Positive change case study

Understanding how to strengthen the change process was the key to success for the New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS), when faced with the challenge of upgrading their IT systems to meet modern blood traceability standards. This is the story of their fruitful collaboration with Changeability and the results they achieved in creating positive change.

The Background

Since 1998 the New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) has been helping to meet the health needs of New Zealanders by providing safe, appropriate and timely access to blood and tissue products and other related services. A decision was made that their established IT system, used for managing the traceability of blood from donor to recipient, no longer met modern standards for resiliency and in 2010 NZBS embarked on a major project to upgrade the system.

The Business Need

As a fundamental business critical change it was important that everything was done to help ensure this upgrade was a success. Change often fails due to lack of engagement from key people and NZBS were keen to avoid such a costly failure.

The project team identifi ed Lead Users as fundamental to successful implementation. Their role was to be pivotal in helping to deliver training to Users and ensuring that the move from one system to another was smooth and effective.

Change Leaders wanted to increase engagement and to identify any unforseen barriers or risks that, if left hidden, could impede or even derail the process. They wanted to assess the readiness of their Lead Users to play their part in this important change and wanted some practical recommendations on where to target their management resources to increase the likelihood of success.

The Solution

Changeability provided the perfect solution for NZ Blood. Their experience in using a solid evidence and research based approach to supporting successful change was invaluable. All Lead Users attended a Moving Through Change workshop which provided an engaging mix of practical input, group activities and facilitator led discussion. The workshop included the Changeability Readiness Assessment and resulted in each Lead User completing their own action plan on how to play their part in delivering the change successfully.

Data captured during the workshops was collated and analysed by Changeability’s psychologist in order to make practical recommendations to strengthen the change process and deliver the outcomes of the project for NZ Blood. A report was delivered to Change Leaders containing the recommendations and simple justifi cations, together with a snapshot of the key themes and messages gathered from Lead Users during the workshops.

The Results

The workshops and subsequent recommendations were an essential part of the risk management process and helped NZ Blood to deliver the change on time and to specifi cation. Lead Users were engaged and motivated to play their crucial part in the implementation process while Change Leaders were able to apply a number of practical recommendations, based on an accurate analysis of what was needed, to ensure the change process would be successful.

‘The Changeability report provided an accurate view of issues and barriers that could compromise the acceptance of the new system. After analysing the data they were able to give us some clear and concise recommendations. These enabled us to focus management time in the right areas and helped us to deliver the project outcomes and avoid any costly delays. I particularly liked the fact that it was not just a bunch of fi ndings but the report told us exactly what we had to do to make sure the change was a success – it even prioritised the actions for us.’

John Cox, Project Manager
‘The workshop signifi cantly increased the level of engagement shown by Lead Users at a crucial stage of the change. They came out of the workshop positively glowing and highly motivated to play their part. Delivering the project on time was vital and the Changeability workshop was very important in helping us to achieve such a positive result.’

ends