6 Management Strategies For Organizational Change Success

Human beings tend to resist anything they view as stressful, and let's face it, organizational changes are about as stressful as it can get!

For most of us, familiarity with our surroundings, our relationships and our working environment allows us to reside safely inside our comfort zone. And comfort equals security.

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But when our comfort zone is detonated by changes in management or organizational systems, we implode, seeking the shelter of our innate desire to resist, at all costs.

6 Management Strategies For Organizational Change Success

Changes that occur outside of our control force us to adapt to new rules, new systems and new policies which can, at the outset, make us feel uncomfortable and insecure.

However, a responsible and responsive management team can intercede before staff resistance spreads like the plague and threatens the smooth transition of organizational changes.

Effective team leaders acknowledge and understand that it is a basic human instinct to react to change with resistance, even though staff may fully comprehend the reasons why changes in the organization are vital to its existence and growth.

6 Management Strategies to Avert Resistance

1. A clear outline - Discomfort and insecurity arises when staff are not made aware of the policies, principles, guidelines and structure of intended changes. Every employee needs to know how his/her position will be affected and what his/her role requires.
2. Commitment -Implementation of organizational changes will not occur smoothly if everyone - from the CEO to the office clerk - is not committed to the project and its successful outcome.
3. Advocacy - Each member of an organization who may be affected by the impending changes must be given the opportunity to express his/her opinion.
4. Responsibility - It is the role of the team leader to ensure that each employee who is responsible for a component of the change strategy is held accountable for his/her actions in implementing the changes required.
5. Acknowledgement - Evaluation and acknowledgement of the success of the change strategy at regular intervals ensures its smooth implementation.
6. Flexibility - Management needs to adopt a flexible approach to each stage of development of a change strategy so that unforeseen contingencies can be implemented, if and where necessary.

It only takes one irresolute employee to destabilize an entire workforce, so periods of internal change within an organization require management to stay vigilant for any signs of rumblings or disapproval.

Long-standing employees can feel betrayed and rejected when changes are announced by management. They often experience a sense of loss, confusion, frustration and job insecurity. The plan for job advancement they have often calculated appears to be shot to pieces.

So they react with denial and resistance to the imminent changes.

Management's ability to recognize these patterns of behavior and work to overcome any resistance establishes how well they will accomplish organizational changes. Their willingness to invest in the support and training necessary is an integral factor in achieving a positive outcome.

Employees aren't the only ones who have to adapt to changes within the organization.

Top level managers generally bear the brunt of discontented staff from the ground up. Senior managers who have been instrumental in bringing about the changes within the organization often underestimate the impact those changes will have on their employees.

Unrealistic expectations of how their staff will react (or over-react!) often causes top level managers to retreat and isolate themselves from the problem when the impact of their proposed changes filter back to them.

However, they tend to lay the blame at the feet of middle management if employees resist or complain about the changes.

Middle management tend to carry the most stress during times of organizational change. They feel "trapped", unless they have exceptional leadership skills; besieged by resistant employees who look to them for guidance yet often denied direction and focus by top level management.

Those in middle management often find themselves acting as the arbiter during times of organizational upheaval.

However, organizational changes within a business often prove to be a suitable testing ground for leadership qualities; from the employees all the way through to top level management.

Those who possess the qualities that define a good leader often emerge during the stressful environment that usually accompanies change. This creates an ideal opportunity for potential leaders to display those qualities and be recognized accordingly.

6 Management Strategies For Organizational Change Success

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Management, Change and... Stakeholders

Stakeholders are those groups of people or institutions that have a stake in your company (where you are not always aware of). There are many general theories about stakeholder management and methods to implement. When dealing with change, a simple stakeholder "view" could help you in controlling the change.

Such a view will look like a spider. It shows the contexts of your organization (the core) and the legs of the spider are pointing to the stakeholders. In the view below, the spider lost one leg:

Management

• Clients (Business Clients or Consumers)
• Competitors
• Employees (Management)
• Third parties (Suppliers and Business partners)
• Capital suppliers, Investors, Shareholders
• Government (local, national, International)
• Communities (environmental, professionals)

Management, Change and... Stakeholders

The Employee-category is different in the sense that this relation is internal, where the others communicate with the world outside.

For planning a change, it is important to know what you must do regarding these relations. You could see this as a complicated version of Client Relationship Management, where different clients groups have different roles. Each relation must be managed in a different way.

Managing this stakeholder context is managing the important network your company 'got' entangled in during its business cycle. This context provides valuable information that supports the change management process.

The stakeholder view can be used for both small businesses as for large caps. To manage each relation you must be well prepared, but you do not have to know everything in advance. In a way you need to manage expectations. You also need to listen very well to the stake that is in the game. You cannot negotiate with relations if you do not know how you value the relation.

To give one example:

A bank is changing its strategy. Many of the local branches will be closed due to the fact that internet is a growing channel. Yet there are a group (community) of elderly people than - although not belonging to the main focus group (80%) will resist in this new approach.

If you have not included them in the stakeholders view, you will have to do a lot of rework once you think you go live. They, representing maybe only less than 20%, will give you a lot of exceptions to handle.

© 2005 Hans Bool

Management, Change and... Stakeholders

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days. You can apply for a free demo account

Organizational Change Management

A colleague of mine says that people don't mind change and they don't necessarily fear it - but that they do fear what is required to make a change. So, in effect, when organizational change is proposed and employees begin to have "fear conversations" ("I wonder what job moves are going to come about as a result of this. . .?" "Where is all this heading. . .?" " What kind of shake-ups will there be at the top?") what they're actually expressing is a fear of how the change is to be instituted. Organizational psychologists are highly attuned to change constructs, to the organizational purposes that they serve, and the opportunities and advantages that they provide for organizations. For all the positive aspects that change provides, we nevertheless find dichotomized thinking about the change process, when we work with the employees of a corporation undergoing change. From one prospective, we find that the organization's members endorse the end result of change and the advantages that this can bring. They can see, for example, that changes can offer greater efficiencies and improved and easier ways of doing things; increased corporate profits and a chance at higher salaries; a heightened competitive edge and greater market status advantage for the company. While acknowledging these benefits, what they talk to us about, however, are the actions and details that will occur between the time change is initiated and when the change has been effected - that is, the path that is to be traveled to make the change is of the greatest concern.

Because change is so all-pervasive in modern organizations, two of the most critical elements of leadership are initiation and management of change. Most managers have had limited training in the specifics of leading organizational change and have little idea of the ways that their employees perceive and experience change. And, yet, much of the day-to-day work of the manager involves addressing marketplace opportunities - most of which require change to the organizational structure and its employee functioning. The greatest determinant of the future success of an organization is the CEO and leadership team's ability to address change by formulating and articulating a clear vision and carefully-crafted strategic reactions.

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Change in complex organizations requires management of the interplay of emotions and cognitive processes. Managers, on the whole, lack the knowledge and background to deal with imminent and forced organizational changes. The modern, dynamic business environment requires large numbers of changes to be made during any given year, from an ever-widening range of change choices. Without training in this area, managers often resist change or avoid organizational transformation effort. When faced with the need to change, resistive actions on the part of the organization's leaders can precipitate a process that results in rapid deterioration of the organization. Sound knowledge of organizational change processes, on the other hand, allows leaders to view change as an opportunity that can be guided and managed for greater gains.

From these two different approaches to organizational change - change resistance or change management - two differing belief systems emerge. The belief of the "change resistant" manager is that change will bring instability, upheaval, unpredictability, threat and disorientation; the "change embracer," on the other hand, sees change as an opportunity -- a chance for rejuvenation and innovation as well as progress and growth. In effect, the difference in the two approaches is a that of viewing change from a perspective of fear and anxiety, or from one of excitement and confidence.

From our experiences in organizations, there is no doubt that confident managers deal with change management most effectively. To arrive at a point where they are poised and assured of handling organizational changes, managers will have devoted themselves to constant and continuous learning. Dedicated learners gain the ability to gather large amounts of current knowledge that allows flexibility to react with dexterity and skill to crisis situations. Learning managers also come to know the culture of their organizations, and, consequently, are adept at persuading and reassuring employees to follow their lead in instituting change propositions.

From our many experiences of working as consultants in organizations, the professionals in my company have gleaned the following precepts of managing change:

1-- STRUCTURE AND POSIT THE CHANGE PROPOSITION WELL

Managers need to be able to clearly and completely describe and justify the changes that they propose. In order to prepare their employees for change, they need to have researched the topic well in order to be able to clearly delineate: 1) the reason for the change; 2) the proposed actions to be taken; and 3) the expected results. Good data to support the need for change are critical. The data need to be provided, along with sources for employees to find background and technical information for the proposed changes on their own. Providing information sources for employees encourages an informed workforce and also promotes the growth of an organizational population of learners.

2 -- ANTICIPATE RESISTANCE AND REACTION

The manager should know the employees and the organizational culture well enough to be able to anticipate those who will be resistant to change. Preparations for emotional reactions to change can be accomplished by developing strategies for use in specific situations. Change scenarios can offer sound operational approaches for most circumstances. If there are departments or other "pockets" of personnel who are likely to resist the changes, the manager and his staff will want to work with these members either in groups, or one-on-one, as appropriate.

3 -- TALK OPENLY ABOUT THE CHANGE REACTIONS

The manager, or an expert hired to assist with the intricacies of individual behavior in change situations, will need to confront employee fears and reactions to the change. There is a need to talk openly about plans for change and the actions relating to the change as well as to work with individual employees to assist them in addressing their concerns. As a part of this process, employees will need to determine "what's in it for me" -- this might simply be that the company, and they along with it, will prosper under the new directions. Once there have been discussions to promote greater understanding, employees can begin to think seriously about their roles in the change process.

4 -- INSPIRE TRUST AND TEAMWORK

The focus of the work with employees during the planning and initiation stages of change will be on engendering employee trust and inspiring teamwork. When goals are explained well and management credibility and integrity exists, it will be possible to transform employee reactions of anxiety to an endorsement of changes. Trust and team building is a topic requiring lengthy discussion, as there are prescriptive processes that will need to be followed. To accomplish this phase of change, leaders will need to research the topic well; or, alternatively, employ experts who can guide the organization's members through formal teambuilding and organizational development processes.

5 -- ALLOW OWNERSHIP OF THE CHANGE PROCESS

The desired outcome for teambuilding is to have employees feel that they own the change process as well as the path that is to be traveled to secure the change. Great value is derived from the employee dedication and rejuvenation that comes from feeling ownership of the change process. When an employee is feeling in charge of the process and of his own fate, there is certainty that the desired change will be accomplished. This level of confidence also fosters inspiration, new ideas, and innovative ways of doing things that result in a high rate of overall achievement.

6 -- LEADERS MUST LEAD

Throughout the change process, from the planning. . . to the introduction of change . . . to the implementation, the leader must lead. That is, employees must be convinced, in both words and actions, that the leader is fully behind the change processes. Members of the organization must be able both to know and to sense that the direction of change is well understood and highly endorsed by the leader, and that the leader harbors no doubts about the proposed course of action leading to greater organizational benefit and commercial gain for the organization. Good information about the organization's position and the need for change, a clear plan for action, and absolute faith in the success of the actions to be undertaken will be interpreted positively by employees. A leader that proposes change must be certain of the commitment and skill in leading the change efforts. It is for these challenging change efforts that confident leaders are most needed.

In summary: A leader must be willing to embrace change processes with clarity and enthusiasm; must have identified the need for change through avid learning processes; must be able to transmit a commitment to the change as well as to one's employees throughout the process; must be willing to work with individuals, groups and teams to establish the right path to accomplish the change; must be willing to share the ownership of the change processes and to compromise and deviate, where needed, from the original plans in order to ensure that others assume important roles in the process. And, above all, the leader must exhibit the courage and conviction that engenders respect and confidence from others in the organization; that allays most doubts; and that inspires employees to greater levels of performance and accomplishment.

Organizational Change Management

Dr. Billie Blair heads the organizational development firm, Leading and Learning, Inc., a firm of 30 business, education and health care professionals who have expertise in management practices and change associations in organizations and corporations.

Dr. Blair has a doctorate in organizational psychology and has worked with executives and CEOs for the past 25 years to institute strategic planning processes, manage organizational change, assess employees for growth potential, and lead processes of change within their businesses and institutions, including serving as a professor of management/leadership and as a college dean in California's largest public university system.

In offering the services of Leading and Learning, Inc. to leaders who appreciate the need for continuous learning in their organizations, Dr. Blair states that her firm "works with executives in organizations to finalize strategic goals and to help these leaders efficiently and effectively deal with change."

(For more information on this topic, see: Blair, 2006, Organizational Development and Teambuilding @ [http://www.leadinglearninginc.com])

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Maslow Theory of Motivation - The Basis of Successful Change Management

The Maslow Theory of Motivation also known as "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs" model was developed between 1943-1954, and first widely published in "Motivation and Personality" in 1954. Starting from the premise that each human being is motivated by needs that are inborn, presumably as a result of tens of thousands of years of evolution, here is the hierarchy in ascending order:

(1) Physiological needs

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These are the very basic needs such as air, water, food, sleep, sex, etc. When these are not satisfied we may feel sickness, irritation, pain, discomfort, etc. These feelings motivate us to alleviate them as soon as possible to establish homeostasis. Once they are alleviated, we may think about other things.

(2) Safety needs

These have to do with establishing stability and consistency in a chaotic world. These needs are mostly psychological in nature. We need the security of a home and family. However, if a family is dysfunction, i.e., an abused child - cannot move to the next level as she is continuously fearful for her safety. Love and a sense of belonging are postponed until she feel safe.

(3) Love and needs of belonging

Humans have [in varying degrees of intensity] a strong desire to affiliate by joining groups such as societies, clubs, professional associations, churches and religious groups etc. There is a universal need to feel love and acceptance by others.

(4) Self-Esteem needs

There are essentially two types of esteem needs: self-esteem resulting from competence or mastery of a task; and the esteem and good opinion of other people.

(5) The need for self-actualisation

Maslow theory of motivation proposes that people who have all their "lower order" needs met progress towards the fulfilment their potential. Typically this can include the pursuit of knowledge, peace, esthetic experiences, self-fulfillment, oneness with God, nirvana, enlightenment etc. So ultimately this is all to do with the desire for self transcendence.

A paradigm shift that forms the basis for good leadership and successful change management

The Maslow theory of motivation brought a new face to the study of human behaviour. Maslow was inspired by greatness in the minds of others, and his own special contribution to the field of motivational psychology led to the creation of the concept of Humanistic Psychology. Most psychologists prior to Maslow had focused on the mentally ill and the abnormal. In complete contrast the Maslow theory of motivation investigated and attempted to define positive mental health.

In so doing, he instigated a paradigm shift via Humanistic Psychology - predicated on the belief that humans are not simply blindly reacting to situations, but trying to accomplish something greater. This new approach represented in the Maslow theory of motivation became the source of many new and different therapies, all grounded in the belief that people possess the inner resources for growth and healing and that the point of therapy is to help remove obstacles to individuals' achieving them.

It also forms the basis of much current understanding of what constitutes good leadership and forms a major foundation of prevailing models and theories of successful change management. The most fundamental value of this theory is to emphasise and remind those of us involved in leading and managing change of the complexity and multi-facted nature of human needs and motivational drives. Closely aligned to that observation is the difficult realisation that people have transcendent needs and aspirations as well as the more prosaic needs of survival and "pay and rations".

Maslow Theory of Motivation - The Basis of Successful Change Management

See here for the full change management implications of the: " Maslow Theory of Motivation "

I invite you to take advantage of this FREE download: Starting the Change Process "

Find out the 3 main reasons for the 70% failure rate of all step change initiatives and how to avoid it. This FREE 29 page document offers a brief introduction to some of the key themes and key points that you need to consider in starting the change process.

Stephen Warrilow, based in Bristol, works with companies across the UK providing specialist support to directors delivery significant change initiatives. Stephen has 25 years cross sector experience with 100+ companies in mid range corporate, larger SME and corporate environments.

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Change Management - Role of the Leader

Who is the leader?

The leader is the one who can alter forces that can impact the change project. Depending on the magnitude of the change, this leader might be the CEO/Executive Director, VP, department manager, etc. If the organization culture must change to accommodate a new way of working, the leader MUST be the top dog, the CEO/President/Executive Director. Company culture is created from the top of the organization. Changes to the culture must be driven by the top of the organization. If it is an interdepartmental change, it must be the person in the organization who has influence/authority over all participants. A project manager can be delegated the responsibility for executing the tasks of the change. However, the leader (sponsor/champion) remains accountable for the success of the change effort.

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The majority of project managers fit into two categories. The first is a consultant-type (external or internal) who leaves after implementation. The second is a person in one of the departments affected by the change. This person returns to his/her original department after implementation and operates a part of what was implemented. Neither f these people can sustain the change across all effected parts of the organization, if the parts attempt to drift back to the old way. They are not accountable for the change results next year. The project manager can lead the work of change implementation. However, every major change needs to have an overall leader who will be accountable for maintaining the benefits on an ongoing basis. This person has to remain visible during and after the change effort. This person is the Process Owner.

The first key to a successful change effort is, obviously, for the leader to understand what the change is. The second key is to understand the impact of the change to the work and the impact to the people. As leadership is about people, the impacts to consider can include behavior changes, impacts of status changes, impacts of re-distribution of power and authority, altered relationships and responsibilities, people performing new tasks outside of their comfort zone, etc.

This leader must be the first one to make the appropriate changes in his/her own behavior, actions and attitudes. After all, leaders are role models. For example, if the change requires more open communication, then the leader must demonstrate more open communication. This is single most difficult part of any change effort. The head of the organization usually considers his/her old successful ways as the right way to lead. They are very willing to have the rest to of the organization change. But don't recognize that they drive the behavior of the organization. If they want it to change, they must SHOW the organization how to change. TELLING them how to change is not effective. Employees know that you vote with your feet. If you do not walk the talk, don't expect them to either. Being a role model is a major part of the success of change efforts.

The next key after the leader understands the "new way" is to present the vision of how the world will work during and after the implementation. This vision needs to be framed in a way that lets the people know WIIFM (What's in it for me). Once they understand the benefit to themselves as well as the company, they will release their energy to move toward the vision. This alters the mindset of the followers. All people in an organization operate under the influence of external (to them) forces: culture -company and personal, policies and procedures, etc.

But people also operate under influences that are internal to themselves (comfort zone): their mindset on power, authority, status, security, territoriality, personal competence, level of confidence, risk taking, etc. Forcing behavior changes may get you compliance. But it will not generate enthusiasm and commitment. (Side note: most change efforts target policies, procedures and technology and not how you think about the work.) A lasting change needs to alter the way people think in order to enable different behavior. This is the path of the effective leader.

People move at different paces. The people who embrace the change more quickly should need less support. The people change more slowly will need more support to get over the hump.

The fourth big key is stakeholder involvement. I know that many of you think that people resist change. I believe that this is incorrect. I believe that people do not mind change. They don't want to BE changed. People change themselves and their surroundings all of the time. They change houses, cars, jobs, hair color, spouses, etc. The difference is that in these decisions, they participated and often made the decision. Take advantage of this willingness to change. Involve them initially in understanding the What and Why of the change and subsequently in the planning and rollout. Initially, it requires patience to work through the resistance and counter proposals. Recognize that this type of interaction is the norm in an open communication environment. Utilize the energy of the early adapters to move the effort forward. Leaders enlist these people as evangelists. They will help you move others along. Make sure that you include informal leaders in a major way.

The last big key is leadership visibility in support of the project. When the leader uses his/her valuable time on the change effort, the employees recognize that it must be important. When the leader is a role model for new types of behavior, people pick up on it. When the leader communicates openly, including giving straight answers to tough questions, people begin to believe. When leaders react calmly to surprises, people have less anxiety when things do not go smoothly. When the leader follows the Deming prescription to Stay The Course, people recognize that it is not going away and they must deal with it.

The big leader will usually delegate project responsibility. But he/she must remain visible, must request status, must meet with employees and feed the findings to the project manager for action, then report back to the people on the action taken.

Lack of leader visibility and involvement is the single largest factor in the failure of change efforts. Having the top leaders engaged in the project will go a long way toward ensuring its success in transforming the organization.

Leaders have a lot of things to do, a wide range of responsibilities. The leadership activities I've described above are in addition to what already fills up their day. It is understandable that once they delegate the change activity, they move on to other things. The majority of high-level leaders have trouble sustaining this visible role. This is a wrong thought process.

If it is important enough to make a change to a large part of their organization, it HAS to be a high enough priority for the leader to stay involved. Many successful leaders find it helpful to have a mentor or a coach to offer guidance when adding this new role.

Change Management - Role of the Leader

See the article Change Management - Anatomy of Change for the best approach to a change project.

Bob Maitland is a consultant, coach and author who helps small and medium sized businesses to improve the bottom line. He assists leaders to gain higher levels of commitment from their people; aligns all parts of the company to work together to achieve the goals; and ensures the work is done efficiently and effectively freeing up resources. When you add your industry knowledge, you are on your way to becoming an Elite Company.

http://www.eliteleadershipsolutions.com
When you absolutely have to get better!

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Strategies For Managing Change - Develop Effective Change Management Models

Managing change has become the norm for small business owners in today's business environment. Most businesses will go through significant change during their business life-span. As a small business owner or manager, how you respond or handle change can be the difference between success and failure. When faced with change, you need to effectively manage it.

Due to an ongoing evolution in management responsibilities, there has been considerable change management strategies development. Some of the change management models that have historical significance are Kotter's Eight Step Change Model (which is focused on aligning the vision and mission statements to the change activities, team building strategies, empowering employees to problem solve and make decisions) and the McKinsey 7-S Model (which is focused on aligning strategy, structure, skills, systems, shared values, staff and style with the direction of change).

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Over time these models have evolved to include newer change management techniques, such Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma which are productivity and quality programs. These programs enable highly effective, interactive and inclusive change management tactics. In addition to models and programs, consider working with business mentors, coaches, or consultants to help you work through some specific change issues (for example, a merger or acquisitions.

Key Success Factors for Change:

• What's the catalyst for the change? You need to identify and create awareness of the reason for change; without that level of communication it is very difficult to engage your employees in the process and therefore it will be difficult to move forward.
  Some examples: You've acquired a new business. You're facing new, and strong, competitive activity in the marketplace. Your largest customer has gone bankrupt. Your new product is failing in the market place. Your biggest distributor is unhappy with the service you provide.
• What's the plan for change? Just like a business plan to manage your business and growth, you need an action plan to manage the change and the resistance you are certainly going to encounter. Your plan will also need to identify key risks and how you will handle those risks.
• You need to ensure that your vision statement is still valid. If yes, does it align with the direction of your change management plan? If no, update your vision statement to reflect the new direction and future for the business. Communicate the vision statement to all stakeholders; you need to ensure that everyone knows the direction the business is going.

Managing change successfully means that you need to recognize who can help lead change in your organization. You need constancy and reliability in your leaders (when everything else is changing around you). You also need to involve your employees and other stakeholders in the process as early as possible; engaging them in the change will help you move forward. Keep your focus on the action plan and handle problems using decision making and problem solving techniques. The reason for change must be valid; change can cause stress and upheaval for the people involved in the process.

When you need to manage change, you need to focus on doing it right rather than doing it fast. The culture of your organization will need to adapt, along with the functions, processes and people. Work on building awareness, understanding, acceptance and commitment to and for the change.

Strategies For Managing Change - Develop Effective Change Management Models

Kris Bovay is the owner of Voice Marketing Inc, the business and marketing services company. Kris has 25 years of experience in leading large, medium and small businesses and helping business owners effectively manage change.

For more management strategies and other small business resources and services, please visit More For Small Business.
Copyright 2008-2009 Voice Marketing Inc.

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Implementation of Change Management

Change indeed is fundamental in life. The reality of the complexity and vagrancy in the environment (external or internal) is that organisations and individuals are constantly being pressurised to change in one form or the other. Change could be rapid or slow, perceptible and imperceptible, minor or substantive.

Vecchio (2006) in a tone of finality submitted that all organisations (whether profit or nonprofit, military or mutinational corporations) have no choice but to change so as to keep up with the pressure from the environment (internal and external). It is a compelling case of "change or die" (Vecchio, 2006:365).

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Pressures to change can be obvious or implicit. Managers are expected to anticipate and direct change process so that organizations can benefit from it. Infact Pantea (n.d) of the University of Aard,Romania suggested that underlying the Lewin's Change Process model is that the change process eventually involves a learning experience as well as the expediency to abandon the "current attitudes, behaviours, or organizational practices".

The forces of change can sometimes be intimidating and might include forecast of changing economic conditions, changing consumer preference, technological and scientific factors, globalisation and competition, and last but not the least, changes in legal landscape.

Response to the forces of change may require strategic change or operational change. Strategic change is organizational wide and has to do with organizational transformation. While strategic change has a long term focus, operational change has immediate effect on working arrangement within a part of the organization. Operational change focuses on elements like new systems, procedures, structures or technology. Organizational change can be static (Lewin's model) or dynamic (Continuous Change Process Model).

Change management requires strategic thinking and planning, good implementation and stakeholders consultation. The change desired must be realistic, attainable and realistic.

Lewin's view of the change process provides us with a tool or model of ascertaining the need for change, its implementation and monitoring. (Lewin, 1951). Armstrong (2006) identifies a plethora of change models including those of Bechard (1969), Thurley (1979), Quinn (1980), and Bandura (1986).

Lewin's process model of planned change has the following underlying assumption:

1. Change process involves new learning as well as a paradigm shift from current attitudes, behaviours and organizational practices.

2. Occurrence of change is predicated on the existence of motivation to change. This is critical in change process.

3. People are central to organizational changes. Whatever the type of change desired at the end of the day it is the individuals that is the target of change.
4. Deisirability of the goals of change however intensive does not preclude the existence of resistance to change.

5. If change must be effective, new behaviours, attitudes and organizational practices must be reinforced.

Lewin's planned model of change comprises of three steps described as unfreezing, change and re freezing. At the unfreezing stage, there is need to create awareness to change. The equilibrium that supports the existing practices, behaviours and attitudes must be altered.

Data collection may be necessary at this stage for further analysis so that the need for change may be apparent to all. At the changing stage the goal is to transform people, structure, task and technology as indicated in Vecchio (2006: 373). The refreezing stage requires that assessment of result be carried out with a view to making necessary modifications.

New responses could be developed based on the new information received. Reecho (2006:374) has identified forces of resistance to change to include: employee desires for security, contentment with the status quo, narrow force of change, group inertia, threatened expertise, threatened power, and changes in resource allocation.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT AT ADESHINA ADELEKE AND COMPANY

Adeshina Adeleke and company comprises of a group of professionals specialising in property services it is a single line firm with headquarters in Lagos Nigeria. Adeshina Adeleke and company has branches in Abuja and Porthacourt, Nigeria and has developed competencies in Agency, Valuation and Facility Management.

It has a diversified and yet a cohesive workforce. Its workforce diversity is in terms of gender and ethnic groupings. The company has flat and yet optimally centralised structure. At the apex of the structure is the Principal Consultant who is the Chief Executive Officer.

Subordinated to it are the units/ branch heads. It has a strong and strategy ally culture. In terms of strategic grouping, the firm falls within the SME group and operate within the services segment of the property industry.

Adeshina Adeleke and company is affected by forces of change both in a systematic and unsystematic sense. The present economic downturn has a great effect on the Nigerian economy resulting in lack of liquidity in the property market. The effect of illiquidity is high property inventory for sale and to let within Adeshina Adeleke's property bulletin.

Sales and letting are down and consistently for a quarter.Sales teams could not meet their targets. The result of the performance variance analysis triggered a need for strategic and operational change on the part of the firm. As a firm, we were caught off guard as the scenario we found ourselves in was never anticipated.

Management felt a need to increase sales and profitability and also to reposition the firm through necessary transformation. Although at the time, we were neither guided nor constrained by any model in managing the desired change, it would be useful to adopt Lewin's planned change process to analyse Adeshina Adeleke and company's change management process.
To kickstart the freezing stage the leadership of the firm created an awareness of the need to change, first among the management staff and later among the sales teams. Performance results for three months were discussed and analysed at management meeting.

Management as a whole was made to understand the emerging pattern and be sensitised on the need for a turn around. Subsequently a management staff was mandated to meet the sales teams and middle level managers to educate them on the firm's predicament and the need to develop a sense of urgency for change.

Once a consensus was built on the urgency of the need for change, a management and staff committee was constituted to look in depth at the firm's predicament with a view to proffering solutions. The committee's recommendation include the following:

• Wider consultations with the rank and file so as to sell the change to the majority of staff especially the influential ones who are capable of building a coalition to resist the change. It is important that such groups be made to collaborate in the change process.

• Sales team members be sent on training to acquire further skills in marketing especially on selling during economic down turn.

• Abuja branch manager be replaced with Porthacourt branch manager who has been making waves in Porthacourt.

• A third of the sales team members be made to work on commission basis to reduce the overhead especially during transition period.

• That networking and cold calls should take a paramount place ahead of media campaign

• That our media campaign should be sustained.

• That an interventionist or a change agent should be allowed to lead the change.

Report of the committee was adopted and an HR practitioner was appointed to lead the change. Suffice it to say that we are still in the changing stage of the project. Sales staff are in and out of training both out and in-plant. Consultation is on going concerning those to be converted into commission based staffs.

A committee is looking into our business process and value chain activities with a view to eliminating non productive activities. Contributions of strategic business units are also being looked into so that decisions could be taken on their relevances.

Performances of members of our strategic group are being studied with curiosity. Our IT department is looking into the possibility of massive deployment of Ecommerce solutions for increased performance.

CONCLUSION

The firm is yet to get into the refreezing stage, rather it is still in transition. Time will tell whether those measures are worth the hassles and whether new knowledge will result.

I am of the opinion that the change project gives opportunity to mine data from all aspects and elements of the firm further analysis and decision making. It does appear the change project is slanted toward financials than the human element that ultimately make the change happen.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Armstrong, M., (2006) A Handbook Of Human Resource Management Practice, 10th Ed, Kogan Page. London.

2. Bandura, A, (1986) Social Boundaries of Thought And Action, Prentice- Hall, Eaglewood Cliff, NJ. In Armstrong, M., (2006) A Handbook Of Human Resource Management Practice, 10th Ed, Kogan Page. London.

3. Beckhard, R,. (1969) Organization Development: Strategy and Models, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.

4. Lewin, K (1951) Field Theory in Social Science, Harper & Row, New York. In Armstrong, M., (2006) A Handbook Of Human Resource Management Practice, 10th Ed, Kogan Page. London

5. Pantea, M.I.I.V.V (n.d) "Managing Change In Organizations. Aard University, Arad, Romania.

6. Quinn, J.B, (1980) "Managing Strategic Change", Sloane Management Review, 11(4/5), pp 3-30. In Armstrong, M., (2006) A Handbook Of Human Resource Management Practice, 10th Ed, Kogan Page. London

7. Thurley, K (1979) Supervision: A reappraisal, Heinemann, London. In Armstrong, M., (2006) A Handbook Of Human Resource Management Practice, 10th Ed, Kogan Page. London.

8. Vecchio, R.P (2006). Organizational Behaviour: Core Concepts. 6th Ed, Thomson South- Western

Implementation of Change Management

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What Is Change Management?

Organisational change is something many of us will experience in our careers, often more than once, yet many managers find themselves tasked with managing business continuity whilst change is taking place, yet have received little change management training or have little experience in managing change. This may sound familiar.

Leading and managing change in an organisation is critical if the change is to be achieved within timescales, budget and with a committed and engaged workforce. Often change programmes confuse and distract people from their everyday work; productivity becomes affected with uncertainty regarding the future becoming the preoccupation of many.

\"change Management\"

Good training for managers is essential. Senior managers must be able to communicate the strategic vision clearly, be able to explain the purpose and gain the commitment of middle managers quickly. Middle managers are often the key to successful change programmes, they face more questions from their colleagues and team members and are under mixed pressures of implementation, dealing with their own uncertainties and emotions, finding solutions to unexpected problems during changes and acting as a conduit between those they manage and those they report to.

Investment in change management training to create leaders with more tools in their managerial and leadership toolbox, goes a long way to improve the quality of the experience many have when going through change in the workplace.

Good change management training should ensure that delegates develop
• A comprehensive understanding of change management strategy
• Be aware of the principles of successful change programmes
• Have knowledge of models of change management
• Strategic vision
• Tactical panning for improved implementation of change
• An exploration of Emotional Intelligence EI and be able to put it into practice
• Increased self awareness of how they cope and deal with change
• Coaching skills for use in the workplace
• Advanced communication skills of effective leadership

The provision of coaching for managers in organisations that are involved in change has long been recognised as being beneficial. All to often a main source of tension and stress for the manager lies in the fact that they feel unable or unwilling to discuss their thoughts and feelings with others whilst coping with the change they have been tasked to manage.

External coaching goes a long way to both relieving that stress and tension. The coachee having the opportunity to verbalise thoughts & feelings, explore and develop strategies, review difficult situations with a coach that is separate from the organisation, in a safe confidential and non judgemental environment.

What Is Change Management?

http://www.revealsolutions.co.uk/business-solutions.asp

Mark Deacon

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Why Do You Need Organisational Change Management?

Deciding to choose the method of organisational change management for the change process within your business comes with many benefits. Organisational change management uses the type of structure that prevents resistance, and, therefore, prevents failure of the project itself. All too often business implement change without any type of plan or communication to the parties affected by the change. This, in turn, is the major cause of a project lacking in the significant factors needed for success.

What Causes the Project to Fail

\"change Management\"

Several things have to be in place for organisational change management to work. many projects fail when certain things do not line up. Some of the major reasons for failure include lack of communication, inexperience and complexity, technical issues, management problems, and lack of definitive objectives. When change is not communicated to all parties affected by the change, resistance becomes a huge problem. When you have employees who are not willing participants, the main thing to suffer is the business itself. Organisational change management can create a structured model to outline the change process for a successful outcome.

The complexity of the project is another major cause for failure of a project. You can have everyone on board and willing to participate, but there has to be an understanding involved for the change to take place. Organisational change management can offer the understanding to be effective. The end result will be an effective project for everyone to more forward with. Many resources are available regarding organisational change management, including tools on dvd, that can help simplify the more complex projects.

Project Sponsorship

Project sponsorship usually is defined as the person who actually saw a need for change, and then took the action needed to implement the change process. With organisational change management, many people can hold the project sponsorship role collectively. A sponsorship map can be created to show who holds what role, and what is involved to participate.

When major change is at hand, many parts of the organisation will be involved in the process. Specific departments in the workplace are going to be responsible for tasks that pertain to them individually. For example, the IT department will not be responsible for changes being made in the finance department, and vice versa. Sometimes, with organisational change management, a cascade of project sponsorship is involved. This basically means that leadership will send messages to the departments involved.

The Right Change Style

The right change style is needed to implement the organisational change management process. Different types of change include collaborative, consultative, directive, and coercive change. With collaborative change, the target population is involved in the change process. Consultative change targets the population whose views are sought regarding the change. Directive change is informing the workplace about the changes and why they are needed. Last, but not least, coercive change is basically telling the workplace that change is taking place, and the new rules must be obeyed.

Organisational change management may provide various types of change styles, but defines a specific outline that is easy to follow for the future success of the company or entity involved.

Why Do You Need Organisational Change Management?

Jason R Davidson owns and operates [http://www.changemanagementstrategies.com] For more Change Management [http://www.changemanagementstrategies.com] check out our main site.

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Change Management - 4 Key Areas of Concentration

With the speed of change and the rapid pace of the advancement of technology business are required to implement a Change Management (CM) process to stay ahead of the competition. Earlier business models of business CM are outdated and do not fully address the dynamics of the current change model.

Adaptation of technology in the property planning processes is critical to push businesses forward. Responding to business evolution in the property planning world has been brought to a new level with development of BIM technology.

\"change Management\"

Planning for Change:

An effective CM system requires a plan that includes diligent identification of change potential a structured CP(Change Process) and a proficient uses of technology.

Change Process:

Areas with a high potential for change are areas that are impacted the greatest by changes in technology, changes in business objective, retail sales, industry competition etc.

Integration:

Efficient integration is a key factor in the success of a CP. Integration is expedited by effective communication. BIM enables rapid development and communication of change initiatives.

Documentation:

Effective documentation and tracking of a CM directives can be a critical part of a successful CP and can have a big impact on the cost of change.

How do we deal with CM to eliminate waste?

Is it possible to keep up with change?

CM is a fact of doing business. Change is constant in the current business environment and businesses must develop an action plan to deal with change to be competitive.

Work smarter not harder yes, but you must be nimble in the environment.

Have a plan. It will save you time and money.

Change Management - 4 Key Areas of Concentration

Paul DeVetter is a strategic business planning innovator and enthusiast with successful projects throughout the United States. Paul has developed unique planning methodologies that help businesses manage risk, implement change and integrate creativity.

If you would like to learn more about Paul's books and publications please visit his publisher's site at DG-One at http://dg-one.com/

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Change Management - Coping With Change

Change Management is one of the most common reasons why organisations from the Private or Public Sectors approach Impact Executives for interim managers, who are skilled at handling the most complex of change management programmes, sometimes across different geographies.

Change can occur for lots of different reasons, from the challenges of growth that an organisation is facing, changing global markets, changes in strategy, technological change, competitive processes including M&A, customer pressures or shifting markets.

Management

Research shows that organizations are undergoing major change on average every 3 years, whilst smaller changes are occurring almost continually, and there are certainly no signs in the current economic climate that this will alter. Whilst each change is unique, Interim Managers can introduce different models; the two frequently adopted are either Lewin and Beer or Shaw's model.

Using an interim change manager
But at the end of the day an interim manager has seen it all before and can draw on their immense change management experience, bringing with them sound programme and project management experience. They will understand how to pre-empt stakeholder concerns and possess the leadership skills to effectively communicate, facilitate and coach those resistant to change. Hand-holding those who require it to cope with change, together with all the issues surrounding re-alignment, performance management and motivation. Above all, they will remember that everyone reacts differently to change and has differing fundamental needs that have to be met. Change often involves a loss and people go through a 'loss curve' where expectations need to be managed realistically and fears need to be addressed.

Change management will often involve interim managers playing a leading role in introducing new structures and systems. Above all a seasoned Interim Manager will deliver a change management programme on time and on budget.

Change Management - Coping With Change

Impact Executives

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Change Management - 4 Steps to Effectively Manage Change

The most important ingredients to successfully manage change in an organization are: executive sponsorship, effective communication, and accountability. All of these are direct responsibilities of management. Thus, unsuccessful change initiatives are most frequently caused by poor management performance.

It's relatively easy to blame the stubborn grunt workers on the front lines for digging in their heels and resisting change. Much attention is placed on effectively dealing with their emotional response to change. While that is certainly important, it's really the managers that require much more of the focus. If they are not on board, there is no chance that the individual performers will be.

\"change Management\"

Managers have their reasons for resisting change. After all, they are people too. They are uncomfortable with change. Most are strong willed as well and are very confident that proposed changes will be either ineffective or simply won't work at all. Furthermore, there is frequently not a high degree of trust among management. Change initiatives have been unsuccessful so many times in the past, and no one has been held accountable. As a result, managers just play along, wait until the winds of change blow over, and see where the dust settles.

It's not so much the overt expression of dissatisfaction, rather, a subtle remark or reaction, an inability to articulate the reasons for the change, or simply ignoring a proposed change that can have a huge negative impact on team members and quickly torpedo an initiative. If managers throughout the organization are not engaged, they will not do what is necessary to get their direct reports engaged.

So, what is the solution?

1) Upper management needs to solicit input on the proposed change from managers and they in turn must do so from the other employees. Those that disagree with aspects of the approach should not be beaten down for expressing valid concerns. Rather, input should be considered and adjustments should be made as appropriate. Managers and individual performers must be part of the solution.

2) Upper management must make the change a priority and reflect it with their actions. We've all heard about the importance of executive sponsorship. Executives need to consistently put their money, words, and actions where their mouths are. When change is on the horizon there must be adequate resources (dollars and people) to effect the change. Too often attempts to cut corners sabotage the change from the start. For instance, tapping a manager with a full time job to project manage a large initiative in his/her spare time is a recipe for disaster. Buying everyone a copy of Who Moved My Cheese and then slinking away into the executive suite won't do the trick either.

3) Communicate, Communicate, Communicate. It is so critical. Open and honest two-way communication must occur early and often. Expectations must be clearly set. Everyone involved must be aware of the change, why it's being done, who is impacted and how, what the roles and responsibilities are, etc. The message must continually be reinforced throughout the organization by the multiple levels of management. Feedback must consistently be sought and acted upon. Measurable desired results must be spelled out at each level of the organization to include repercussions for not achieving the results.

4) Plans must be put in place (with contribution from team members) to achieve the desired results. Progress must be reported, and those involved must be held accountable for the results.

With the above in place, the majority of managers will be won over, and they in turn will do their part to gain the support of the rest of the employees. The result will be the successful implementation of change initiative number one. With each subsequent win, trust will grow, change will come easier, and the many benefits of innovation will follow.

Change Management - 4 Steps to Effectively Manage Change

Nick McCormick is a Principal with Be Good Ventures, LLC. Would you like to improve your management performance? Go to http://BeGoodVentures.com/ to download a FREE file containing 5"x7" training cards based on Nick's book Lead Well and Prosper: 15 Successful Strategies for Becoming a Good Manager. Act on some of the tips today! Be Good!

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How to Manage Change - 8 Guiding Principles From John Kotter

There are many theories about how to manage change. Many come from change management guru, John Kotter, a professor at Harvard Business School. Kotter introduced his eight-step change process in his 1995 book,"Leading Change."

Step One: Create Urgency

\"change Management\"

Kotter suggests that for change to be successful, 75% of a company's management needs to "buy into" the change. So for change to happen there needs to be a shared a sense of urgency around the need for change.

And this will result from honest and open dialogue with your people about what's happening in your market and with your competition. If many people start talking about the change you propose, the urgency can build and feed on itself.

Step Two: Form a Powerful Coalition

To successfully persuade people that change is necessary takes strong leadership and the very visible support from key people within your organisation.

This isn't just about managing change - this has to be led and you have to be seen to lead it.

To lead change, you need to bring together a coalition, or team, of influential people whose power comes from a variety of sources, including job title, status, expertise, and political importance.

You can find effective change leaders at all levels within your organisation - they don't necessarily follow the traditional company hierarchy. It is important to get an emotional commitment from these key people as you build a team to support your change initiative.

Step Three: Create a Vision for Change

You need to create a clear coherent vision that people can grasp easily and remember and that can help everyone understand why you're asking them to do something.

When people have clarity about what you're trying to achieve, and why then you stand a greater chance of communicating with them

Step Four: Communicate the Vision

How effectively and consistently you share and communicate your vision will have a big influence on the success of your change initiative.

There will be resistance and competing messages from many other sources and influences within your organization so you need to communicate it frequently and powerfully, and embed it within everything that you do.

It's also extremely important to "walk the talk." What you do is far more credible than what you say. You have to demonstrate the kind of behaviour and attitudes that you want from your people.

Step Five: Remove Obstacles

There will be resistance to change. You need to identify it early and take steps to deal with it finding and resolving the root causes.

Put in place the structure for change, and continually check for barriers to it - especially with your organisational structure, job descriptions, and performance and compensation systems - it is vital that these are in line with your vision.

Step Six: Create Short-term Wins

Success breeds success - so early wins are very motivational and very important for morale and for overcoming resistance.

You can help achieve this by setting achievable and believable short-term targets.

This is very much in line with Ken Blanchard's ideas in "The One Minute Manager" of "catching them doing something right" [and praising them for it].

Step Seven: Build on the Change

Kotter argues that many change projects fail because victory is declared too early - he teaches that real and lasting change runs deep.

This is really all about building momentum and making continuous improvement an embedded part of your culture. In practice this means keeping things fresh with new ideas and regular review of what went right with each win identifying areas for improvement.

Step Eight: Anchor the Changes in Corporate Culture

Finally, to make any change stick, it should become part of the culture of your organisation as this is the biggest determinant of how people will behave.

It's also important that your company's leaders continue to support the change. This includes existing staff and new leaders who are brought in. If you lose the support of these people, you might end up back where you started.

In my opinion there are many aspects to Kotter's 8 principles of how to manage change that resonate with, and are totally consistent with, the holistic and wide view perspective of a programme based approach to change management.

How to Manage Change - 8 Guiding Principles From John Kotter

For more on this: " John Kotter - Leading Change "

I invite you to take advantage of this FREE download: Starting the Change Process "

Find out the 3 main reasons for the 70% failure rate of all step change initiatives and how to avoid it. This FREE 29 page document offers a brief introduction to some of the key themes and key points that you need to consider in starting the change process.

Stephen Warrilow, based in Bristol, works with companies across the UK providing specialist support to directors delivery significant change initiatives. Stephen has 25 years cross sector experience with 100+ companies in mid range corporate, larger SME and corporate environments.

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Implementing Change Management in Your Business

Assessing the Need for Change

While "change management" is a popular concept and the term is thrown around a lot now days, you first need to assess whether or not a change is needed in your business. Usually we assess our business when it is in a slump, trying to figure out how to enhance or grow our customer base, or making significant changes to how we do business.

\"change Management\"

Assess your business need for change when things are going well. Look at the best practices of your competitors and compare their results with yours. Adjusting your strategy to enhance your growth or customer base is not change management.

What is Change Management

Many people think change management means one thing. They mistakenly lump the three distinct parts of change management together and then wonder why it is so hard to implement. When implementing change management, it is important that we keep each area compartmentalized to avoid unnecessary stress and aggravation for ourselves and those we are working with.

Change Management - People

This area deals with the people in our organization. How we relate to each other in our work environment and what changes we can implement to make our organization function more effectively. If you are focusing on people in your change management plan, this is not where you change processes. The changes you make, whether in reorganizing your business or department or creating more productive teams lie within the "people" portion of change management.

When implementing a change management plan it is important that all of your staff understand why the change is needed. The explanation must be detailed enough to encourage a personal investment on the part of your staff for the success of the change. If staff do not feel a real need for change, or have not made a commitment to it's implementation it will not only take longer to make the change, but also the change will not be long term and sustainable.

One of the mistakes that we, as leaders make, is to assume that because we can see the picture clearly, everyone else can too. It is important to take a step back and think about the "pieces" of the picture that our staff are seeing and what they are not seeing. In order to implement change, everyone must see and understand the same picture and have the same understanding of how it will benefit them.

People will respond with enthusiasm if they see a benefit to themselves or their work environment, if they understand the need for a change and if they are included in the change process. Too often decisions to implement change are made without the involvement of the staff who will be most affected. This is the primary reason that those efforts fail. There must be buy-in from a majority of the staff to effectively implement change. Especially change that is going to involve people and how they interact and communicate with each other.

Change Management - Processes

This area deals with the way things are done in our organization. How we process the paper, and what we do with it. This is where forms and processes are analyzed and changes are made to meet the needs of our growing business.

Not everyone in our business deals with the same processes. As much as we would like uniformity, what makes our business unique is the way that our staff interacts with customers or meets other needs with quality and precision. If we are going to assess and change processes, it is important that the process needs changing. Sometimes it is not the process but the people who need to change, but because we have lumped change management into one big ball we wind up trying to make changes to perfectly acceptable processes or change people when the process needs to be changed. No one knows better about the need to change a process than the people who are actually using them day-to-day. It is important that we discuss with our staff the possibility of changing a process and involve them in the implementation of the change. Changing a process, like changing people, requires commitment and buy-in on the part of those who will be required to use the changed process on a daily basis.

As it's name implies, this area deals with our equipment and software. Changing or adapting to meet our needs, getting rid of the old stuff and figuring our what we need to add to our arsenal of tools. It is important to note that this aspect of change management does not involve changing "people" rather, it is changing tools. It is our nature to use equipment until it wears out. This can be very costly to our business and also can cause a lot of problems when we do finally make a change.

Change Management - Equipment

One of my associates has owned their business for over 20 years, when they began the business, they had a program created in a state-of-the-art program and hired an individual to work on this program. I might add that it is a major piece of what makes this business profitable. Now, twenty years later, there is one person in the company who knows how to use this software. It is so outdated that it cannot be upgraded, but must be completely re-input to a different software program which will involve several weeks. Even if he wanted to implement change, he is unable to do so because he is stuck in the software and the one person who knows how to use it. It is very costly if you do not keep up with the changing market of available equipment. In the end, this is going to be extremely costly to the business and will result in their having to shut their doors for several weeks to get the information transferred to an updated program.

Equipment is one portion of change management that should be addressed continuously. It is the most critical piece of your business and will cost an incredible amount of money if not tended to regularly.

Implementing Change Management

When you decide to implement change, be sure to categorize the changes you want to make first. Once you have a visual of where the changes need to take place, it will be much easier to research and discuss the changes with the stakeholders who will be most affected by the changes.

If you are going to change people, remember that anyone affected by the change is a stakeholder. Don't wait to tell the staff about a change after the decision has been made that will affect them in an adverse way. Get buy-in and personal investment from all staff by first sharing the benefits of the change and gathering data to support the change. You win in two ways by doing this. The people who do not feel they can commit to the change will leave and thus will not sabotage the change before it can get off the ground. And the people who do make a personal investment will be excited about the change and drive it with the enthusiasm needed to make the change successful and sustainable.

If you are going to change processes, remember to include all stakeholders. In other words, include everyone who will be involved in making the new or changed process work. Whether you have to have representatives from groups or your business size is such that you can discuss the changes with each individual, be sure that you do discuss the change and get a verbal commitment from each person to help in driving the process change. This will save you a lot of time on the backend and will instill the kind of loyalty that you need from a high quality staff.

You staff will always appreciate updated equipment and software that will make their lives easier. The only caveat is that you will need to include in your software or equipment purchase, training for those staff who will be using the software. Don't get the equipment or software and assume that the staff will know how to use it. If someone on your staff does, great, you won't have to pay an outside person to train everyone else. But you need to be prepared to make the investment for training of your staff on the new equipment. This cost should be included in your yearly budget. It is not a one-time cost and definitely does not end. So you must be prepared and be vigilant of the changes in the industry related to your business and processes.

As long as you do not lump all three of these pieces of change management together, you will find that you can effectively implement change in all three areas with minimal disruption. It is important also that you think about the big picture your staff see as opposed to your own big picture vision. If these big pictures do not match, the key to successful implementation of change management is to create a big picture that both you and your staff share.

Implementing Change Management in Your Business

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