk through your plans and provide a focus by explaining the benefits and the wins by adopting the new change. Keep things positive and in perspective, foster a focused effort on the producing realistic and tangible outcomes based on your scope. Finally, remain focused on what your good at and do not try to solve all of the political issues surrounding the situation. Be conscious of the amount of time you spend on dealing with this against your overall goals and ensure you seek the relevant support where necessary if the resistance becomes a roadblock. Last but not least be respectful of people and there views.
