Collaborating with End Users: Revisiting the Hawthorne Effect By Victor Rocine, Lynn Anamasi & Maria He The Hawthorne effect an increase in worker productivity produced by the psychological stimulus of being singled out and made to feel important. 1 We are change management practitioners, working with client organizations to implement SAP an enterprise-wide software. Together we have over 20 years experience working with client organizations to adopt technology driven change each client having hundreds and thousands of end users 2. We recently had a great opportunity to break some of our own perspectives and limitations when our primary focus, for a new billing system for the New York Power Authority (NYPA), was a business critical user group of fewer than twenty (20) people. Logistics and Resource Constraints Often Drive the Organizational Readiness Approach Change management practitioners work with client management, project teams and subject matter experts (SMEs) to design and implement measures to increase end user awareness, reduce the resistance to change, and prepare end users to learn and adopt new business processes, procedures and software applications. Usual activities include: Organizational alignment events Communications Business process redesign workshops Training When dealing with hundreds or thousands of end users across different geographies, business units, a broad range of business functions and job types, the design of change management strategies and tactics are often driven by logistical considerations and resource 1 The Hawthorne effect states that by merely participating in a test, trial or study the participants improve their short term performance (or experience) because of the attention given them regardless of the type of change. While the original Hawthorne study has been criticized for poor science (because of flaws in investigational design, subject replacement, lack of control group, etc.) the effect itself continues to be substantiated. 2 End users is an industry software term describing individuals who use a software application. 1
constraints the most notable constraint being time (e.g., engaging harried project stakeholder groups, meeting the project deadline). Far from a Typical Utility NYPA Demanded a Fresh Perspective New York Power Authority (NYPA) is a state owned utility. Most energy utilities have hundreds of thousands, some even millions, of customers. NYPA, with annual revenues of $6 billion, has only a few hundred customers many are large, complex private and public enterprises. One NYPA customer, the City of New York, includes many departments and agencies, such as the Department of Education with the nation s largest school system, and the NYC Housing Authority with 178,000 apartments in 2,644 residential buildings. Another NYPA customer Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) operates the area s subways, buses and commuter trains. The Unique Role of NYPA Billing Specialists NYPA customers do not contact a call center to ask questions about their bills. They talk to the person who knows their account and prepared their bill. Each customer has an assigned Billing Specialist whose name and contact information appears on every invoice. Large customers also receive detailed, customized billing reports. NYPA Billing Specialists Were Clearly the Most Impacted End User Group When a change impact assessment of the major end user groups was conducted, it identified that 29 of 44 processes in the new billing system would impact the Billing staff. Most of these were rated as high impacts. The new system would replace four different legacy mainframe systems that could no longer meet the diverse business requirements of NYPA administered programs and customers. Billing Supervisors Coped with Their Project Responsibilities and Operational Roles The Billing Supervisors were deeply involved in the project designing, developing and testing the new billing solution. As well they had to keep the bills in the four legacy systems going out, answer customer and staff enquires, and communicate with their staff about the new system and project status. With the many demands on the beleaguered supervisors, the change management team undertook initiatives to support the supervisors and their staff. Creating an Opening with the Billing Specialists The critical first step was holding a discovery session with the Billing Specialists, hosted by the supervisors, and organized and facilitated by the change management team. The discovery session was positioned as not trying to answer the Specialists questions but rather to listen and document what was said. Giving the Specialists a Sense of Control The discovery session was deliberately designed to give the Billing Specialists a sense of control. After establishing some basic trust and ground rules, the session opened up with an initial brain dump of dozens and dozens of questions and issues about the new billing system. The Specialists were then invited to cluster and prioritize the issues. In short, the Specialists determined the agenda and priorities for future sessions that would address their 2
most pressing concerns. Toward the end of the discovery session, the Specialists were asked to assess the effectiveness of the meeting identifying what they liked and what would make the session even better. Careful Follow-Through to Maintain Credibility Great care was taken to follow-through on every commitment made during the initial and follow-up sessions. The Specialists were afforded the type of accountability given executive sponsors and steering committees. To illustrate several items were produced and sent to the Specialists shortly after the discovery session: Notes on all the items raised A schedule of future sessions and themes (e.g., proposed solution features & functions, change & job impacts, training, new invoices & formats, mini hands-on demonstrations) An assessment of what worked and what would make future sessions better Frequently asked questions and answers. Suggestions Were Acted Upon The participants suggestions were incorporated in the design of future sessions. One request was to have a way to make anonymous comments. As a result, Anything Else Comment Cards were created and made available at all sessions. A tangible win for the Specialists came from a comment card that suggested a second desktop monitor to easily view (simultaneously on separate screens) the new application and its on-line help. The idea received management approval and was implemented in weeks. The Specialists Inspired New Insights and Approaches Working closely with the Billing Specialists inspired the change management team to create new ways of communicating, preparing and training these critical end users as the following illustrate. Special Treatment Many things were done to give the Specialist special treatment (pun intended): Food and beverages were served at information sessions and testing labs Briefing books were provide to hold and organize hand-outs Training was conducted, including one-on-one support, to prepare them for system testing Billing Specialists had personalized training manuals with their names on covers Training sessions were also personalized user profiles had actual customers and data As the go-live date approached, classroom training was re-scheduled and re-designed several times to accommodate the multiple demands placed on the Specialists to: o Get bills in the legacy system out on time o Participate in testing the new system, and 3
o Learn how to use the billing system 3. The billing Specialists appreciated the attention and became active collaborators in developing approaches to help make their change journeys more timely and effective. Facilitated Dialogues Introduced Key Concepts During the information sessions important facilitated dialogues were held to reduce resistance and create new awareness. For example: Change capability The Specialists shared major life events and personal (change) milestones. This helped them place the introduction of the new system in broader perspective as well as appreciate their own personal change capabilities and resilience. Learning curve The Specialists started to think of the new billing system learning curve in terms of billing cycles (monthly) and how frequent a transaction was conducted (see Illustration 1). More importantly, they realized that their performance expectations of themselves were much higher than the trainers, supervisors or executive management. They were also reminded that new employees typically took two years to fully master the legacy billing systems. Supporting them to Win The Specialists became increasingly aware that a whole support structure (see Illustration 2) was going in place to help make them be successful in the new work environment. 3 Eventually it was agreed to hold two hour daily training sessions over several weeks. 4
Trainers Listened and Observed and Made Adaptations During one training workshop, it was evident that some of the Specialists could not see the forest for the trees despite several attempts to explain the underlying business process. At the next session, the trainer introduced a simple process simulation using a toy puzzle in which the Specialists acted out the business process. This tactile game (away from computer screens and SAP transactions) allowed the Specialists to step back and, for some them, to see and understand the bigger picture for the first time. End Users as Active Change Management Collaborators The Billing Supervisors and the change management team opened a door to the Billing Specialists. They paid attention and kept the door open. In turn the Billing Specialists responded positively: Voicing concerns and making suggestions Gaining confidence in their own abilities Stepping up their involvement in the project as system testers, power users 4 and trainers Creating a safe learning environment where it was okay to make mistakes and everyone could win Cooperating with their direct supervisors as they coped with multiple responsibilities Being active collaborators with the change management team in making support pertinent and opportune. 4 A power user or super user is someone who develops application mastery and helps other end users in their work group. 5
The Challenge Ahead: Applying the Lessons As we move on to new organizations and new projects, we want to remember what we learned from the NYPA Billing Specialists and how we can bring these lessons to projects with larger end user communities. Among the lessons: Have engaging, open dialogues with end user communities (not just managers and SMEs) Create an intimate end user change environment that reflects end users perspectives and priorities Adapt the training approach to how end users need and want to learn Forge a true collaboration with end users to accomplish one of the toughest jobs in business improving the business while doing the business. Make the change process more relevant for those most effected the daily end user. Simply put, the real challenge as change management practitioners is: How can we better listen to and serve our end user communities? About the authors: Victor Rocine, CMC, and Lynn Anamasi are change management consulting colleagues with Axon a global leader in the delivery of business transformation programs for large organizations that use SAP as their strategic platform. Maria He is a NYPA Lead Business Analyst and was the NYPA Change Management Lead on the Billing Project described herein. 6