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Change Management
The descriptive metaphor "everything is changing and management must be poised to adapt to change" says nothing about what to do next or about how to convert conflict into cooperation. Once we have achieved cooperation from those within the organization, how do we ensure commitment to delivering the leadership and services customers demand and deserve?
Few will argue change is inevitable in a progressive culture. Change is perhaps the only constant in today's managerial environment. Yet, managers and subordinates seem universally to oppose changes affecting them. If we stop and look around us at the multitude of devices and practices considered outrageous innovations at one time, we should think people would learn to welcome change. Yet, most agree resistance to change is one of the most perplexing and unchanging problems.
In today's increasingly global and competitive environment, managers must learn to recreate their organizations continually, to remake them in ways to fit today's business world and attitudes more adequately. They must constantly be aware of the current forces affecting their organization and develop techniques and skills to accomplish their mission. This can be accomplished by recognizing that past lessons are an important ingredient to future success. To accomplish these lofty ideals, it is important to shift our thinking, not just from an organizational perspective, but also from an individual perspective. It is not enough to discuss membership, empowerment, and commitment; such discussion consistently returns us to our bureaucratic roots because we fail to understand the underlying behaviors behind what we do. It is not as important operate our businesses better, faster, or cheaper; we need more to understand why we do what we do. Only then can we begin to shape a positive and sustained adaptation of the change continuum.
Many people think that change implies that you were doing it wrong before. Actually, change evidences the opposite. It indicates growth and progressiveness. Change is a new and better way of doing things - stepping stones to future success. Change is difficult for many people and the inability to adapt, to change, is a prime factor in many business failures. Much of what you have done and much of what has become comfortable to you will now be different. Sometimes, because it is new, it will be uncomfortable.
Change management is a methodology that integrates change and the ability to adapt into the organization. If you have developed a strategic plan, then you are already thinking of your organization as a system and have already decided what needs to happen to meet success. Your change management efforts continue to build systematic thought about change into every business decision enabling you to more effectively align people processes and business processes for a more thorough implementation of your strategic plan. It requires organizing knowledge about change into a repeatable, teachable framework that is constantly refined and improved. This effort allows changes to become an integral part of the way the company works and the springboard for more and constant change.
Change management is not training. It is not communication. It is not process analysis and redesign. Rather, change management is a key competency that must be built into the very fabric of the company forming a structured methodology that incorporates training, communication, listening, and process analysis and redesign. It is a way of thinking that helps organizations change effectively.
The Systems View of Change Management
Successfully managing the employee side of change is crucial to ensuring a successful project. Any significant change requires substantial alterations to individuals' daily operations. Unless these changes are managed by careful planning and monitoring, you are very likely to fail to achieve a satisfactory return on your investment.
Organizations and the people who make them up can be viewed as systems. When the organization is going along at its 'normal' pace, the system is near equilibrium, in a 'steady state.' Often, the system resists when change upsets the equilibrium. The people who make up the system depend on a 'steady state.' Routine is necessary for things to feel 'normal' and 'right.' Consequently, change is resisted. This is not surprising. We all need anchors and boundaries in our lives, including our work life. When these are removed, our stress levels increase and our morale and productivity decrease. To increase the capability of the people of the system to deal with change continuously, old anchors and boundaries have to be replaced with new ones not dependent on a particular organizational structure or a particular way of performing normal business activities.
The human issues surrounding change are, like human issues everywhere, complex and difficult to manage. That does not mean, however, that they are difficult to understand or to categorize. Understanding the human issues and being able to categorize the elements of human behavior make it possible to manage them. When the human issues of change are examined, the change elements that affect them can be categorized into a simple system of four threes. To effectively implement a change methodology, it is important to understand each of the change elements as presented in the following diagram.
Change Management Methodology
Research in change management and business process design shows that successful change can be modeled and repeated. Hampton Resources offers support in motivating the persons on whom the change will be most impacted. This support is based on Prosci's Employee Survival Guide To Change and covers the ADKAR™ model for successful change.
The Use of Consultants
According to the ProSci® Benchmarking Report (2000), more than 55% of change management teams used consultants. Although consultants played many roles, nearly 50% were considered direct facilitators or advisors and in most cases brought technical or change management expertise to the organization or project. Some of the key contributions you should look for in a consultant include:
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Subject matter expertise; a firm understanding of methodology and motivation is required for organizational reform. |
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Insightful guidance with regard to communications, planning and implementation. |
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Detailed analysis of company needs and facilitation of implementation. |
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Creativity, broad knowledge base, relevant experience and coaching. |
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Unbiased view of how the change should look. |
| You will want a consultant to have the willingness to transfer knowledge and for that knowledge to continue after the consultant has departed. To ensure a successful change effort look for common warning signals as key indicators when selecting your change consultant. They include: | |
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Bottled solutions; the resolution should be tailored to suit your specific needs. |
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Insensitivity to the corporate setting or cultural history of the organization. |
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Unwillingness to train in-house team members. |
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Pursuing personal agendas rather than that of the organization. |
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Lack of research resulting in narrow view of your organization's needs. |
| At Hampton Resources, we pride ourselves in assisting organizations in managing the change effort. We believe constant and effective communication, process involvement, and realistic goals are the key to forward movement. An approach to this challenge is in the utilization of four principles: | |
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Establish an appropriately large shared vision; |
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Delegate completely and elicit specific comments; |
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Learning as the program progresses and acknowledgement of that learning at each advance; and |
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Inspect rigorously, providing supportive feedback. |
| By adhering to these four principles, we are able to develop a model for staff enrollment; and management is armed with an effective tool to achieve the required levels of commitment and dedication to meet overall objectives |
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| We will assist you in understanding the concepts of effective change management and provide you step-by-step guides to manage sponsorship and resistance. You will receive worksheets and assessments to help you develop communication strategies, learning curriculums and incentive and reward programs. We help you to consider everything when creating a complete change management plan, including the right questions to ask so that you are prepared to manage resistance, overcome barriers and help your organization through the change process. Most importantly, your change management team will be able to utilize this process with any change effort you undertake because the skills you learn can be embedded into your organizational culture for implementation whenever you need to consider a change methodology. Through our processes, you will be able to consistently and effectively: | |
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Identify Change Events |
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ormulate Successful Change |
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Diagnose Failing Changes |
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Plan effectively for change |
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Understand why employees resist change |
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