How do you handle power struggles during organizational change?

Power struggles are often the expression of fear, uncertainty and helplessness. Poorly managed change processes can easily invite this. Five simple actions to implement (knowing how) and powerful to prevent are: 1. Keep alive what the change is being made for. Remember the benefits together and review what is being achieved. 2. Clarify each person's contribution. If we know how to contribute, we don't need to look for how not to. 3. Establishes stages of evaluation and adjustments. It is important to share the road and keep them together. 4. Create valves to handle pressure, frustration, and stress. They will show up. 5. Be kind to yourself and others, it will be very valuable.

During organizational change, it's important to promote open communication, collaboration, and a shared vision. To handle power struggles during organizational change, its crucial to establish clear role and responsibilities, encourage transparency, and foster culture of trust and respect. It's also helpful to involve key stakeholders in decision making processes and provide support training to employees to navigate the changes successfully.

Definetly you cannot build from zero It has to be part of the DNA you have build before. These gives you the power you need to have.

In conclusion, effectively managing power struggles during organizational change requires a combination of strategic planning, clear communication, and a commitment to collaboration. By engaging key stakeholders, aligning leadership, and defining roles, you can minimize ambiguity and potential sources of conflict. Emphasizing empowerment, autonomy, and the benefits of the change can reduce resistance and the perception of competition. Open channels for feedback, conflict resolution, and celebrating small wins contribute to fostering a sense of unity and cooperation among employees.

I'd add that sponsorship is key for any project with ambitions of real org. change. And that...sometimes, (anti change) power wielders will have to go. Is the change otself more important than the negative consequences of loosing this particular asset? Is time on our side?

Communication of expectations, setting milestones, and showing results. Adjust the direction after the first goal has been attempt and you’ve reached it or missed the mark.

Business acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures engulf new goals and objectives, ways of doing things and most of all culture change. This is were effective change management come into play, otherwise falling into animosity within and around yourself may be the reason you'll be wanting to leave the organization. Recall the book 'Who Ate My Cheese'? I think that's a very relevant book to read while going through such circumstance.

To align goals and expectations during organizational change, it's important to have open and honest communication set clear objectives and ensure that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities. Regular communication and feedback can help keep everyone on the same page.

Power struggles often result from misalignment, which can be traced back to unclear goals and expectations. As a business owner, invest in a transparent operational process that defines each team member's role. This ensures proper recognition and addresses areas needing improvement, leaving no room for task overlap. With everyone focused on their specific tasks, there's little room for overstepping boundaries. However, if issues still persist, it may be a character problem. If so, your company's code of conduct policy should serve as a guide, reinforcing the evolving company culture. By aligning goals, clarifying expectations, and nurturing a culture of respect, power struggles can be minimized, paving the way for shared success.

I've found it good way to discuss and show how it looks like and how we feel when we have arrived on destination and goals are fulfilled.

Aligning goals and expectations when handling power struggles during organizational change involves several key steps: 1. Clarify and Communicate the Change. 2. Engage Stakeholders Actively. 3. Identify areas where the goals and expectations of different stakeholders overlap. 4. Identify influential individuals or groups who can play a role in aligning goals and expectations. 5.Recognize that during power struggles, compromises may be necessary to achieve alignment. 6. Realistically manage expectations by providing a clear timeline and roadmap for the change process. 7. Continuously monitor the progress of the change effort and provide regular feedback to stakeholders.

To me facing the real situation among people in organization is the most important issue. Understand the situation, listen to people and give as much time as needed for collaboration and questions and answers.

Cultivating trust and rapport is crucial in mitigating power struggles during organizational change. These conflicts can erode relationships and confidence among those undergoing the transition. To counter this, it's important to nurture a culture of positivity and collaboration. This entails showing empathy, expressing gratitude, actively and attentively listening, resolving conflicts in a constructive manner, and commemorating achievements and milestones. By doing so, a supportive environment is created, reducing power struggles and enhancing the change process.

Often times the human element of emotion gets lost when planning change and designing new structures, which leads to insecurity and doubt. One excellent way to avoid leaving stakeholders in positions where they feel compelled to grab tight to power is by including them on the front end. The next time you consider organizational change try polling your team about the key areas where they might see room for improvement. The result will be a win-win, you get the benefit of a variety of perspectives and they get to feel that their voice matters and is considered in outcomes that affect their livelihood, thus boosting morale.

To build trust and rapport during power struggles its essential to actively listen, show empathy, and seek to understand different perspectives. Transparency, fairness and consistent communication can also help foster and collaborate.

One thing that I feel is helpful is to have a solid foundation with teams in regards to trust. I’ve seen organizations that struggle a lot with engagement simply because the team lacks trust within their own group or within the leaders of the organizations. These are organizations that then, have a huge power struggle when it comes to implementing change.

Promote extreme ownership. At Factorial, for example, we trust our teams in an extreme way. We give ICs (Individual Contributors) complete ownership (according to their seniority) to ideate, test and do things. Without fear of failure. This creates an environment where failing isn't bad but necessary path to find success, not just as an individual, but as a team.

There are indeed multiple ways to get a task done. If you create a reflection moment every 2 weeks on what can be done better and what has be done good than this should be the basis for a permanent improvement loop. A working environment where people get the possibility to take action, to do experiments in order to get better results. Those retrospectives should be facilitated and done by the team responsible for the results, without involvement of their management. My experience is that the teams will surprise you by their improvement steps because you created a trusted environment where they can reflect and take action.

Give people time to adjust to changing situation and new goals. Give answers. Allow all viewpoints to arrive and respect them.

An effective strategy involves empowerment and engagement. To overcome this challenge, providing opportunities and resources for active involvement is essential. Delegating tasks and decisions, offering training, encouraging innovation, and recognizing efforts are key steps. Neglecting these struggles can lead to increased organizational entropy. This entropy translates to energy not producing work, resulting in organizational stagnation. In essence, unresolved conflicts drain valuable resources that could be used more productively for positive results and progress. Therefore, effectively handling power struggles is imperative to avoid this organizational energy depletion and maintain momentum towards goals.

To adapt and adjust to power struggles, it's important to be flexible, open minded and willing to compromise. Finding common ground and seeking win-win solutions can help navigate through the challenges and build positive relationships.

Change is rarely a linear process, and power struggles can resurface at different stages. Continuously monitor the situation, gather feedback, and be ready to adapt your approach as necessary. Flexibility and agility are key leadership qualities during change.

Indeed inspect and adjust is crucial for growing into a mature environment and it never ends. Change is the only constant thing and should be fun. I would recommend to do this on a 2-weekly basis. A definition of done is necessary to allow you, the team, the customer…to be able to perform the inspect and adapt cycle.

Make sure that people understand that the change will be continuous from now on. No one knows all the answers so we need to solve them together. Make sure that suggestions from people come visible and the best ideas will be launched etc.

Navigating power struggles during organizational change demands adaptability. As the change landscape evolves, unexpected challenges arise. To succeed, flexibility is key—adjust strategies, evaluate progress, and heed feedback. Embrace a learning mindset, leveraging both triumphs and missteps for growth. Managing power struggles entails a skill blend: communication, negotiation, leadership, and problem-solving. By heeding these insights, you’ll mitigate negative impacts, maximizing change’s positive outcomes.

Make change visible to all members of the community. Use different kinds of tools, channels and ways to visualize it. It is all about people in the end.

Having experienced several similar cases including personal power struggles I have to say that the only solution is to discuss, communicate even sometimes impose to yourself and your executives the value of team approach, team work and of course mutual respect and positiveness combined with persistence and consistency in whatever we try to accomplish, in every aspect, every procedure!! Bottom line the whole organization should work as one with one objective only, the absolute success of our ecosystems and the value provided to the enlarged ecosystem we serve!! All the best to everyone!

In my view, knowing how to manage time and share knowledge is the real muscle of any organization. Making smart choices about where to put our time can make or break success. Teaching this knack to others is just as crucial; it's about empowering and engaging everyone. Sometimes, power struggles pop up when people don't feel empowered or involved in changes. To fix that, we need to offer chances for people to pitch in, train them up, and give them the power to make decisions. Encouraging creativity and saying "good job" helps too!

Change takes time and patience. Practices embedded over the years cannot be changed overnight. But important to have short term milestones to ensure we are heading in the right direction. In my experience driving and managing change, some senior leaders have short memories. They might initially understand the need for drastic change in team culture etc but soon that’s forgotten. Everyone expects results quickly. So as a leader it is important to manage expectations in order to maintain senior support. Not just give a varnished version, tell the story as it is - both the good and the ugly.

Power struggles, or the inability to effectively transition to a desired objective, is a direct result of the change not being clearly and quickly articulated. Once the gaps have been identified, risk evaluated, resources needed, and focus on the capability of the team(s) has been agreed to, this will ensure the the organization is ready and committed to achieving that new goal.