4. 31
5. 26
Managing organisational change is no easy task. Yet, it is often
not an option in today's highly competitive and ever-changing world.
What do you need to know to become good at it? Here are a few
suggestions.
1. Establish a clear purpose - organisational change must be grounded on a clear purpose. Your purpose is the real reason why your organisation must change. This purpose must have substance - it must be an appropriate response to an actual or impending environmental pressure. If change is perceived by stakeholders to merely be a fad, or worse still, an effort to further someone's career, there is likely to be little 'buy in', and the change could end up doing serious damage to the organisation.
2. Define clear goals - when managing change it is imperative to have clear, realistic, and achievable goals. From the outset you need to have a good idea of what you are trying to achieve and where you want to end up. You need to establish goals that you can measure so you can judge your progress. For example, you can measure your progress against a goal like, "We want to increase sales by 20% over the next 6 months". It is easy to tell whether you succeed in achieving a measurable goal like that. Avoid difficult to measure goals like, "We want to have a happy team in 6 months". This may be a good aspiration, but it is more difficult to tell whether you achieve it.
3. Let your purpose determine your methods - how you should go about managing change depends on what your purpose is and what you're trying to achieve. There is no one best approach for all change plans. For example, if you're trying to increase sales, you will need to do different things than you would if you were trying to change some element of organisational culture. You methodology should always be appropriate for your purpose.
4. Use your strengths - change is always easier if you use the strengths available within your organisation. These strengths may come in the form of previous experience, particular job skills, and most importantly, change readiness. The fact is, some people find change easier than others - it sits more comfortably with them and they are able to handle it better. They may be very adaptable people, able to take on new challenges with relative ease. These change readiness strengths are a key resource that can be drawn upon to help your change management plan succeed. Be aware, though, that change readiness strengths are not always obvious - people may have them, but for various reasons keep them hidden.
5. Pay attention to the variables - organisational change is often highly complex, meaning there are many variables that come into play and these are affected by large or small changes made somewhere else. Fixing something in one place is only 'a good idea' if it doesn't cause other problems somewhere else in the organisation. The challenge comes when there are so many variables that you can't identify them all, and you can't tell how they will affect, and be affected by, some change. Sorting this out requires thoughtful analysis and careful planning.
6. Overcome resistance - unfortunately, overcoming resistance forms a necessary part of managing change. People resist for all sorts of reasons, and their resistance is potentially deadly for your change plans. It is often not easy to overcome, and requires a multi-faceted approach that influences how management approaches the change and how the staff approach the change. Building the change readiness of your organisation makes resistance less of an issue in the long run and ensures future change is easier to manage.
7. Monitor progress and adapt - Once you have begun following your change management plan, you should regularly monitor your progress and be ready to adapt as necessary. It is important that you don't become 'fixed' in your approach - remember that you may not have foreseen all the variables at the outset, so you may well need to adapt your approach 'on the fly'.
With a well-designed change management plan, managing change becomes less difficult. It's like having a good insurance policy - it doesn't guarantee you won't run into problems, but when you do run into problems, you'll be glad to have a good change management plan.
1. Establish a clear purpose - organisational change must be grounded on a clear purpose. Your purpose is the real reason why your organisation must change. This purpose must have substance - it must be an appropriate response to an actual or impending environmental pressure. If change is perceived by stakeholders to merely be a fad, or worse still, an effort to further someone's career, there is likely to be little 'buy in', and the change could end up doing serious damage to the organisation.
2. Define clear goals - when managing change it is imperative to have clear, realistic, and achievable goals. From the outset you need to have a good idea of what you are trying to achieve and where you want to end up. You need to establish goals that you can measure so you can judge your progress. For example, you can measure your progress against a goal like, "We want to increase sales by 20% over the next 6 months". It is easy to tell whether you succeed in achieving a measurable goal like that. Avoid difficult to measure goals like, "We want to have a happy team in 6 months". This may be a good aspiration, but it is more difficult to tell whether you achieve it.
3. Let your purpose determine your methods - how you should go about managing change depends on what your purpose is and what you're trying to achieve. There is no one best approach for all change plans. For example, if you're trying to increase sales, you will need to do different things than you would if you were trying to change some element of organisational culture. You methodology should always be appropriate for your purpose.
4. Use your strengths - change is always easier if you use the strengths available within your organisation. These strengths may come in the form of previous experience, particular job skills, and most importantly, change readiness. The fact is, some people find change easier than others - it sits more comfortably with them and they are able to handle it better. They may be very adaptable people, able to take on new challenges with relative ease. These change readiness strengths are a key resource that can be drawn upon to help your change management plan succeed. Be aware, though, that change readiness strengths are not always obvious - people may have them, but for various reasons keep them hidden.
5. Pay attention to the variables - organisational change is often highly complex, meaning there are many variables that come into play and these are affected by large or small changes made somewhere else. Fixing something in one place is only 'a good idea' if it doesn't cause other problems somewhere else in the organisation. The challenge comes when there are so many variables that you can't identify them all, and you can't tell how they will affect, and be affected by, some change. Sorting this out requires thoughtful analysis and careful planning.
6. Overcome resistance - unfortunately, overcoming resistance forms a necessary part of managing change. People resist for all sorts of reasons, and their resistance is potentially deadly for your change plans. It is often not easy to overcome, and requires a multi-faceted approach that influences how management approaches the change and how the staff approach the change. Building the change readiness of your organisation makes resistance less of an issue in the long run and ensures future change is easier to manage.
7. Monitor progress and adapt - Once you have begun following your change management plan, you should regularly monitor your progress and be ready to adapt as necessary. It is important that you don't become 'fixed' in your approach - remember that you may not have foreseen all the variables at the outset, so you may well need to adapt your approach 'on the fly'.
With a well-designed change management plan, managing change becomes less difficult. It's like having a good insurance policy - it doesn't guarantee you won't run into problems, but when you do run into problems, you'll be glad to have a good change management plan.
Steve Barlow PhD is a change management and organizational
development consultant and change readiness specialist. Steve is
Director of Redequip Pty Ltd.
For more information, visit our company website at http://www.redequip.com.au, or email me today to see how we can save you time and money.
Steve Barlow steve@redequip.com.au Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7210815
For more information, visit our company website at http://www.redequip.com.au, or email me today to see how we can save you time and money.
Steve Barlow steve@redequip.com.au Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7210815