The Key To Change Management

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Change is an important thing for a business to succeed. New competitors, technology, and regulations will cause a need for change. Change management is the process of change within a company.

In this article, we will go over what change management is, how to manage change effectively, and provide reasons why change fails within an organization.

Key Takeaways:

• Change management is the management of change and development within an organization, either in an internal or external process.

• Change can be in the form of adaptive, transformational, unplanned, or individual change.

• The first step in managing change is to plan and define the change by creating strategic goals, performance indicators, and who will be on the project team.

• Make sure that your change management plan is flexible because not being flexible causes the plan to fail.

What Is Change Management?

Change management is the management of change and development within a business or organization. Change management is how an organization implements change in its internal and external processes. This can include things like supporting teams, establishing the steps needed for the change, and monitoring these changes after it happens.

Change can come in the form of:

• Adaptive change. This type of change is on a smaller scale. This will be how the company changes with its processes or how they evolve with products. Examples of adaptive change could be hiring a new staff member or changing a work-from-home policy.

• Transformational change. This type of change will be on a large scale. This can be a departure from the status quo and a change that changes the company overall. Examples of transformational change include launching a new product or expanding to a new store.

• Unplanned change. This type of change is exactly what it sounds like. It is unplanned and often unexpected. This type of change doesn’t always have to be negative. Examples of this type of change could be a breach of data which results in new security and company policies.

• Individual change. This type of change will be specific to the individuals on your team. This could be a change to help them grow in their career, or it could be a change to their own goals.

How to Manage Change Effectively

1. Plan and define the plan for change. The first step in managing change is to plan and define it. The plan should include:

   • Strategic goals. These should be the goals that the organization will work toward. What do you want your company to achieve?

   • Performance indicators. This will be how the success of the company and employees will be measured.

   • Project team. Who will be in charge of the change, and who will be on this team? You should also include what the team should do to achieve the change successfully.

2. Prepare the organization for change. For the change to be successful, you should first make sure that the company is ready for the change. This could be making sure employees see and understand the need for the change.

   Making sure that they are aware of the change will help make the transition easier on employees and eliminate any possibility of resistance once the change takes place.

3. Establish change leaders. You should already have an idea of who you want to be leading the change. This is where you will assign them to the task and ensure that they have the resources necessary to implement change. Your leaders should be a variety of employees from different departments to ensure the change is handled smoothly.

4. Implement the change in phases. Change won’t happen overnight, especially if the change is on a large scale. Implementing phases in the change management process can keep your employees from being overwhelmed and help ensure that the change is successful.

   Using phases in your change strategy will also help you determine if there is anything that needs to change down the road. This could be fixing any bugs in new software or making changes to a new policy. This will also help ensure that all your employees are on the same page with the changes.

5. Address Resistance. This stage should be for answering any questions and doubts about the change. Most of these questions should have been answered while you were preparing the company for the change.

   Any resistance may come from those employees who did not want change to occur in the first place. You should help these employees with the change by offering a variety of training methods to help them adapt.

6. Ask for feedback. Allow your team to give you feedback once the management plan has taken effect. This is a great way to make any minor changes or fix any problems that may have occurred. Allowing for feedback will also help make your employees feel heard and like they are valued by the company.

Why Change Management Fails

Change management can be difficult to achieve, even if you have everything planned. Here are some of the most common reasons why change management fails.

1. Starting with an incomplete strategy. Oftentimes the only thing that is established is what the change is and why it is needed. This won’t make for an effective change management plan and will cause issues down the road.

   Be sure to come up with a comprehensive change management plan before any change takes place. This will help you think of any issues that may arise later down the road. It will also help you answer any questions your employees may have about the change.

2. Not having a flexible strategy. It’s impossible to know everything that may happen when creating a plan for change. Not being flexible in your strategy can cause even the best plans to halt. Flexibility is important in any plan, especially ones that are transformational changes.

3. Poor communication. Communication is the key to being successful in any aspect of a business. Especially when change is happening, poor communication from managers and leaders will cause the plan to fail before it even has a chance to start. To help with communication, make sure that leaders are clear and consistent with every step.

4. Failing to identify and address resistance. Ignoring any resistance from employees will show them that their opinions may matter and will cause a lack of trust in the management team. Be sure to be engaged and listen for feedback every step of the way.

5. Setting unrealistic expectations. Unrealistic expectations will be the downfall of even the best and most well-thought-out plans. Unrealistic expectations can cause employees to become burnt out and cause the change management plan to fail.

   Be sure to take into account your employee’s abilities when creating a change management plan. Create short and long-term goals that are well-paced to be achievable.

6. Not celebrating wins. Employees will lose their enthusiasm if they see or feel as if they have made progress. Don’t wait until the end of your plan to celebrate its success.

   Make sure that you celebrate all of the goals that you reach, even if they are small goals. This will help keep your employees focused on the end goal and keep them enthusiastic all the way.

Change Management FAQ

1. What does change management mean?

   Change management is the approach to change and development within a business or organization. This will be how a company will move forward with its internal and external processes. Change management can happen through adaptive, transformational, unplanned, and personal change.

2. What are two models of change management?

   Two models of change management include:

   • Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA). This model will be a four-step guide to help you evaluate the outcome, improve it and test it again. This model involves:

     • Plan – Recognize what needs to change and make a plan.

     • Do – Test your idea on a small scale.

     • Study – Analyze your results to determine what worked and what didn’t.

     • Act – Take action based on what the results are.

   • Kaizen Change Management Model. This is a popular change model. This model is a continuous process instead of a one-time transition. The principles of this model are:

     • Let go of assumptions.

     • Be proactive about problem-solving.

     • Reject the status quo.

     • Let go of perfectionism and embrace iterative, adaptive change.

     • Look for solutions as you discover mistakes.

     • Create an environment that empowers everyone to contribute.

     • Instead of accepting the obvious explanation, ask “why” five times to get to the root cause.

     • Gather information and opinions from multiple people.

     • Find low-cost, small improvements.

     • Never stop improving.

3. Why is change important?

   Change in a company is important because it allows for the business to move forward and grow. Change allows employees to develop new skills and grow in their careers. Change allows for the company to become a better business, and it can help improve the morale of the staff.

References

1. Harvard Business School Online – Critical Steps in the Change Management Process

2. Harvard Division of Continuing Education – Reasons Why Change Management Strategies Fail and How to Avoid Them

Author

Taylor Berman

Taylor is a freelance writer from Pennsylvania. Taylor got into writing because she enjoys writing articles that help people and loves creating stories that inspire. She earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and public relations with an interest in communications media from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.