Piloting Change: The Strategic Impact of Carefully Curated Pilot Teams
How often do we find ourselves so enamored with an exciting new possibility in our life that in our haste to make it happen we overlook taking some of the key steps required to realize its full potential?
For example, I took my teenage daughter to get contact lenses for the first time during a recent school break. Excited to ditch her glasses, she underestimated the practice and patience required to master this new skill so that she could show off her frame-free face once school started back up again.
Her experience mirrors a common pitfall in organizational change – rushing the rollout without proper testing. My daughter could have benefited from an informal pilot team to guide her through the adjustment period instead of assuming success on the first attempt (e.g.,
a parent to foresee needing to plan extra time for lens practice,
a friendly optical lab technician to patiently guide her through different application methods on more than one day of practice, and
a good friend who has already struggled through learning how to wear lenses to be her relatable support network).
Organizations can benefit from piloting change initiatives before full implementation, too.
In fact, it’s easy to get excited about rushing the rollout of a new, “shiny” technology implementation, workflow process or employment policy that an organization is finally launching–perhaps after dragging its feet forever–and to do so while forgetting to test it before it is unleashed on the entire workforce. In this article, we’ll cover how to choose the right pilot team, why you should communicate a pilot’s purpose, and how to engage pilot team members in a successful test before launching your internal change initiative to the entire organization.
The Importance of Piloting Change
Piloting allows organizations to test new technologies, processes, or policies on a smaller scale before launching them company-wide. It provides an opportunity to identify and address potential challenges, gather feedback, and refine an initiative for optimal results. Whether it's a software release, a new work schedule, or a new enterprise communication tool, piloting helps ensure a smoother transition and higher adoption rates among employees.
Selecting the Right Change Initiative Pilot Team
Choosing the right pilot team is crucial for the success of any change initiative. You’ll want to ensure that you plan for a pilot team that is optimally-sized so that it sufficiently represents a sample of your entire employee population. You want it to be big enough to capture feedback from individuals from diverse populations that will be impacted by the change, but not so big that it is overwhelming and tedious to move all participants through the pilot in a cohesive way.
When considering who to invite to participate in the pilot, review the following criteria:
Choose people with different strengths and skills. Ensure a broad perspective by inviting those who represent different job roles and departments within the organization. Consider your potential need for the following types of roles on the pilot team: executive sponsor, project manager, communication specialist, human resources specialist, IT specialist, and graphic designer.
Choose people who have the resources to participate. Make sure that participants truly have access to any tools necessary to participate fully (e.g., software user permissions, proximity to equipment, etc.), as well as the capacity in their calendar to be responsive.
Choose people who are in roles that would naturally interface with the new application or process that is being adjusted or unveiled. Don’t invite people who are too far removed from being impacted once the change is rolled out.
Choose a majority of people who are excited about the change. They will be willing to try new things and act as ambassadors to influence others in the organization in a positive way when it comes to adopting the eventual change.
Choose a few people who are somewhat skeptical about the change. Including moderate “naysayers” on your team gives you the opportunity to plan for solutions to their concerns and a chance to win them over and leverage their influence with other potential doubters in the employee population.
Choose people who are well connected within the organization. Consider their longevity with the company, their interaction with other departments, the respect they command from others in the organization, and the extent to which they may have worked in a variety of job functions or departments.
NOTE: Use organizational network analysis to consider how information and influence flows within your organization in order to maximize the reach of your pilot team’s efforts and eventual impact on the organization-wide launch.
While an organizational chart can convey the static reporting structure for a company, an organizational network is fluid and representative of the informal and persistent channels by which work happens within the company. Similar to how neural connections form especially strongly within certain areas of the brain, organizational connections are stronger between some individuals than others. The key for you is to identify who your influencers and connectors are within your employee population, and then get a sampling of them involved with your pilot team.
Engaging and Motivating the Pilot Team
Engaging the pilot team is essential to ensure their active participation and commitment to the initiative. Clearly communicating the purpose and objectives of the pilot, as well as the potential benefits for both the organization and the team members, can help motivate them to fully engage in the process.
What’s in it for the organization?
Transparently explain why the organization cares about making the change now.
What is the purpose?
What do we hope to gain from the process?
Clarify how a pilot can help assess the risks and rewards of the project ahead of launch.
Find the “cracks” before launching the initiative. It’s a chance to evaluate a prototype or a process in order to make refinements and adjustments before the big launch.
Get a better sense of the resources and costs involved at a smaller scale before committing resources for an organization-wide rollout or investment.
What’s in it for the individual pilot group member?
Experience a chance to be a pioneer…be on the leading edge of exploring an organizational innovation.
Help shape the outcome of the change initiative and make it better.
Demonstrate leadership and take on a special project for enhanced professional development.
Earn a perq for participation such as flexible time or a gift card, perhaps.
Setting Goals and Expectations
Setting clear goals and expectations for the pilot is essential for measuring its success. Objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). For example, by the end of the pilot study you want to reduce the average amount of time it takes for a request in a soon-to-be-revamped process to be reviewed by three days.
Setting clear expectations helps ensure that the pilot stays on track and that progress can be easily monitored. It's also important to establish a timeline for the pilot, including key milestones and deadlines, to keep the team focused and accountable.
How long will the pilot group persist? Be specific.
How frequently will pilot members be asked to test things and provide feedback?
How much time will completing feedback forms and/or focus groups take out a pilot group member’s weekly schedule?
Will the feedback forms be all multiple choice answers or require long text responses?
Be sure and communicate details about any resources needed, the specific roles to be filled across the team, the communication tool(s) that will be used to keep the pilot team organized and on task, and the training that will be available. Also, communicate if and when only limited training will be provided in order to use the reactions of the study group to evaluate how training materials for the organization-wide launch should be enhanced.
Communication and Feedback
Effective communication is key throughout the pilot process, too. Regular updates and progress reports help keep the team informed and engaged. It's also important to solicit feedback from the team regularly and to be open to their suggestions and concerns. This helps ensure that any issues are addressed promptly and that the pilot can be adjusted as needed to ensure its success.
Pilot team communication best practices:
Follow through with the time expectations originally set, and the frequency of updates you originally promised…or communicate any reasons for a change from the original expectations.
Let pilot team members know about roadblocks and bottlenecks and show appreciation for their patience or ideation.
Offer options for how you might pivot to team members if and when you need to “check and adjust” due to an unforeseen development during the pilot (e.g., a discontinuation of resources, an unexpected event, a new possibility that is being explored).
Periodically report back to the pilot team regarding your feedback findings and explain why (or why not) some feedback will be heeded or implemented.
Conclusion
Piloting change initiatives is a critical step in the organizational change process. By carefully selecting a pilot team, setting clear goals and expectations, and maintaining open communication, organizations can increase the likelihood of success for their change initiatives. Just as my daughter learned to navigate her new contact lenses with practice and support from others, organizations can navigate change with a pilot team leading the way.
