Change is the only constant in the world and is considered the universal condition of man. This also applies to business organizations. Businesses must evolve and adapt to various challenges, such as a change in technology, new competitors, new laws and regulations and economic trends. Failure to implement the change leads to business stagnation. There are certain steps you need to follow to successfully implement a change management process.
There are different approaches on how to change and what to change from an organizational perspective. Nearly 50% of organizational changes are unproductive due to improper planning and coordination. Executing the change process is one of the most valuable skills business managers must acquire.
In this blogpost, we’ll explore some fundamental aspects of change management and look at the key strategies involved in executing it correctly.
What is change management?
The concept of change management includes all the essential types of processes planned and executed for successful organizational change. These changes range from internal processes, corporate culture, corporate hierarchy, budget allocations and other essential aspects of a project.
Change management is not only applicable to projects and organizations, but also to people. You prepare your team to adapt to changes. Change management involves a structured methodology that can control your project, which then leads to organizational success. Only a competent leader can drive the change process.
Change is an inevitable fact that every team or project must plan for. It is essential to understand a clear definition of change management in order to best respond to the change. You and your team must identify the need for change and what it entails. During the change management process, the organization should support the employees throughout the process and the productivity of the organization should not be affected.
Organizational change management can be categorized as stated below:
Adaptive Change – Adaptive changes are iterative and gradual changes that the organization makes to implement its processes, products and strategies.
Transformational Change – Transformational changes are implemented on a larger scale.
Now that you know what change management is, let’s explore the steps involved in the change management process.
Change management process
The business objectives, environment and culture created within the organization are some of the factors that make the change management process unique. The steps in the process, the technical details and the people you work with differ per organization, but the basic principles remain the same.
Here are some steps that will lead to successful implementation of organizational changes:
1. objective
Having clearly defined goals or objectives will help you know if you have achieved them. Make sure your change-related objective is aligned with the business objectives.
2. Plan for a change
For successful change implementation, the organization must be logistically and culturally prepared. Map the entire change process with definable steps, objectives, measurements, analyzes and incentives.
When the organization is ready for change, management must develop a realistic plan to implement the change. The plan should include the following details:
• Strategic goals
• Project stakeholders
• Project size
• KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)
The change management plan must overcome any obstacles that may arise during the process.
3. the change plan
When creating a change management plan, you follow the defined steps, such as changes to the structure, processes, systems, strategy and other essential aspects of the organization. During the process, change managers must take all essential actions to enable their teams to take the right steps to achieve the goals.
4. Create a communication plan
Once the change has been approved by the decision makers, it is essential to develop a reliable communication platform. Clear communication allows upper management to hear regular updates, and the team involved in the change process feels like management is listening to their feedback and concerns.
5. Clear communication
Communication has a profound effect on the entire process and makes it more transparent and digestible, and also makes it clear to everyone involved what their role is in the overall picture and what they will ultimately gain from it.
6. Detect obstacles and remove them
Barriers are often expected during the change implementation process. You need to address the issues quickly to overcome unforeseen problems. Don’t ignore these obstacles as they can hinder the change process. Here are a few ways to overcome the blocks in the process.
• Including additional training and further training activities
• Ensure a well-planned organizational structure
• Adopt new systems to enable new techniques
• Update the job description regarding new workloads
• Consider all essential measures to remove barriers to the change process
7. Understand key performance indicators
Normally, milestones are sufficient to measure the success of the organization, but to have comprehensive data, you can use Key Performance Indicators (KPI). Change process team members must have accurate data about the situation. In this context, KPIs help to track the progress of the change and any changes in the process.
8. Adjust the change management process when necessary
If certain aspects do not meet your requirements or expectations, adjust the change process to suit your requirements. It would be better to make small changes and achieve your goals than to continue following the same plan and not implement it. As a manager, director, manager or department head, make sure that you always set an example. “Leading by example”.
9. Integrate the changes into the culture of the organization
When the changes made within the organizational culture have been implemented, you have almost achieved your goal. There is always room for improvement, and incorporating the principle of continuous improvement will help bring about further change.
The 7R’s of the change management process
When submitting a change management plan, there are a number of checklists to take into account, also known as the 7R’s of the change management process. Ask yourself the following essential questions regarding the change management process.
- Regulate
The person who identified the need for change may have some insights to initiate the organization’s change management request. A centrally located system records all essential changes made and ensures that each individual is aware of his/her responsibilities within the team.
- Reason
There are various reasons for change management requests, such as increasing capacity, minimizing security risk or increasing availability. Regardless of the reason for the change, it must be presented to the full management and board to decide whether or not to approve the request. This helps prioritize the changes.
- Return on Investment (R.O.I)
Before making any changes, it is very important to recognize the return on investment of the changes made. For example, if the return on the change request is low, the change request can be ignored and vice versa. Before considering a change request, it is essential to consider the benefit change that has been made.
- Risk
Any form of change entails risks. Some changes can be ignored/avoided with a recovery plan, while others must be accepted. When planning changes, consider the risk of not implementing the changes. Although it is difficult to predict the risks of the change processes, you can think in advance before implementing changes.
- Resources
The lack of sufficient resources leads to the rejection of change management requests. So when planning the implementation of changes, it is equally important to also consider resources. Track the people or resources needed to implement the change. When accepting the change process, consider its impact on other projects and ensure that it does not negatively impact other projects.
- Responsibility
In the change management process, having explicit knowledge of responsibilities and who should be responsible for which tasks is essential. The obligations must be actionable, traceable and enforceable.
- Relation
Many changes take place simultaneously in an organization. The relationship between the changes must be determined across and within the functional boundaries. Another way to implement “Relationship” is to maintain good relationships with everyone involved. It is extremely important to create goodwill among the board of directors, management and on the shop floor. Failure to perform this task accurately could result in longer deployment times.
Conclusion
The implementation of the change management process is obviously of great importance, because it makes the company more dependent on new working methods.
When you make mistakes and people are neglected throughout the transition, fear increases and their motivation decreases. You will then have to deal with the classic objections and reactions such as:
“Why should I worry? I have no idea what’s happening…”
“Why should I care? They clearly don’t care about us…”
“I’m not sure if I belong in the new world… I don’t know anything about it”
People can become resentful of leadership and protective of their own position within the organization. Silos can form, resulting in an “us versus them” culture – some of the more resentful individuals in this picture can end up being saboteurs. People could even become less productive and absenteeism due to illness could increase, something you want to avoid at all costs.
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