Change Makers: A Closer Look at the Savills Change Management Team with Bailey Graves: Part Two

A team is like a mosaic. Each piece is different but brings an essential addition to the whole picture. The Savills Change Management team is a group of individuals with unique experience and credentials. Together, they bring their clients a well-rounded perspective on navigating and implementing change. Learn more about our team and the Savills approach to change management in our series, Change Makers.

How Three Key Dialogue Techniques Can Drive Consensus in Change Management

It’s a common scenario in the corporate world: a major internal initiative, such as migrating to a new software platform, gets underway and involves a broad set of stakeholders. The migration will impact nearly everyone in the company, so working groups are formed across several departments to ensure appropriate representation. Somehow, these groups need to come together to move the project forward on a set timeline and in a way that ensures maximum benefit for all users.

With so many people and opinions in the mix, how do we get everyone moving in one direction? This is the core challenge of any change process. The speed and success of change often hinges on the most basic element of any initiative: human interaction.

As a trained dialogue facilitator with a background in peace and conflict studies, I find a few techniques useful in bringing people together to build consensus in situations where needs and motivations vary. These are adapted from On Dialogue, David Bohm’s foundational text on the topic.

Technique 1: resist assumptions and ask questions

The power of asking questions in facilitating any change process cannot be overstated. Approaching a situation with preconceived notions is an easy trap for any consultant or designated “expert.” Taking the time to ask thoughtful and targeted questions helps to draw people out, starts a productive discussion, establishes transparency, and reveals aspects of people and processes that are not immediately obvious yet crucial to finding the best path forward.

Here are three question types I find particularly useful in facilitating dialogue and managing change:

Ask questions you think you might already know the answer to. Assumptions can conceal crucial underlying factors about an existing state. Take, for example, a company that is experiencing frequent conflicts between employees regarding the use of meeting space at the office. Leadership may assume that space scarcity is causing these clashes. Asking questions broadly across user groups may reveal a lack of clear guidelines, policies, or protocols in requesting and booking space as the real hurdle. A rule of thumb is always to be slightly suspicious when something seems obvious. Play the detective. The results may reveal something really useful.

Ask: who “owns” that? Most people are familiar with how prevalent the royal “we” can be in workplace collaboration. “We should definitely get that approved by HR ASAP!” or “We should interview that client to get some feedback.” But who exactly is “we”? This is where asking, “Who owns that?” is necessary. Without understanding who is accountable for any given task, the process will lack transparency and potentially lead to crossed wires in communication.

Ask: what would be your ideal future? The past can often hold back stakeholders. They have become accustomed to particular ways of working or processes regardless of efficacy. “But this is how we’ve always done it!” is not uncommon to hear in conversations about change. Staying firmly focused on the future state of the change is essential for meaningful shifts to happen. “What would you like the process to look like?” is one way of posing a question that encourages people to start with a blank slate, let go of the past, and begin talking about a more optimal future.

Technique 2: suspend judgment

David Bohm’s text describes a process called Suspension. It’s a technique that anyone in the change process—leadership, stakeholders, or the change manager—can utilize to make dialogue more productive or to help move beyond an impasse. The technique requires individuals to recognize their own biases and preconceptions to understand their reaction to the situation before them. They may then understand that the other party may be experiencing some of the same things.

The reality in any corporate setting is that different users and business teams are each grappling with unique pressures and objectives. At first, one person’s perspective, at odds with another’s, may be difficult to understand. However, if we take a step back to think through what may be driving the perspective of the person sitting across the table from us and reevaluate our lens, it can open a new avenue of understanding. Finding a way through a disagreement may be a much smoother road when we gain that perspective.

In short, self-reflection and empathy are powerful tools—in life, at work, and in building consensus for change.

Technique 3: create an in-group or structure to build positive sentiment

Another effective way of facilitating positive and meaningful dialogue in a change process is to create an underlying structure that supports the outcome you are aiming for. In dialogue practice, this is known as “building the container.” One application of this concept is to create a Change Ambassador group. Ideally, this will be a selection of stakeholders across user groups motivated to take leadership roles in moving the change forward and who desire to be “in the know” as change occurs.

Establishing a Change Ambassador group will give participants a safe arena to ask questions, air concerns, and discuss issues openly. Free-flowing, transparent discussion, along with access to leadership and key directives driving the change, will solidify a sense of ownership in the process for this core group and hopefully, generate excitement related to the process and the change itself.

The positive sentiment and engagement level of this group will spread. Change Ambassadors fully immersed in the change will act as friendly faces to engage those around them, answering questions and concerns, assuring those who may be skeptical, and overall, helping to build excitement and commitment for the new state to come. By engaging with this core stakeholder group and “building the container,” leaders and change managers will drive a unified direction organically by facilitating healthy communication and letting people spread the word across the company.

Constructive dialogue drives consensus

Change is an incremental process that requires effective communication at every stage. Given this need, there is significant value in having an outside consultant facilitate the process, serving not only as a project or change manager but as an unbiased mediator working across many divergent interests. The classic dialogue concepts discussed here are time-tested. Most importantly for organizations, they are particularly powerful in unearthing deeper insights, driving productive conversations, and ultimately building buy-in and consensus for transitions with high impact.

Bailey Graves is an Associate Director at Savills, where she holds nearly a decade of experience in program and change management services across a variety of industries and applications. Bailey helps clients define, pursue, and achieve their goals through a collaborative approach to program implementation as a subject matter expert in Strategic Advisory and PMO services. Her programmatic approach to managing her clients’ toughest problems equips them for continued long-term success. Beyond client work, Bailey is an active leader in DEI and mentorship and serves as co-chair of Savills Pride+ Employee Resource Group.

Get in touch with Bailey here: bgraves@savills.us