Part Two - Managing Change
Part 2 - Managing Change (Part 1)
The main purpose of change management is to develop a set of processes and practices that drive change while minimizing negative impacts. Unfortunately, approximately 70% of change initiatives fail because organizations do not effectively engage change management.
Change is now happening so fast it is exceeding many individuals’ abilities to keep up with it. As a result, companies are changing structure, strategies, boundaries, expectations, and systems, thus creating a sense of uncertainty about the future.
Successful change management occurs when those leading and managing the change balance developing and delivering business outcomes while enabling people and the organizational culture to adapt emotionally. They must also mobilize influence, authority, and power in order to achieve the desired change result. The stages of change include acknowledging a new process or procedure, learning the new process or procedure (which typically means a dip in performance), and mastering the new process or procedure. During the learning phase, employees focus on their performance and commonly become self-conscious; however, once mastery is accomplished this self-consciousness disappears and the employee can concentrate on other skills. When looking at change management, one must consider the changes occurring in the outside world and those happening within the employees affected by the change.
Management can weigh both internal and external influences on their employees to effect positive change management. The five most common factors that influence an employee’s response to change include the nature of the change, the consequences of the change, the company’s organizational history, the type of employee, and the employee’s history. In addition, leaders should look at how these factors are creating change, their own personal assumptions in the given situation, and how they will need to manage their own change through the process. It is advisable for leadership to:
get involved
get informed
get to know people
deal with their feelings
actively manage their careers
identify success criteria
be positive
develop executive sponsorship coaching and alignment across leadership and stakeholders
build, grow, and mature change management practices and capabilities in the organization.
develop capable leaders and high performers to drive and support strategic change initiatives
build change resilience throughout their organization with adaptable employees
provide change practitioners to augment, drive, and prove the efficacy of their change strategy
Communicate, communicate, communicate
Ideally, these considerations will take place prior to the need for change management. Other tactics to review as leadership develops change strategies tend to fall into four key schools of thought. Those are:
The behavioral approach looks at changing behaviors through reward and punishment.
The cognitive approach looks at achieving results through positive reframing (goal-setting and coaching).
The psychodynamic approach seeks to understand the emotional and mental state of those around them and themselves when introducing change.
The humanistic psychological approach focuses on positive development, authentic relationships, and healthy organizations.
A balance can be struck between cooperation and conflict wherein growth and development are found. In leading relationally, change occurs in negotiating and dialoguing through these differences. Through everyday interactions leaders can take the conflict temperature during times of change and mitigate early conflict through not just cooperation, but negotiation, arriving at a better platform for change management. Leaders can accomplish this by using the reflexive approach to conflict that arises during change, mentioned in last month’s article. In essence, managing through change in an uncertain environment requires a preventive, proactive, and responsive approach, creating the agility needed to change with confidence.