Conceiving a change is an important step in creating it.
Yet, a concept without action does not produce results. Through change events such as reorganization, process redesign, technology enhancement, etc., organizations provide the opportunity to learn and grow in their capacity for future change. Observation and experience tell us that individuals can increase their capacity for change. Those with successful change experience tend to have less difficulty with future change efforts.
It has been stated (Warren Bennis) that good leaders do the right things and managers do things right. During times of change, both are necessary. For change efforts to be effective and produce the least amount of dysfunctionality as possible a clear, understandable and acceptable vision for the desired state-versus the present state must be established (Kurt Lewin). Of course, to be an effective leader there must be followers–people and organizations willing to undertake the change. Leadership during change is no different from leadership during periods of stability except in ways in it is applied, thus management. Effective change management must address multiple priorities, competition for resources, resistance to the new way, persistence to continue against change, teamwork, confusion, etc.
By working with a variety of organizations engaged in various change projects, we have discovered four critical competencies for success. While these are not the only competencies required to produce desired results, they have a significant impact on project success. The four change related competencies explored here are 1) leadership, 2) teamwork, 3) project/action planning and management, and 4) communication. Each is addressed in the context of change efforts and change-oriented environments.
One might view these key elements as supportive foundation blocks in building successful change. Why these key components are not the myriad of important leadership and management skills, experiences and abilities? These were selected based on experience. From experience, it appears these basic elements tend to be weak or absent. This results is difficult change-efforts, missed goals, increased cost, decreased customer service, and decreased quality. This is not to say that every organization is missing them. It is, however, a suggestion to carefully consider their importance and level of development before embarking upon complex organizational change.
A strong leader can be strong in the midst of change or on a normal business day. A strong change leader understands the various roles of the change process and the human aspects of change. These roles are change-sponsor, change-agent, change-target, and change-advocate. A strong change leader realizes that change leadership is situational and acts accordingly. The change leader makes a commitment to change and makes certain the organization is prepared for the change by selecting the proper business imperatives and managing their time accordingly.
Utilizing teams is an example of one of the significant changes taking place in business operations today. Teams have become a highly effective solution to productivity problems created by fewer workers facing the same amount or increased workloads due to downsizing. Teams share a common goal for which they are accountable. An effective change leader will choose the best available people for teams, provide them with behavior guidelines and draw up a charter that will give the team direction.
When planning for change remember to answer the following questions and communicate the answers to everyone involved and affected. Why is the change occurring? How will it occur? When will it happen? Where will it occur? Who will be involved and who will be affected? What will be the end result? Cover all the bases, but most of all remember the only thing most people really want to know is “What’s in it for me?”.
The difference between success and failure in a change effort is frequent communication. Rarely do people complain that they had too much information at just the right time and in the right form to be effective. When preparing communiqués, remember people process information differently, so prepare a variety of communication materials accordingly. A good guiding principle is to communicate each message to each audience (target) at least five times in at least three different ways considering each of the questions raised above. WARNING: Don’t get so caught up in the change that you forget to communicate with the change sponsors, agents and targets.
And remember to communicate, communicate, and communicate.