How to use Kotter's 8-step change model

The Association of Project Management surveyed nearly half of UK businesses, finding that almost half felt the need to update their strategies every three months to remain competitive. That's why decision-makers and stakeholders use change management models to implement changes successfully.

The most commonly known and used transformation strategy for transition projects is the 8-step change model, created by Harvard Business School professor Dr. John Kotter. This guide will explore the eight steps of the change management model and how you can use them to lead your team through an organisational shift.

What is Kotter's 8-step change model?

John Kotter's 8-step change management model is a plan that helps businesses deliver change within their company. It's a structured approach with eight steps designed to streamline a change effort in businesses with a deep-rooted organisational culture.

Here are the model's eight steps to embedding change.

1. Create a sense of urgency

Creating urgency lays the foundations for the change management process, providing the key motivations for the organisation's commitment to change. The sense of urgency will help build momentum towards goals, inspiring your team members and decision-makers to get on board with the project.

There are many different methods to approach creating urgency. Your strategy will ultimately come down to the existing company culture and how you can use existing scenarios to institute change.

Team members who are the best storytellers often have the most success at leading change, offering logical reasons and a compelling vision of why there's a need for change within the organisation.

Here's how to create a sense of urgency:

• Use case studies of companies that have faced significant challenges due to not changing.
• Use examples of how other companies implemented changes to drive significant success.
• Outline how organisational changes can bring benefits and reduce grievances for every team.

2. Build a guiding coalition

Like any business project, the change process needs a team to lead the charge. Those with a track record of successful project management are often the best people to accomplish the goals on the transitional roadmap.

Influential people with standout skills often create the best leaders for change management. They can inspire the organisation's various departments to get behind the project, helping accomplish a broader range of tasks and informing more people about its current state.

You can build a powerful coalition of leaders by:

• Identifying influential people within the organisation and inviting them onto a board to champion the change projects.
• Encourage open communication between all organisation members to create a shared vision.
• Empower the coalition by giving them the authority and resources needed for projects.

3. Form a strategic vision for leading change

The strategic vision behind any project can be the key driver behind its success. That's why it's crucial to form a powerful vision statement that offers clarity for the future, including why it can provide benefits and how you can shape it.

The overall strategy for leading change should be concise, focused and inspiring. Form a strategic vision that covers the problems identified by the urgency step and clearly outlines actions to solve them.

Forming a strategic change vision involves:

• Creating a clear roadmap to success, highlighting how to reach milestones and what the future looks like after change.
• Communicating the "why" behind the change, explaining the necessities and long-term goals.
• Dissecting the overall vision into actionable change initiatives.

4. Enlist a volunteer army

Recruiting a volunteer army is critical to any change management model for organisational success. Creating a popular movement behind a project with benefits and improvements in mind will help convince people that the change initiative is in everyone's interest.

A volunteer army is crucial to achieving the goals laid out in the vision. Allowing team members to take ownership of the project, including offering ideas and support, builds a change effort crucial to achieving long-term goals.

Here are some tips to enlist a volunteer army:

• Use your storytellers to rally people around your message and connect emotionally with the planned changes.
• Create a grassroots movement around the project.
• Let all employees at every level share ideas and concerns, addressing them transparently.
  

5. Enable action by removing barriers

Any company project will often encounter roadblocks or barriers. The change process will inevitably face obstacles such as team resistance or incompatibility of core organisational values.

Effective communication and collaboration between different teams and multiple stakeholders can be the most effective ways to remove obstacles and enable action. The guiding coalition mentioned in step two will be essential to achieving the desired outcomes.

Some common barriers to organisational change include:

• No clear decision-making hierarchy
• Overall lack of leadership
• Little transparency on organisational changes
• Resistance from employees and stakeholders
• Operational inefficiencies

6. Generate short-term wins

Generating short-term wins showcases the change effort's early successes. Seeing results and their related cultural improvements can help excite and motivate team members.

Prioritising more focused objectives can help the team get those short-term wins. Celebrating successes will help build momentum, boost the change effort and help keep people motivated.

Facilitate and showcase your short-term wins by:

• Set meaningful and achievable short-term goals that have quick turnaround times.
• Recognise and celebrate contributions from employees at all levels.
• Use each small win to build success momentum, which can motivate others to contribute towards the next milestone.

7. Sustain acceleration

Short-term wins can build into a substantial platform to implement major organisational changes. Change agents must sustain the acceleration created by the initial successes and ensure that the company doesn't revert to outdated processes.

Communication plays the most significant role in sustaining acceleration, pushing towards the long-term objectives. Keep the guiding coalition updated regularly with the change effort, reporting progress and milestones achieved.

Keep successes moving by:

• Building on the early success by using your short-term wins as project credibility.
• Reinforcing project urgency so that momentum doesn't dwindle.
• Expanding involvement by assigning new change agents.
• Keep communication open and listen to feedback from all levels of the business.
• Integrating change initiative charters into the organisation's overall management strategy.

8. Implement change in corporate culture

The final step in Kotter's model is embedding the large-scale changes within the organisation's culture. All the steps should build up into making the new initiatives permanent, including processes, practices and behaviours.

Cementing the change effort in the company's new culture involves consistent communication about the benefits of the new behaviours and procedures. Improving the systematic approach can help strengthen the desired outcomes and replace old conventions.

Here are some examples of change implementation in an organisation's culture:

• Anchor new behaviours into the organisation's culture by making them part of everyday habits and processes.
• Support change sustainability by offering persistent skills and change management training.
• Regularly iterate on how changes have improved the quality of life at the company.
• Showcase any case studies, press or PR using your organisation as a success story.

Why should you use the model Kotter developed for change?

Kotter's 8-step plan stands out for its clear structure and linear approach compared to other change management models, such as Lewin's change model. However, Kotter's model may not always be the most suitable choice for managing change.

The advantages and disadvantages of Kotter's 8-step model will offer a deeper look into whether it's the best change management approach for your organisation.

Advantages of using Kotter's change model

Here are the primary advantages of Kotter's 8-step change model:

• Easy to follow - The change management model offers a clear vision that all project stakeholders can easily understand and follow.
• Offers stability - The plan outlines long-term goals and the process of implementing them, resulting in a more stable approach to change management.
• Encourages collaboration - Change agents can enable as many team members as possible to take ownership of the project, helping more employees commit to change.
• Strong communication focus - The model encourages team communication throughout the eight steps, creating one strong organisational voice.
• Broad change coverage - Kotter's model covers more than just corporate culture. It also addresses operational aspects, helping stakeholders tackle complex organisational changes.

Disadvantages of using Kotter's change model

Like every framework, Kotter's model will have drawbacks, including:

• Resource-heavy - Resources required to bring organisational success with the model are substantial. The plan can be time-consuming, stakeholder-dependent and fiscally expensive.
• Buy-in requirements - Many stakeholders and team members from all departments will need to buy into the idea of change, which can be significantly more challenging in practice than theory.
• Doesn't address sustaining change - The model outlines how to plan and implement change within an organisation, but doesn't offer any methods to maintain the transitions.
• Top-heavy process - Decision-makers pioneer the change initiative, often excluding team members who are only encouraged to collaborate later. This process's top-heavy nature could harm the motivation and employee ownership needed to succeed.
• Less adaptable - The plan doesn't offer much flexibility or creativity needed to succeed with every project scenario.

Kotter's model can be a helpful asset in your management toolkit. If your company seeks to implement major changes, weigh the advantages and disadvantages against your organisation's change needs.

How should you use Kotter's change model?

There are many instances where an apparent need for organisational changes exists, ranging from focused to widespread. It's estimated that 60-70% of change initiatives fail, which is why stakeholders adopt Kotter's model because of the plan's broad approach and adaptability.

Here are some of the most widely used scenarios for Kotter's 8-step change model:

Executing strategic vision

Vision statements are often the core of an organisation's culture, removing barriers and inspiring team members to personal and company success. The model helps people rally around a changing vision and creates a sense of unity, assisting different departments in reaching their respective goals.

Leadership development

Aspiring or existing leaders often face challenges in advancing their skills and capabilities. Kotter's model can help build confidence and encourage new behaviours that benefit the organisation.

Institute change in company culture

Organisations needing a cultural overhaul can leverage the model's straightforward roadmap to address multiple business areas. Getting a sizeable number of employees and stakeholders on board with changes can help deliver faster growth and better results.

Improve operational efficiency

Kotter's 8-step model can apply where there's a need to improve operational efficiency. The plan's collaborative nature encourages employees to take ownership of the changes, including presenting new ideas to streamline the organisation's operations.

Change management for mergers and acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions are often complex processes that can bring major changes to employees on both sides of the deal. The model can lay the groundwork for a successful integration, prioritising people and culture alongside operations.

Digital transformation

Advancing technology and its introduction into a company often facilitate significant changes within the organisational infrastructure. Kotter's 8-step change model can create a sense of excitement around its integration and how it can benefit team members.

Industry examples of Kotter's 8-step change model

Kotter's model is popular because of its broad applications across many critical industries.

Here are a few real-life examples of use to implement successful changes:

Technology

Electronics maker Ericsson successfully implemented Kotter's model to facilitate the transition from 3G mobile products to 4G. The company needed to quickly change its product line to stay competitive.

Retail

The sportswear company Nike used the eight-step plan to address operational inefficiencies causing delays in product delivery and revenue loss. The steps successfully helped Nike optimise its supply chain by improving logistics and reducing operational costs.

Healthcare

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a need for radical change in the graduate medical education (GME) trainee recruitment process. A study was set up at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine to test whether Kotter's model could improve the program.

The model successfully used the eight steps to change the recruitment process to a virtual format. Applications remained high, website engagement improved and candidates offered more positive feedback to the process.

Tips for implementing Kotter's change model

Any change plan is likely to encounter roadblocks or obstacles during implementation. Even though Kotter's change model offers a linear, phased roadmap to organisational change, implementing the plan can be challenging.

Find some essential tips below to help implement Kotter's 8-step change model:

• Alignment with company vision - Initially aligning the change effort with the company's overall vision can help garner and maintain support for the project amongst teams. The alignment allows changes without radically altering the organisation's operational strategy or management approach, minimising the likelihood of resistance.
• Consistent communication - Every change program can benefit from consistent and effective communication. Maintaining persistent communication with stakeholders keeps everyone on the same page and helps retain a sense of urgency.
• Address resistance proactively - Resistance to change is widely expected when implementing any plan and is often one of the most significant challenges. Proactively addressing the sources of resistance by reducing fear and building trust can help implement Kotter's 8-step model more effectively and minimise potential threats.
• Regularly measure progress - Continuously measuring key success metrics of changes can help facilitate results for each step of the model. Develop a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) and review them regularly to facilitate any necessary adjustments during a project.

Mastering change with Kotter's 8-step change model

Change is never straightforward within a business (or in the real world for that matter), no matter the task size. Neither is there a one-size-fits-all model for addressing change management, as every organisation is unique and has its own processes and practices.

However, Kotter's 8-step model is a robust framework that can help master the art of organisational change. It's an adaptable and reliable asset that can help navigate uncertainties and rally teams together to create future success.

Want to make change and continuous improvement stick? See how Sideways 6 helps organisations bring employees into the process, remove barriers, and keep transformation on track. Speak to one of the team today for tailored advice.

Drive transformative change management programs powered by Sideways 6. Try our product with a demo today.