Do individuals and organizations grow in spite of change or on account of it? Is change required? How much? How often? How do we manage change? And sustain it?
These and other related thoughts often cross the mind of leaders, organization heads, business owners, entrepreneurs, especially as we look back at the year gone by and look forward to the one coming up.
How do we understand “change” better? What does change management involve?
Change is encountered due to shifts in
- Government policies – e.g., demonetization, GST etc.
- Customer requirements / competitive landscape – choices, product and service offerings, pricing – differentiate to stay relevant.
- Leadership alignment / expectations on team or organization focus areas.
- People or team management processes – to retain, motivate and reward performance.
- Business processes – to optimize functional interlinkages and avoid breakdowns, delays.
- Technology and communication tools, enablers – to enhance productivity, effectiveness and reach.
The purpose of change management is to implement strategies and approaches for effecting change, controlling change and helping individuals, teams and organizations adapt to change. This is to avoid typical behaviours of avoiding change or playing victim on account of it.
Here are some pointers to help navigate change:
- Communicate the threat of not changing and the need to keep moving – standing still and not reacting could have an adverse impact. Establish the urgent need to change.
- Where possible, involve the team in decision-making – make it participative.
- Define the vision, path ahead, next steps – minimize uncertainty and ambiguity.
- Address the WIIFM (what’s in-it-for-me) for key constituents, stakeholders.
- Identify risks and worst-case scenarios to firm up possible action plans, key influencers to drive the change and timelines. Make it a process!
- Transparency is key – keep explaining why the change is happening – information vacuum causes misunderstanding, trust deficits and stress.
- Celebrate small successes, as you adopt a crawl-walk-run approach.
- Institutionalize to sustain. Monitor. Govern.
In todays’ flat VUCA world, the rate of change is oftentimes more dynamic than we can anticipate. All people, teams and organizations need to seek expert help and advice for this – after all, none of us are superheroes nor are we omniscient!
Let us accept that change is a reality and needs constant attention and management!
FAQ
What are the main steps in managing organizational change?
Managing organizational change begins with communicating the urgency for change and involving the team in decision-making; then defining a clear vision, setting steps for business transformation, identifying risks + timelines; maintaining transparency; celebrating small wins; and institutionalizing the change for sustainability — this sequence enables more effective change management.
How can employees adapt to workplace change?
Employees adapt best in a business transformation environment when they understand what’s in it for me, see the vision and path ahead clearly, are part of participative decision-making, and receive ongoing support through transparent communication and small wins that build confidence — all elements of effective change management.
What role does leadership play in change management?
Leadership in managing organizational change is critical for setting the urgency, defining vision, making decision-making participative, identifying and engaging key influencers, offering transparency, and governing the change process — without strong leadership, business transformation efforts struggle to succeed.
Why do most change initiatives fail?
Most change initiatives fail because of insufficient urgency or communication, lack of stakeholder involvement, ambiguity in vision or steps, ignoring people’s needs (“what’s in it for me”), risk not being anticipated, and failure to institutionalize the change — these are pitfalls addressed by effective change management strategies.
What are the best strategies for successful change management?
The best strategies for successful change management include clearly communicating why change is needed, involving employees in decisions, defining a clear vision and path for business transformation, being transparent, highlighting individual benefits, identifying risks and influencers, celebrating small wins, and embedding the change into culture so that managing organizational change becomes sustainable.
