10 Ways NOT to Roll Out a New Program

About 25 years ago as Director of Employee Benefits, I was charged with introducing a new managed health care plan to the company. Similar to the country’s new Affordable Care Act, I experienced a vicious backlash and outcry from employees who were fearful of how their medical insurance was going to change and distrustful of what the company was ‘taking away.’ The whole experience probably took 10 years off my life, but I learned some valuable lessons about how to effectively implement organization-wide programs and used those lessons throughout the rest of my career. It’s probably a little too late to give some pointers to the healthcare.gov website folks, but here’s my list of top 10 ways NOT to roll out a new program:

1. Fail to explain the purpose and rationale for the new initiative and withhold information about what will happen. Communicating the reason and benefits of the change is critical for its success. In the absence of communication or if there’s a perception that senior management is not being open and honest about the changes, people will envision the worst case scenario. Clear, accurate, and ongoing communication must be part of any rollout process.
2. Leave out critical stakeholders in planning the development and implementation process. Involving key departments, members of management, and end-users in the development process will help to ensure a common understanding of the goal and enable buy-in to the implementation process. Although this involvement may take longer, it should result in less resistance down the road.
3. Refuse to hire enough or the right people. Do you have the right people with the right skills and abilities to develop and implement the initiative? What skills are missing? Are you aware of people’s strengths and limitations so that the right people are in the right positions to accomplish the tasks? Are the full talents of the organization engaged in the development and roll-out?
4. Fail to establish clear decision rights. With the execution of any strategy or initiative, there are hundreds of decisions that have to be made along the way. Are decisions made at the appropriate level and are the right people given ownership for those decisions without continually being second-guessed? Does the bureaucracy of the organization become an obstacle for efficient execution because there are so many layers of approval required for even small decisions?
5. Turn a deaf ear to problems and just tell the team to “fix it.” With any large-scale initiative, there are invariably unforeseen issues that arise. Is there a culture of full disclosure and transparency so that when problems surface, they can be addressed openly and/or brought to the proper authority for resolution? The team may need management to clear obstacles, resolve demands for competing resources, and encourage greater cooperation.
6. Stay firm on ‘go live’ deadlines no matter what. Sticking to unrealistic deadlines by failing to adapt to new information can be disastrous. It’s a tough judgment call to know when to apply pressure to meet a promised deadline and when to re-negotiate that deadline when unexpected problems arise.
7. Take a hands-off approach to managing the project and avoid getting involved in the details. While no one appreciates a micro-manager, company-wide initiatives require oversight and assurance that key milestones are reached successfully. Team members must also hold each other accountable to see that the project plan is accomplished.
8. When plans go awry, place blame on the vendors or someone lower in the organization. This lack of accountability can derail an initiative before it gets off the ground by destroying morale and team spirit. Scapegoating and ‘making heads roll’ may inhibit creative solutions to problems and disclosure of important information.
9. Block the information flow into and out of the project team. Depending on the size of the initiative and the number of people involved, there are other people/departments that need and want to know what’s happening. How are the right people kept informed along the way and changes communicated?
10. Move on to the next initiative without maintaining the current one. Once an initiative has been implemented, it will likely require maintenance and follow-up to ensure compliance and consistency. Further modifications may be needed. Ongoing monitoring, training, and continuing communication will likely be required to sustain the change.

In a scene from the 1981 movie, Body Heat, Mickey Rourke talks to William Hurt about the things that can go wrong when planning a crime. “You’ve got 50 ways you can screw up. If you think of 25 of them, you’re a genius. And you’re no genius.” Similarly, the entire team rolling out a new program, system, or initiative can’t predict all of the things that can go wrong. Implementing a new healthcare program across an entire nation is an overwhelming endeavor and no ‘genius’ can anticipate all of the problems. Despite a rocky launch, my managed healthcare program from 25 years ago eventually got accepted and stabilized within the subsequent year, and the furor went away. I am optimistic that the healthcare.gov website problems will eventually be resolved as well. Let’s hope the implementers have learned some valuable lessons about successful execution for the future.