Tool time studies unleash hidden change management insights

Change management is always part of any good business improvement project. Tool time data collection provides an opportunity to begin managing change right from the beginning of a business improvement project. This ‘hidden benefit’ is hard to explain unless you’ve seen it in action. Tool time studies are invaluable in providing early data, insights, engagement, and buy-in as part of any change management agenda.

Tool time increases your likelihood of change management success

It’s tempting to see the people side of change as less important than defining business objectives, setting up steering committees, and creating action-focused project plans. However, it’s widely acknowledged that up to 70 percent* of change initiatives fail, largely due to employee resistance and lack of management support.

Using people-focused strategies in your change management approach, such as tool time observations, will make sure that your team members are fully committed to the results and actively engaged in the process. This approach also allows you to deal with any problems that may arise along the way, making your troubleshooting more flexible and responsive.

Gain a deeper understanding of the issues through tool time observations

Tool time studies ensure you spend time with the people you observe to understand more about their perspectives, experiences, cross-team interactions, working world, and frustrations. You can collect feedback and suggestions for improvements and use this information to shape your engagement framework and implementation plan.

Tool time helps you build trust and collaboration from the ground up

How you build relationships and gain credibility are vital to your change management agenda. As an example, being visible in the field and experiencing a 12-hour night shift over the weekend enables you to connect with people and experience their working world.

Being in the thick of it and understanding what’s really going on gives you access to different conversations and insights. When it comes to influencing outcomes and solving problems, you can design better ways of working and help the team drive future workplace and cultural changes.

Tool time supports training and implementing efforts

During the change program implementation, tool time observations can identify gaps in employee skills and knowledge, helping you provide knowledge-building and other forms of support. This agile and responsive approach addresses issues before they become problems, reduces stress levels, and improves the likelihood of your changes being adopted.

Assess the impact of change

As tool time observations can be conducted before, during, and after business improvement initiatives, they are a perfect tool to assess the overall impact of change management programs.

Tool time studies can compare how employees perform tasks before and after any change, and you can measure the improvements or identify any unintended consequences. This assessment helps you evaluate a program’s success and make any necessary adjustments as you go.

Want more information?

Minset has a number of interesting articles that showcase the various benefits and applications of tool time studies. If you would like to know more about tool time studies, please read the following articles: