Effective engagement in change must be carefully structured. “Carefully structured” does not mean engagement should be manipulated to produce outcomes management already has in mind. It does mean establishing clear expectations and parameters, especially where people may not have deep experience with direct involvement.
Effective engagement occurs when:
- People understand specifically what they are being asked to do
- Their role and authority are unambiguously described
- They have a clear description of the deliverable expected
- What is in-bounds (opportunities) and out of bounds (givens, constraints) are made explicit
- Criteria for decisions are established beforehand or a process for developing decision criteria is laid out