As always, there’s a lot that we could choose to take away from this year’s London Build Expo. Over the past few days, our Refresh team attended several seminars on the ever-prominent issues of fire safety, sustainability, digital transformation, AI, and the rest.
But it was a sentiment that was uttered during a panel discussion around COP29 and the developments the panelists were hoping for at this year’s event that floored me. It went something along the lines of “Sustainability changes are really change management on steroids – companies undergoing change need to build coalition of supporters by having conversations early {and throughout}.” In other words, do not underestimate taking people on the journey with you, whether you’re going through a macro or micro change.
Now don’t get me wrong, this is a pretty simple sentence, and maybe the notion of change management is front of my mind because we work with an amazing change and transformation consultancy, Grayce, but it got me thinking. We can talk about innovations, progress and evolution until the cows come home, but unless these changes are properly managed and communicated, they’re likely not going to be effective.
The construction industry talks a lot about supply chain collaboration and engagement. Very important and very valid, but we don’t often hear about is communication within those organisations that are going through periods of great change and transformation. External stakeholders = very important; Internal stakeholders = arguably more so. Your employees are your biggest asset and have the potential to be your biggest cheerleaders – if they’re bought in. How to secure buy in? Quite simply – honesty, transparency, thoroughness, and regular updates/communication.
Let’s take digital transformation, for example, a topic so widely discussed, yet an area in which the construction sector is still so far behind in, in many ways. Many frustrated tech-advocates often note pushback from seasoned construction pros who have been doing it a certain way for years. I’ve heard the ‘I’ve been doing this job myself for the past two decades, I don’t need technology’ mindset referenced more than a couple of times in relation to digital transformation over the past few days.
This is frustrating for those who can see the productivity and efficiency benefits that tech offers. But looking at it from a different perspective, it’s pertinent to ask ourselves what is truly driving this reluctance. I’d bet 9 times out of 10, it’s fear of change. Can you blame the person who has spent the past how ever many decades shaping their process and honing their skills for being reluctant to hand this over to a machine to do?
As the saying goes, thinking about the thing is often much scarier than the thing itself. So how can firms address these fears? Quite simply, making the change less scary via effective, impactful communications. Appoint people within your organisation specifically as change communicators and task them with communicating effectively, and often. Those that push back against changes? Communicate with them more. If you don’t have the resource in house to do this, do consider working with a change management specialist such as Grayce. Ultimately, equipping employees to be adequately prepared to deal with change (now and in the future) is one of the most important things construction firms can do.
With big changes on the horizon relating to everything from legislation, to safety, to sustainability, to technology, effective change management ensures that employees and teams can smoothly transition to these changes. Providing a structured approach to managing internal transformations fosters clear communication, minimises resistance, and enhances overall efficiency. So there you have it! One of my key takeaways from this year’s London Build Expo – communicate effectively (internally and externally). Simple, eh?!