Corporate politics can be tricky. It can be even more tricky when you are driving change (or at least trying to). I realize we are not all in a position to be change agents, but your engaged employees should be trying to drive change... at the very least from a process improvement point of view.
With that said - being a change agent is one thing, but actually getting the buy-in from the business to implement change... is an entirely different mountain. Yes it is a MOUNTAIN! Corporate politics make it a mountain. There is red tape, personal agendas, egos, higher salaries, and even a dictatorship in some cases. Wow, that's enough to make anyone give up on their idea...even when it is for the good of an organization!
So, how would one go about making the business case for change (if they were brave enough to try)? A good friend and colleague (who is a sales professional) shared with me a story that sticks with me to this very day. He said,
"I always go 80% there and let the decision makers fill in the other 20%. Works every time!". Having seen him put this into action, I am convinced his methods produce results. However, we can't all be a brave political warrior like him, so I have outlined a pretty good checklist to help you get there.
1.) Understand the problem. This may make you go back to your college research paper days to write out a problem statement. However, you also need raw data to prove that it actually is a problem. Do you have metrics that showcase the problem in a quantitative way? If so, you might want to include those.
2.) How does this affect the business? What is the current state under this condition and what is the worst case scenario over time (long-term or short-term) if no change is made?
3.) Understand your audience. Who will be at the table and have influence over the decision for implementing the change you are suggesting? Who is the loudest? Who is the influencer of others? Make a list and organize it by loudest, most opinionated and influential and put the quietest, less influential at the bottom.
4.) Fully scope out your solution. Will this be a project or an easy 1-off solution? If it is a project, then you need to map out timelines, human capital resources, costs and expected challenges along the way. Nothing looks worst then not having the answers. So, reverse engineer the meeting. Think of all the things they might ask you and have the answers researched and ready!
5.) Target the loudest most influential decision makers. Pick the top two and have a pre-close/buy-in conversation off on the side. Having two influential people already on your side, makes it easier to get the rest of them into group-think mode. Address the problem at hand and give them 80% of your solution. Back them into telling you the other 20% of the solution (that you already know). This gives them personal ownership in your business case. Be careful and tread lightly; you don't want both influencers thinking they own the same idea. Also, think of this as a trial run.
6.) Present your business case to the group and make sure your problem statement, solution, and project plan are well formed and organized in a nice power point. Be sure to give credit where credit is due, by verbally recognizing the 2 influential decision makers. Let them speak up and also sell your business case. Try your best not to leave the room without getting a confirmation on next steps, what additional information they need or in a best case scenario - an answer!
Overall this is a very collaborative approach, but it gets the job done. Just know that it takes an army to successfully implement change, even when it's a no-brainer to you and will save the company money, time or resources. Change is not something that the majority of people take on easily.
What strategies have you used to make a business case and skate through corporate politics?
Now get your brave-politico-warrior game face on .... Grrrr!
