HOW TO MANAGE CHANGE EFFECTIVELY

Change management is a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organisations from a current state to a desired future state, to fulfil or implement a vision and strategy. It is an organisational process aimed at empowering employees to accept and embrace changes in their current environment.
Most organisations today are in a constant state of flux as they respond to the fast-moving external business environment, local and global economies, and technological advancement. This means that workplace processes, systems, and strategies must continuously change and evolve for an organisation to remain competitive.
Change affects your most important asset, your people. Losing employees is costly due to the associated recruitment costs and the time involved getting new employees up to speed. Each time an employee walks out the door, essential intimate knowledge of your business leaves with them.

OVERCOMING RESISTANCE

Although employee resistance is a natural reaction to widespread organisational changes, you can overcome that resistance by focusing on several key strategies:

1. Create a plan.
Every business requires change in order to survive. If a company doesn’t innovate and react to changing market demands, it will collapse.
But make sure to not to make changes just for the sake of it. Before embarking on a journey of transformation be sure to have a solid business plan. Identify the areas of the business that need to be updated and put a plan in place for its execution.

2. Understand the end goal.
It’s critical to understand the end goal and objectives before starting out. Ask, Where is the company today and where does it need to be?
A change leader must have the confidence and capability to change tack, though, if another path looks clearer and makes more sense. Listen to employees, be bold enough to adjust the direction the company is headed toward and dispense with pride if another route makes more business sense. The path for change and innovation is not set in stone.

3. Communicate clearly.
Communication is king when it comes to corporate change. From Day 1 it’s critical to have all members of the team be behind the leader. Be sure to keep everyone fully abreast of developments and ensure that employees understand the end goal.
Keeping the lines of communication open and involving employees in the change process makes it more likely employees will get on board. Give them the opportunity to share ideas, concerns, comments and suggestions throughout the period of change. Corporate change should be an exciting, rewarding and worthwhile experience, with effective communication being critical.

4. Identify key players.
People react differently to a transformation in the workplace and the leader's duty is to identify change advocates as well as potential saboteurs. Get key players on board from the beginning and take the time to walk them through the anticipated changes.
These team members are likely to be instrumental when new processes are put into practice and can encourage sceptic to participate and help sustain the morale of the rest of their departments.

5. Delegate tasks.
Leading from the front is important. But an individual leader cannot implement change alone. Delegate tasks to individuals across the team and assign firm deadlines for completion. Be sure to follow up with each individual and provide support when necessary.
While going through this period of change, be on hand to answer questions, provide guidance and offer support. By giving people responsibilities, more will get accomplished as others are encouraged to take ownership of the prerequisites for change.

6. Set realistic objectives.
The leader should not set up himself (or herself) and the department for failure. During a period of change it's reasonable to expect key team members to put in extra time and effort, but set realistic targets.
If the expectations are too high, not only will quality be compromised but also deadlines won't be met, morale will plummet and people will become alienated. The result? A despondent, unhappy and floundering workforce.

7. Manage expectations.
The worth of any business leader can be measured simply by analysing his or her ability to manage expectations. When leading a department through change, managing expectations is more critical that ever. Clarify what is expected from employees, and conversely figure out what they expect from the leader.

8. Hold people accountable.
Hold employees accountable for implementing change. To do that, equip them with the proper tools, talent, resources, responsibility and authority necessary for finishing the race.
References

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_87.htm

https://www.prosci.com/resources/articles/change-management-process

https://www.insights.com/resources/coaching-people-through-the-change-curve/













Comments

  1. Janaka Munaweera28 December 2018 at 23:11

    Resistance to change is the identified no. 01 barrier in organizational work processes. Hence practicing a change management in a organization is a must to uplift the mind set of the employees and work process of the organization. Among the key factors you have presented above we observe very low level practical implementation of following processes.

    * Delegate task
    * Set realistic objectives
    * Hold people accountable

    Hence it is very much essential to implement the change management through persons with expertise knowledge failing in which total process will be collapsed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dilmi Pemachandre24 March 2019 at 10:09

    It is difficult to change unless we focus on changing our thinking. With a strategic approach to change, ushering in new processes is easier than you’d think. Resistance is expected, but a good leader's ability is to collectively overcome will exemplify company character. Communication is necessary to set fears to rest, while encouraging reluctant team members to embrace change with confidence.

    Change can evoke emotions like uncertainty and fear, leaving staff to take their frustrations out on each other. Conflict is a common unintended consequence, so it’s the leaders responsibility to help staff overcome difficulties.

    ReplyDelete

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