Everything changes. It?s inevitable and frustrating. But change can be good for you personally and for the organization. How you manage the change is what?s important. There are 3 important things to remember about change in the organization.
- People change their behaviors when they have a reason.
- Organizational change requires individuals to be engaged and to do their jobs differently.
- The success of organizational change depends upon individuals choosing to change, their capacity limitations and their capability constraints.
So keeping these 3 things in mind, here are three tips for managing change.
Reason to Change
Don?t keep secrets. There are so many changes coming at us every day that it can become overwhelming. We call that ?change saturation.? And because there are so many changes, resistance from employees is the norm not the exception. People need to understand the reasons why they are being asked to change in order to make sense of it all.
To help reduce resistance, involve people in the planning process as soon as you can. It?s common for the management team to make the decision to implement a change and simply pass down the decision. Managers forget the process they have gone through to arrive at the decision and don?t understand why people don?t just jump on board.
The more your employees understand why the change is necessary, the easier it is for them to accept the change and respond positively.
Encourage Engagement
It?s important to develop a passion and energy for the change that is coming to successfully implement a change. Managing change in an organization should not be just about mitigating risk and the negativity associated with a change. Managing change means helping employees become engaged and excited about the vision and future the change represents.
Employees are being asked to adopt new values, skills and behaviors so that the organization can achieve its desired outcomes. This can increase their fear and anxiety and fuel their resistance. Communicating the vision and what it will mean to the future of the organization is important, but communicating what it will mean to each individual is crucial.
Develop coaching and training plans early in the change management cycle and share those plans with your employees. The more employees understand the vision and how you will be supporting them with the change, the easier it will be to develop passion and energy for the change.
Change Capacity and Capability
Just because you have implemented a change doesn?t mean that employees will comply. In any change situation you will have employees who will never embrace the change, others who will create work-arounds so they don?t have to do the new process, and others who will opt-out completely. On the other hand, you will also have people who will quickly embrace the change and others who will take some time to adjust but will eventually embrace the change.
It?s important as part of the change process to identify the capacity of your employees to change. Do they have the time and resources to implement the change in their role? Do they have the capability to change? By that I mean do they have the skills and abilities or can develop the skills and abilities needed to implement the new processes in their job.
As change occurs, people can become unable to perform because they don?t have the temperament or training to be successful. It?s up to you to know their capability and capacity and to provide support during and after the implementation.
Many companies implement change and don?t consider the human aspects of the change. Without taking into account the abilities, desires and capabilities of your employees, you cannot be successful in implementing a change in your organization.
If you are looking for ideas for ways to support your change initiatives, pick up a copy of my latest book, 125 Wow Change Cards, Tools For Leaders During Change, available from Amazon. Click here for more information.
