Is your team ready to start prototyping? Or do you like to start in an organization, but you do not know where to start? Start measuring the change readiness within your teams with the Prototyping Work Ready Scan! This is your gateway towards prototyping within your organization.
What insights does the scan give you? The methodology works best with teams that want to, can and are allowed to change. They are change ready! This scan will give you insights in the state of your team(s), so you know where to start or what to work on. Below you can get more information about these three subjects and why they are important.
Your team wants to change
The team will ask themselves: is it necessary to make these changes now? Will this add enough value to make my team perform optimally? When they do not see the need and urgency of this adventure, you will get a lot of resistance from your team.
It’s important that the organization has the significance of the subject crystal clear and why this is important to change now. Communication beforehand about the motives are crucial here. The set goals that want to be achieved are a vital part of this. It helps to measure and map the current state. For example, do you want to work on the engagement of your teams? Measure this and communicate the desired outcomes. Be clear about what you expect. This is most effective if you involve the employees in the realization of these goals. Involvement is the biggest driver of successful change.
Does the team believe in this story and do they believe in the method towards it? What do they expect from the results, what does it bring them personally and as a team? If your team is positive about this and see the need, urgency and benefits of the change, they want to change!
Your team is allowed to change
You are about to start prototyping. In order to do this, teams need the freedom to initiate changes. They are given the tools and resources to make the changes. At least, if these are also given by the leaders.
Trust from the leaders in the capabilities of the team is really crucial. Let the people initiate the changes themselves, trust that they can. Of course, there are topics they should not touch. Make these clear. Establish clear boundaries that indicate what they are allowed and what they are not allowed to do. Do you want to allow them to set their own times when they work, but not determine their own salary. Perfect! Draw up these boundaries with each other and live by them. And be flexible. If a boundary does come up for discussion, discuss it again. This means that your team is ready to develop even further!
Transparency is also an important link to success. The more employees can see, the better they understand the matter and the better they can make decisions. If you share information, don’t forget to explain what it is and how it works. Otherwise information is worthless. Set boundaries here as well. What do you want to share and what do you not want to share. Be aware: transparency is a means, not an end. So, don’t throw everything in the open right away. Openness of salaries, for example, can really be an issue as you can read here.
So, set boundaries. But also be flexible to give more autonomy when the teams ask for it. This will help them to understand the organization better and make better decisions. Who knows, you may be surprised and the team will come up with questions and solutions you never thought about!
Your team can change
Make sure teams are well prepared. This is a step you can solve when a team scores well on the other two parts. By organizing a training that teaches them to prototype, the team gets more confidence in their own abilities and dares to take ownership.
In addition to their own abilities, they also need to experience sufficient support from the leaders of the team. Are they allowed to make mistakes, are their decisions defended against the top of the organization? And do they get enough time to work on implementing the methodology? Think of the 80/20 rule.
The maturity of the team is also a crucial part. The more psychological safety, the better the methodology works. Trust in each other is also an important topic. If teams give each other room to be open about their feelings, the tensions that are picked up only become stronger and the prototypes have more meaning!
Start small, start NOW
But don’t worry, teams don’t have to score well on everything before they start Prototyping. Not at all. If they want to and are allowed to, we are well on our way. Topics such as trust, psychological safety and transparency are excellent subjects to tackle with this methodology itself. Step by step you work on these topics and the teams become more mature, the prototypes get better and the goals are achieved even faster.
Prototyping Ready Scan
Request it here!
Start measuring your team(s) with the Prototyping Ready Scan. So you know if your teams want to, can and are able to change!
