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Your easy-to-digest guide to how to manage change at an organizational level.
Competition is central to the growth of a market and the growth of an organization. Do you know who is friends with competition? Change. For most businesses, handling change is uncomfortable at best. Do you know any person or organization that does change well? If you answered yes, then call them immediately to find out how.
What is organizational change?
To know how to manage change, you need a clear understanding of the intended outcome and the potential consequences of that change. It’s never as simple as flipping a switch because that switch tends to lead to other circuit boards that are also affected.
For example, if you change X procedure when onboarding customers, will steps Y and Z flow differently? Or, is your company swapping current messaging for a whole new value proposition? And will that affect how the marketing team highlights the product or how the sales team needs to approach a prospect? Team leaders need to be aware of the impacts their departmental changes have across the entire organization. So, there needs to be a way to change business strategies smoothly and minimize the possible disruption of daily operations.
Creating an Organizational Change Management Plan Document
When creating your organizational change management plan, you need a few things to get started on a scope document:
- A clear definition of your intended outcome. Ex: “Complete company reorganization of Service and Sales teams by X date.”
- Who is(are) the change champion(s)? Who are the necessary stakeholders? Are there other departments/teams affected?
- Define the type of support needed from each stakeholder, and develop timelines for each action item.
- Strategize on how to communicate changes to the entire organization. Who is going to deliver the message? *Keep communication streamlined – whoever you want receiving the questions should be the one giving the information.
- What is the message?
- What actions do we want our employees to take?
- What is the message?
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- Show a visualization of the change as part of communication strategy.
- For example, provide a new organizational chart to show your teams so they understand new reporting relationships and where they fit into the overall structure. For this purpose, org chart creator tools like Pingboard are great visuals for organizational change communication.
- Show a visualization of the change as part of communication strategy.
Manage Resistance to Organizational Change
The way you introduce any change is critical because it helps your team or organization as a whole feel comfortable with the change.
Start with an open mind. There may be employees who bristle at the change, but approaching the conversation from a place of learning will allow you to be open to the hard questions. Showing respect for everyone in the room will give employees the sense it’s okay to ask questions, encouraging a more open dialogue that lends itself to increased trust in leadership.
Clarity is key. A system such as Freshservice allows you to create a simple view of project tasks and related assignment so your team can easily understand what is expected. Introducing that on the onset will increase transparency of the overall plan and engagement.
The People Side of Change Management
After a company wide communication about the change, managers should be able to clarify each step of the process for their direct reports. One way managers can achieve this is to sit down with their direct reports for 1-on-1s. Managers should outline the changes, and explain how the change will impact the employee.
Managers should leave time in 1-on-1s for questions so there is no ambiguity moving forward. Employees should have zero questions about the organizational changes because if they start asking other employees who are equally as unsure there is a chance misinformation getting spread.
Characteristics of a Successful Change Management Plan
At the heart of every organizational change management plan, teams should be defining, planning, implementing and aiming to sustain the goals of your business. There are different methodologies to choose from that guide teams during the change management process. For an approach with specific action items, here is John Kotter’s eight stage approach from his book Accelerate:
Create a buzz – instill a drive for change. Here comes our friend Competition again. Getting the team aligned on the need to progress whether due to a threat or an opportunity is critical for gaining momentum. Your own team may begin to test each other’s capacity through a little friendly competition which would help in speeding up the change management process.
Empower advocates for change beyond team managers. Not all changes have to be led solely by the leadership team. Depending on the need, you may want to get individual contributors or specialists involved in leading the charge. Allowing all in the guiding coalition to bond and create trust will present a unified front to the rest of the team.
Define your big picture and what it takes to get there. In order to plan for anything, you must have an effective vision, something enticing and attainable to work towards. The guiding coalition will need to be in agreement on what it is and what is required in order for progress to be made.
Utilize your early adopters. Kotter’s book emphasizes that the guiding coalition should model and inspire the desired behaviors from the team to create ownership from all involved through repeated and concise communications. This is where your early adopters become influential partners – your employees who flourish when change rolls around can help address fears or tensions in positive ways at lunch, before or after hours, and through one to one interactions. These are your folks who will say “Hey did you hear the good news?” Or “how cool is that?”
Smooth out the road for action. Look around at what is holding back your employees from acting quickly. It can be anything from a supervisor who disengages people to an information system, or a lack of skills needed. Do what you can to remove the issue completely.
Little victories keep you going. Successful and sustainable change management takes time. Generally people like to see results right away. Incorporating or highlighting little victories can keep your team motivated for the long haul.
Don’t let up on the gas. Remain vision focused and maximize the successes early on to validate necessary changes down the road.
Formalize the change. Linking the behaviors of the group to shared values aids in the cementing of change.
Organizational Change Management Checklist
What Every Management Professional Needs to Know
Remember that change is a part of life and it’s not one size fits all. Each new service initiative or technology system will add a layer of growth potential to your organization, but they need to be implemented differently to work well. Planning and open lines of communication are essential to any effective change management. Keeping people involved and engaged will speed up time to launch and increase trust with leadership.