How to Keep Your Team From Backsliding
Have you ever tried to shed a few pounds? It’s not easy. Research shows that 80% of people who lose weight don’t keep it off for more than 12 months.
The time it takes for a new behavior to become ingrained varies tremendously, with some research suggesting a range of 18 to 254 days. This timeframe depends on factors such as the complexity of the behavior, individual differences, and the consistency with which the new behavior is practiced. Even after you make it through this time period, reversion to old habits can be tempting. Maintaining a behavior long-term often requires ongoing commitment and strategies to handle potential triggers that could cause you to revert to old habits.
The same is true for change initiatives at an organization. You may see small signals that your team is backsliding into old ways of working. Teams easily slip back into old, comfortable behaviors just as a person on a weight loss journey might struggle to establish a new health regimen or kick an old habit.
What Is Reversion?
Reversion is the gradual erosion of hard-won performance gains 6-18 months after launch. Old workplace habits exert a powerful gravitational pull even when people have experienced the benefits of working differently.
If your organization has recently implemented an organizational change initiative, watch for red flags, including:
● Performance boards are not updated, or targets are inaccurate
● Managers stop using resource plans for decisions
● Daily reviews lose agenda discipline or become irregular
● Work pace and adherence to changes falters (for example, sales teams that stop trying to upsell)
Just as a healthy lifestyle might give way to more “cheat days” when morale slips, rationalizations creep in to justify plan deviations rather than working to uncover root causes. Missing plans is less troubling than justifying subpar performance.
To halt reversion, stay vigilant and quickly address backsliding. Here are four ways to prevent reversion:
- Conduct quarterly reviews to ensure process stability and tools and methods remain in use
- Monitor compliance with process and behavioral changes
- Reset baselines through budgeting to keep performance targets fresh
- Formalize an annual performance review to align indicators and strategy
My book, Results Not Reports, offers a complete framework to help you stay on course, sustain your gains, and remain positioned for continuous improvement.
If you’d like more customized advice about your change management initiative, please reach out.
