Change Management - Managing Organizational Change

Changes within your businesses are unavoidable, and often times necessary for successfully sustaining longevity of your venture. While change might often be viewed as a negative, you’ll find that it becomes a requirement in order to stay ahead of your competitors in the market. Hence, figuring out the best possible steps needed to manage such change is just as important a part of your business as is planning everything else.

Organizational Change – What does it mean?

In the rapidly changing world of today, change management is often a topic of discussion. Keeping up with consumer demands, competition, and stakeholder obligations requires a rather fluid approach. Changing business strategies and processes to meet evolving technological advancements and changing policies is also a factor to consider. That said, organizational change involves altering key components of a businesses operational strategies to meet the above requirements. Such changes can include a number of things, ranging from changing key technologies to organization structure. Sometimes these changes can also involve reassessing company goals and objectives. Managing such changes require heavy planning and thinking and is a very important step for securing the company.

Types of organization changes

Whether you’re transitioning to new technologies to keep up with modern day demand, or just creating a plan to future-proof your business, changes can be classified in a few different ways:

·??????Strategic – Deviating from a company’s original mission could be a risky move, but with the right insights and mindset, can be an excellent strategy for future-proofing the company. Strategic changes often involve altering the company’s current goals or diversifying into new ventures.

·??????Structural – Strategic changes require re-structuring to accommodate new changes. Structural changes are often necessary even without major changes to the company’s vision.

·??????Personnel – Very often, issues or organizational changes may require personnel changes as well. From hiring new blood to serious layoffs to re-structing internal hierarchies, personnel can have many forms, and is often a result of strategic changes within the company itself. It is something that accompanies other kinds of changes and should be kept in mind.

·??????Remedial – Sometimes, a company requires major changes to cope with and address major issues. From poor performance to serious issues faced by the company, drastic changes may be required to fix them.

Strategies for managing organizational changes

Just like how the business itself is managed, managing organizational changes require planning and preparation. Here are some tips and strategies to keep in mind for effectively managing any changes in the workplace:

1.???Understand why you are doing it

Creating a strategy for making organizational changes require a lot of planning and preparation. It is important that you understand the current state of your company and what the change aims to bring to the company before going forward with the process. This will help you prepare both the company and your employees and will allow you to implement the changes effectively so as to reach the goal you’re aiming for.

2.???Communicate effectively

It is absolutely pertinent that your employees are well informed about the changes taking place before you put in into motion. Not only can major changes be worrying, unaware employees can hinder the process due to poor communication. It is hence important that all key points regarding the change is communicated with your employees well in advance. This involves updating them along the process and making all news and important documents readily available to your employees when needed. Good communication is also how you can appease company stakeholders.

3.???Implement a proper support structure

A company undergoing changes can be stressful and worrying for employees. Being open to letting employees communicate their grievances and answer any questions will be an important task during this process. In the case of layoffs, you should ensure that there is an effective support structure in place so that there aren’t any objections.

4.???Be prepared to provide additional training

Organization changes can include internal restructuring and hiring new employees. In order to accommodate changes in the workforce, you should be prepared to provide additional training programs, as well as communicate whether there is a need for additional training as well.

5.???Prepare for roadblocks

Regardless of how thorough your preparations are, unexpected roadblocks can hinder the change process greatly. Hence, you have to be prepared for any potential scenario that may end up impeding your progress. This includes internal resistance to change which comes natural to the process of change. Communicating with employees and creating feedback loops are a good way to ensure smooth operation of your company.

6.???Be an active leader

An active leader can see through the change process very effectively. If you yourself aren’t comfortable leading the process, give the task to a manager who you know can effectively lead your company through the change. Good and active leaders can not only see the change process through, they can also keep employees motivated and can identify those that are actively enabling the change process.

7.???Keep track of the data

From workforce analytics to business analytics, data and understanding it effectively is necessary in today’s world. Keep track of your metrics and KPIs. This will allow you to adapt and make necessary changes to your strategy when needed. These processes can also be automated for effective management.

To conclude

Organizational change is natural in an ever-changing world. Making smart choices, and communicating with your employees and stakeholder are two of the most important points to keep in mind when deciding to make any major changes. If you think you’re not prepared then learn what you need. Making changes effectively requires good leadership and management skill, and everyone might not be cut out to do it. That doesn’t mean these skills cannot be acquired though. Moreover, proper planning and preparing for all possible scenarios is also necessary for a successful transition.?