Driving organisational behaviour change is often a challenging task, especially when it comes to changing beliefs and mindsets. We tend to use “beliefs and mindsets” as justifications for why we cannot help someone change, or why change is hard. However, the real issue often lies in the resources and constraints individuals face in achieving the organisational goals, and how they have then adapted their goals to leverage their resources and work around the constraints they face.
Without addressing these factors, changing goals and incentives become futile. And trying to change mindsets and beliefs is hard.
In this blog post, we explore a simpler approach to creating behaviour change by uncovering and leveraging the resources and constraints your people face.
Uncovering the Reality:
To uncover the reality of what is really helping or hindering behaviour change, it is vital to ask key questions and gather insights. We need to know:
- What is the goal people are trying to achieve?
- Instead of not doing “XYZ” what behaviour/way of working / activity are they engaging in instead?
- What are the constraints that they need to work around that made this a good choice of goal for them?
- What are the resources that they are leveraging that make this a good choice of goal for them?
What is the goal that is really being achieved? Don’t assume it’s the obvious one
For any situation, we tend to adjust our goals to be achievable considering the constraints we face and the resources we have. We all do this. Usually subconsciously.
The first step to uncover how to change behaviour is understanding the actual goal that your people are trying to achieve. Within any role different people will be trying to achieve different goals. For example one customer service agent may be trying to create a positive experience for each customer they speak to, another may be trying to solve the customer’s most challenging problems, another may be trying to resolve all customer issues within the day so that they can leave at 5.30 pm, another may be trying to develop skills they will need for a promotion. We all have different goals that we believe are achievable in the context of the resources we have and the constraints we face. If we don’t feel they are achievable in the context we have we will adopt either the goal or the behaviour, or both.
To find out the goal that is actually being achieved look at the behaviours that are being brought into play, instead of focussing on those that are not. What are your team doing instead of the behaviours/activities you thought they would be doing?
What are the resources and constraints that made this the best choice of goal for this person?
Resources can be knowledge, expertise, relationships, power, access, time, cooperation of colleagues and much more.
Constraints can be the lack of any of the above resources and much more.
One person’s resource can be another’s constraint. And in any given situation your resources can turn into your constraints and vice versa.
How do you find out what the resources and constraints are?
Ask, observe, ask.
Ask each team member why they do the task the way they do, or approach the situation the way they do.
Then observe.
Then ask to clarify any anomalies between what they say they do and what they actually do. We often find it hard to describe what we do and why we do it, which is why observation is a key source of information.
All this has to be done with a high level of curiosity and care so as not to be interrogative.
It’s worth mentioning here that some of the most overlooked resources and constraints are cooperation of colleagues, time, budget and the accessibility of line managers.
Once you have a clear picture of the goals, constraints and resources currently in play you are ready to design a simple system that works for the goal you want your team to focus on.
Embracing Simplicity:
- What are the resources that would need to be available to make this new goal the goal of choice?
- What are the constraints you need to remove to make this new goal the goal of choice?
- What are all the other rewards, incentives, processes, ways of working that can now be stopped?
Instead of relying on elaborate organisational elements like bonuses, team events, or complex ways of working, strip away unnecessary activities and replace them with a simple system that provides resources and removes constraints. As people adapt their goals to align with the newly available resources, behaviours change naturally, and mindsets follow suit.
Behaviour change is intricately tied to the resources and constraints individuals face within their work environment. By closely examining these factors, uncovering the true goals, and stripping away unnecessary complexities, organisations can drive behaviour change. It’s not always this simple, but sometimes it can be, so it’s a good place to start.
Find out more at Sarah Robertson Consulting or book a discovery call
