Change Management

What is Change Management?

Change management refers to the process of guiding individuals, teams, and organisations through transitions to new, desired future states while minimising disruptions and resistance. 

A structured approach to change is critical to ensure a beneficial transition while mitigating disruptions and risks. A well structured change management plan used properly, will overcome resistance to change, update processes, and recognise the need for clear communications and alignment across all organisational levels.

Goals of Change Management

Change management aims to:

• Achieve Desired Outcomes: ensure changes align with business objectives and are successfully adopted.

• Minimise Disruption: reduce negative impact on stakeholders and day-to-day operations.

• Manage Resistance: help people accept and adapt to new processes, technologies, and strategies.

• Ensure Sustainability: contribute to the long-term success and survival of the organisation.

Lack of or improper use of change management plans will lead to low productivity and inability to overcome barriers as well as frequent staff turnover.

Change Management Best Practices

Define the Change and Assess the Risks

• Thoroughly assess risks and their potential impact on business performance.

• Requires identifying the areas most vulnerable to declines in performance, lost revenue, or process gaps.

• External risks/factors include changing standards, supply chain issues, geopolitical issues, etc.

• Effective change management heavily relies on communication and cross-functional teamwork efforts.

• Requires clearly defining the change & must include implementation plans, metrics, training needs, and clear direction on impacts to workgroups and job descriptions.

Plan for Change

• Change must be placed into a project-like framework to structure the update regarding people, process, or strategy.

• The degree of change influences the level of detail and structure of the plan.

• Leadership must engage staff in identifying what needs to change & listen to their concerns to ensure a more responsive change management approach.

• Seek to answer "What is in it for me?" as it will cultivate buy-in for different roles, teams, and departments.

• Clearly define roles within the change effort, such as the leaders who initiate the effort, managers who communicate with and encourage the workforce, to staff who incorporate new processes and tech into their day-to-day routines.

Support the Change

Organisational Culture

• Leadership commitment and organisational support are key to the success of change management.

• Successful change practices also require a culture open to change, as well as preparing people to react to change negatively.

• Allow honest feedback to flow up to leadership.

• A lack of effective change management processes, mismatched KPIs, or gaps in workflow and accountability can lead to job dissatisfaction, distrust, and loss of productivity.

Rewards

• Rewards, incentives, and recognition of staff doing the hard work must be done to maintain engagement & empower employees during the change management process.

• Opportunities for professional development can also motivate staff to embrace the changes.

• Managers are change leaders and must be motivated to ensure the effective implementation of change projects.

• Surveys to identify what drives staff to engage can be helpful to encourage and sustain changes over time.

Communication

• Clear, proactive communication from leadership is essential to getting staff involved and on board with the change process.

• It also helps reduce resistance from staff who may not understand why they need to do things differently.

• Communication at regular intervals (why the change is happening, how it is happening, what is in it for individuals, and success stories) will support the change process and provide a sense of psychological safety.

• Leaders need to provide staff opportunities to ask questions and incorporate the feedback received.

Training

• Training for both staff and managers is critical; if they do not feel supported or adequately trained during a change, they may decide to leave.

• Operations will be far more complicated if leaders do not train accordingly or misunderstand technology's roles in the change.

• Cross-functional communication and change management all require strong project management practices, including clear timelines, alignment on goals, and access to proper resources.

• Interpersonal and communication skills of a holistic workforce to effectively work cross-functionally defines the ultimate success of any project, no matter how advanced the technology.

Collect and Analyse Data, Modify the Plan as Needed

• Revert to the basics and use fundamental quality practices such as the 'Plan Do Check Act' cycle to address risks, analyse operations, and revisit quality objectives to design a productive path forward built on a positive culture of teamwork and clarity.

• By monitoring the progress of change against KPIs, strategic goals, and other defined metrics, the plans can be modified as needed and repeated for continuous improvement.

Overcoming Resistance to Change

Resistance can be any obstacle that becomes an impediment to implementing the change.

The primary source of resistance is often individuals, but it can also include systems or processes that are outdated or fail to fit current business conditions.