Basics of Change Management Part 2

Change is inevitable, like it or not...

An organization’s culture must be made willing to accept change, and also learn to not only embrace change but thrive on change as well. Part of the “forgotten strategy” in an organization is how to thrive on diversity rather than fight or change diversity. As I see it, the same type of thinking applies with regards to change management.

The elements which comprise a successful change program to achieve buy-in form the lower levels all the way to the top, is through leadership by example, with clear-cut goals and objectives, strategic planning via vision and mission statements and objectives.

Clearly communicating these things to every part of the organization is also a must. I say this because experience has shown me that anytime change is occurring in an organization, people must know why it’s occurring.

What helps embrace change

Hopefully, if the rationale makes sense, the change will then be embraced. If change is not successfully embraced, then resistance and poor morale, two large change management obstacles in an organizations’ culture, will largely disrupt new initiatives.

Communicating change can be successful if leadership commits to doing so positively. The company should supplement change by ensuring employees are continuously steered in the direction of change, so it becomes a culturally accepted reality, not just initial hype.

This also involves cautiously approaching change, as well as staying within one’s area of expertise and not trying to do something that is way out of the league of one’s core business, mainly due to the reality that the market will simply have trouble associating how one company could change their main products and offer other products unlike what they currently have a reputation to supply.

Change takes time, and definitely must be managed right. Hopefully this has helped to better understand it and provided some ideas for a more successful change management strategy for your organization.

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Basics of Change Management Part 1

Defining Change Management

Change management is about being prepared for change in an organization in such a way as to embrace it, and then thrive on it. We often hear the expression, “change is the only constant”, and I believe this is largely true.

In the business environment, we can learn a lot about Change Management. It involves a few things such as paying attention to market indicators and opportunities, embracing change, providing leadership from the top down, communicating and setting clear objectives, as well as staying within the scope of what their reputation as a company is known for.

Preparing for change using change management

First, a company needs to pay attention to key market indicators that reveal where things are headed, and not close its mind to them. In other words, a company must be willing to adopt a cautious approach within change, but be willing to change, rather than resist it.

This calls for a corporate philosophy of change management, which stresses the need to be adaptable and flexible, or what others have called “ambidextrous”

In line with such a new way of conducting business, the BOD (board of directors) should hire the right leadership that’s willing to smartly embrace change and gracefully overcome any resistance.

Once the right leadership is in place, then the first point about creating an “ambidextrous organization” can be carried out. This requires strong leadership from the top down

This also requires buy-in form the bottom up, which leads me to my next point in part 2 of Basics of Change Management. Stay tuned...

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