Share this Post
[/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″]
[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row inner_container=”true” no_margin=”true” padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px” border=”none”][vc_column width=”1/1″] [/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row inner_container=”true” no_margin=”true” padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px” border=”none”][vc_column width=”1/2″]
Author of prize-winning practical theory on leading (unpopular) changes with fair process, Academy of Management 2012
[/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]
Author of “Managing an Unpopular Change Effort”, Harvard Business Review
[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row inner_container=”true” no_margin=”true” padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”50px” border=”none” bg_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column width=”1/1″]What is fair process?
What is Fair Process? Simply put, fair process is honest communication about 1) What is already decided and 2) What your employees can influence (or decide for themselves) and 3) By what criteria their input to your decisions will be judged.
Effects of fair process: The most common effects of fair process is building employees’ trust in you as a manager and a rise in employee engagement and inner motivation to develop solutions and implement decisions. The tangiable results are quicker and better implementation.
Fair process when de-selecting ideas: This positive dynamic is still at play although you might sometimes have to de-select some of your employees’ ideas. Why? Because you have been honestly communicating 1. What is already decided, 2. What your employees can influence and 3. By what criteria their input to your decisions will be judged. This is judged as a fair process by most.
Unfair process: However, you must apply all three principles. Forgetting just one will create an experience of an unfair process and will often elicit a dynamic with distrust in you as a manager (accusing you of “false involvement” and bad quality of decisions) and a drop in employee engagement and reluctance to implement decisions.
Why fair process? In order to craft good solutions to the organization´s challenges you need the people in the frontline to be engaged in crafting, testing and implementing solutions.
Fair process leadership in 5-steps
If you are a project- middle-, or frontline manager leading some sort of change effort, the experience of fair process is best achieved through a 5-step process:
- Set direction and boundaries of the change ( Direction: What should become possible that is not possible now? Boundaries: What is already decided/cannot be changed?) and point out the space of influence/autonomy for the employees: What can and will they be involved in?
- Involve employees in crafting solutions (could be ideas for improving a work process)
- Decide and explain your rationale for selecting and de-selecting ideas/solutions for testing in practice. Explanation makes it clear whether you have given their input serious thought in relation to the direction and boundaries of the change.
- Involve employees in testing the solutions in practice. Employees do their best to make the solution work in practice. Some adjustments are often made in this phase.
- Implement. If the solution creates the desired results (see phase 1: What should become possible that is not possible now?) the manager decides to keep the solution.
About fair process leadership in 5-steps
Please note that selecting and deselecting in step 3 is based on a real space of influence or autonomy in step 2: the manager honestly asks for employees’ ideas of how to do things better/differently and selects some ideas for testing. This is always justified according to the direction and boundaries of the change (could be “improve patient flow and quality of care by improving coordination between units and personal in the patient flow”). The employees then suggest specific solutions. As long as the solutions adheres to the direction and boundaries then the solutions are good enough to be tested/implemented. However, the manager still decides which solutions/ideas to test and when.
5-step process: “Fair Process – from unpopular changes to employees crafting solutions” addresses how you – as a frontline or middle manager – can apply the principles of fair process in a structured 5-step process. The book also features a model for degrees of influence and autonomy in decision-making. People care about changes in their work processes. Therefore you get better results when you apply fair process to how you lead a change (by change I mean “getting from the present situation A to what should be the new and better performance situation B”)
The situation: Improve quality! Make it better! Service more people! Produce more! Spend less! If you are a middle or front-line manager, these demands may sound familiar. You probably will not succeed in achieving them. Two-thirds of change efforts do not lead to better results (McKinsey, 2008, 2015; Smith, 2002).
Predict success: However, it is possible for you to succeed most of the time (see studies by IBM, 2008; Economist, 2013). In fact, eight times out of ten times it is possible to predict whether a change initiative will produce better results. You do not have to be a fortuneteller! Your prediction can be based on research. You look and listen for just two things in the frontline:
1) Are the employees engaged in crafting, testing and implementing solutions? 2) Do they express a sense of ownership about the purpose of the change effort?
If this is the case the success rate raises to an astonishing eight out of ten (McKinsey, 2010)! How do we make that happen? Well, it is almost all about the power of fair proces in the change process…not the change initiatives themselves!
In the book and online course on Fair Process you will learn all about it. Better yet: I will show you how to design and lead a 5-step change process based on the pratical, but research-based principles of fair proces.
Sign up for free videos and articles. You´ll get mail whenever new ressources are available.
[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px” border=”all” no_margin=”true” bg_color=”#eeeeee” inner_container=”true”][vc_column width=”1/3″]WHAT LEADERS SAY:
“Fair Process is highly recommendable. I have become familiar with and used the principles and tools through my role as manager in the health care sector, where change is a constant factor. The book should be obligatory reading for all managers in and of change processes. It is systematic, easily accessible and firmly grounded in research and practice. It is a management power tool.”
Charlotte Buch Gøthgen, MD, deputy clinic director at Aalborg University Hospital
“Fair Process is the approach to changes that I have been missing in my work as a manager in a knowledge-heavy company, where change is constant. For the practically-oriented, it provides many useful tools. I highly recommend it.”
Morten Holst Bjørno, production manager at Martin Professional A/S
“Fair Process is one of the most practical books on change management I have read – a welcome “how-to” book, with a solid theoretical and researched based anchoring.”
Martin Gredal, school principal at Rosenlund School
[/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″]ABOUT THE BOOK
The past 30 years of research have shown that two out of three change processes do not generate added value for an organization. However, when employees own the objective of the change and are involved in developing and testing solutions, the organization succeeds eight out of ten times. But how do you involve staff without losing control? And how do you control the process without strangling that very ownership? Fair process is a research-based and practical approach to process management of “involving” change processes. An early version of this book won a prize at the North American Academy of Management researcher practitioner conference in Boston in 2012. Bo has published a short article about fair process in the Harvard Business Review: “Managing An Unpopular Change Effort.”
Fair Process presents a researched-based but practical approach
with easy to-use-tools for all middle-, front-line and project managers.
[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row inner_container=”true” no_margin=”true” padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px” border=”none” bg_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column width=”1/2″]Core research on the practical principles and dynamics of fair and unfair process was done by Kim and Mauborgne, Insead University during the eighties and nineties.
The Fair Process book adds more important research and translates it into practical tools. Tools for project, middle- and front-line managers who want to increase the success rate by involving employees in crafting solutions to important challenges for the organisation.
[/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″]
How do you engage your employees and succeed with the change effort most of the time?
How do you involve your employees without losing control?
How do you stay in control without killing engagement and ownership?
How do you involve your employees in ways that improve the group´s collective intelligence = make it easy for them to craft better – not worse – solutions together?
Get an intro to Fair Process Change:
See 3 videos in the Fair Process Academy
[/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″]
ABOUT BO
Bo Vestergaard is an author, inspirational speaker and consultant. Based in Denmark.
Award winning for a researched based but practical fair process approach to leading change. His special focus is on fair process tools for middle, front-line and project managers.
BO´s POINT IS:
How you lead the change – not what your are changing – is the key to raising the success rate of change projects to 8 out of 10 …rather than 3 out of 10 that 30 years of research indicates is the average success rate.
Author of (2015)”Fair process – From Unpopular Changes to Employees Crafting Solutions” and the award-winning paper “Leading unpopular Changes With Fair Process”. In 2012 it was named “Best paper” in the Management Consulting category and among the top ten percent best papers at the prestigious North American Academy of Management Conference. He is also the author of the short Harvard Business Review article “Managing an Unpopular Change Effort” .
Professional Partner in Relational Coordination Research Collaborative, Brandeis University, Boston.
WHAT LEADERS SAY:
“Fair Process is highly recommendable. I have become familiar with and used the principles through my role as manager in the health care sector, where change is a constant factor. The book should be obligatory reading for all managers in and of change processes. It is systematic, easily accessible and firmly grounded in practice. It is a management power tool.”
Charlotte Buch Gøthgen, deputy clinic director at Aalborg University Hospital
”Health services are forever changing, and with Fair Process the reader gets theoretical and practical help in implementing change. The book is well written, with a balance between theory and examples and can therefore be read and used without any extensive theoretical background in management. The principles in Fair Process were easy to use and worked well when we had to implement an important professional change in part of the department.”
Kirsten Lau Baggesen, lead attending physician at Aalborg University Hospital
”Fair Process gives managers the tools they need to organize and implement change processes. It is a book that elegantly combines theoretical perspectives and specific tools for change and which constantly gives the reader an idea of what to be aware of along the way. With the book’s three practical change principles—involvement, explanation and expectation clarity—the message unfolds, and the reader is left with a number of possible options and the feeling that it possible to succeed. Fair Process is one of the most practical books on change management I have read – a welcome “how-to” book, with a solid theoretical anchoring.”
Martin Gredal, school principal at Rosenlund School
“I think a clear advantage is that the book is so accessible linguistically speaking. The different designs are well explained. It only enhances one’s desire to try it, which I have already begun doing.”
Lasse Irming Andreasen, after-school care director at Vodskov School and special education manager
“I truly devoured your book. Fair Process is a fantastic tool for managers who work with change processes. The reason I praise the book so much is that Fair Process explains to the reader what works and why it works and provides specific guidelines that can be directly applied. I have already told my department managers that they will be getting the book when it comes out.”
Marietta Rosenvinge, director of the residential treatment center Doegncentret Frederikshavn
“This book is rich in information. Fair Process is the approach to changes that I have been missing in my work as a manager in a knowledge-heavy company, where change is constant. For the practically-oriented, it provides many useful tools. I highly recommend it.”
Morten Holst Bjørno, production manager at Martin Professional A/S
“Fair Process is an inspiring and practical guide that is a must read for all managers! In a world of constant changes, new methods are needed. I recommend this for managers who have their heart in the right place and are seeking change.”
René Rico Thomsen, on-call officer at Aalborg Airport
“I can highly recommend the book Fair Process. It lives up to the somewhat paradoxical truth: ‘There is nothing as practical as a good theory.’ Bo Vestergaard combines theories on social capital, change management, systemic understanding and meeting design in a very beneficial and easy-to-understand way. I have worked for a number of years with companies’ social capital, and it has become increasingly clear that the key word is management. Many managers have realized this and asked me: ‘Yes, but how do we do it?’ With Bo Vestergaard’s book, I have found an answer that I think everyone will gain tremendously from. I particularly like his specific instructions regarding meetings and his clear differentiation between what is negotiable and what are fixed terms that we should not waste time discussing. Buy it, read it and—most importantly—use it!”
Tage Kristensen, independent researcher at Task-Consult. Former professor
”Fair Process is a simple and incredibly strong strategic process design for managers and consultants who wish to work on involving employees in important decisions in often complicated and complex circumstances in today’s organizational life.”
Niels-Henrik Sørensen, organization and management consultant at LEAD
“I have tried standing amidst the difficult challenges that can arise when, as a manager to employees who stand face to face with citizens every day, you need to plot out a direction and invite employees into processes where we can create new solutions together. Fair Process hits that challenge right on the nail, and the book provides theoretical perspective and methodical security, as well as new inspiration.”
Annette Lund, welfare development manager at Odense Municipality
”Fair Process” is a very instructive and down-to-earth management book that gives managers at all levels good insight into the most important aspects of the psychology and practice of change processes. It is simple and clear in form, written in an easy and accessible language that is not too long or wordy. ”Fair Process” is well structured with many instructive cases. It summarizes some of the important management principles often overlooked in the change process: Set the context, involve staff in the development and testing of solutions and, of course, explain the rationale behind decisions to approve, revise or reject employees’ solutions. The translation of fair process research to a five-phase model for managing a change process can be used directly in planning change processes, regardless of whether it involves restructuring, streamlining or staff reductions. The book is characterized by a good understanding of the fact that employees must always have ownership in the objective of the change, solutions and progress towards the realization of a strategy. I can warmly recommend the book to all those who are responsible for implementing change.
Jens Christian Birch, “professor and former municipal director
”Fair Process puts change process in a new light for me. As a manager in a large, knowledge-heavy engineering company, where large and small changes are everyday occurrences, Fair Process offers new perspectives, considerations and methods for implementing change. The models used are well described and easy to use, and the book is reader-friendly. With qualities as these, I warmly recommend this book to my colleagues.”
Thomas Ditlev, department head at Grundfos Holding A/S
”An excellent and practical book with a good interplay of theory and practical instructions.”
Maya Appel, project manager at Aalborg Municipality
”As a joint trade union representative, Fair Process gives me concrete tools to strike a balance between management and employee interests in the key decision processes that take place in an organization undergoing dynamic development. Fair Process is a book with fascinating theories that have broadened my view of my role and options for acting. I can warmly recommend it.”
Jeanette Nymark, joint trade union representative at Frederikshavn Municipality
”As a project manager in health services, I have used the principles of fair process with great success. The book is accessible to all and builds on a good theoretical foundation, providing a description of specific methods and measures for practical execution. Fair Process is highly recommendable in the health care sector, where change is constantly on the agenda.”
Jenna Rosenqvist Ibsen, attending physician at Aalborg University Hospital.
”As a municipal manager, we are presented with stacks of text material on new measures and theories. It is a welcome surprise, therefore, when you encounter a text that lights up and captivates you thanks to its clear qualities. “Fair Process” is just such a book. It focuses on something that should be obvious, but which is far from common practice in change processes. It provides guidelines and tools for future change processes—and who would not welcome that?”
Michael Slot Pihl, school district manager at Holmegård School