Change Management

The market constantly changes and the speed of change in the business environment increases. Ideally, change or adaptation of a company should be a natural ongoing process. It takes time for a company to notice and identify new market trends and to respond appropriately.

Businesses must constantly re-invent themselves. Businesses either adapt or die. An organization must constantly re-evaluate its business model and modify it. Companies must adjust their strategies and tactics.

The sooner the leader anticipates the need for change and launches the change process, the more time he will have to implement his new vision smoothly and it will give the employees more time to adapt.

There are psychological obstacles to changing the way a company operates. Over time employees’ behavior, to a considerable extent, becomes habitual or automatic. (Basically most employees operate on autopilot most of the day.) They habitually repeat what they have done for years without having to think about every move every time.

It is usually difficult for people who have been working in a certain way for years to change their way of thinking and behavior quickly. Implementing change is usually accompanied by uncertainty, so it is usually stressful for the staff.

Employees respond to change in different ways. Some employees decide to make an effort to maintain the status quo and resist change. Change is a process. It doesn’t take place at the snap of a finger or overnight. Successfully implementing change in a big organization is both an art and science. There are ways to manage change successfully. Here are some tips:

    Steps for a Successful Change Implementation:

 1.  Have a clear vision of what you want to achieve.  Identify the obstacles and bottlenecks. Be crystal clear about what exactly you want to change before you launch the change process. Implementing change usually requires time and resources. Assess the company’s change capabilities before you launch the change.

 2.  Create a sense of urgency.
 3.  Create ‘change leaders’. Involve your team in decision-making when possible.
     Form a group of allies and build a guiding coalition.

 4.  Develop a clear well-thought-out change-plan. Implement organizational change step-by-step. (Eliminate the constraints one by one.)

 5.  Train and equip your team.  Empower them to act.
 6.  Lead and manage the change implementation.

 7.  The change leader should be good at influencing people.
     Constantly communicate your vision and plan.
     Keep explaining the necessity of implementing changes.
     Encourage people to introduce more efficient approaches.
     Keep emphasizing the threat of not changing and the benefits of change.

     Minimize uncertainty. ‘Consider your passengers when you are driving’.
     When there is an information vacuum, people usually assume the worst.
     Do your best to make people feel good about change.

 8.  Unfortunately, there is usually opposition to any change.  Anticipate this opposition. Proactively create a system for identifying the leaders of opposition. To be successful the change leader must be a little ruthless to the leaders of the opposition. Find a way to demoralize the opposition and get them out of the way.

 9.  Plan and create short-term results.

10.  Consolidate the progress by reinforcing the new procedures.
       (The change has to become a new norm.)

11.  Reward the change leaders. Celebrate successes in moving towards the goal.

Resistance to change is often a natural response. Often the employees who resist change just don’t understand what’s going on. They often speak not only for themselves, but also for others who are not courageous enough to openly express their thoughts. Employees who express their concerns provide an important feedback. Pick up the momentum from your previous successes.

If your organization has accomplished a significant milestone (for example, a successful new product launch or considerable quality improvement etc) re-focus quickly on the next goal, because if you allow the organization to rest for too long, you will lose the momentum, and to re-start the change process you will have to overcome inertia once again.


Vocabulary

environment – среда
to increase – увеличиваться
Ideally – В идеальной ситуации
adaptation – адаптация
natural – естественный
ongoing – постоянно протекающий
to notice – замечать
to identify – выявить
trend – тенденция
either – или
to adapt – адаптироваться
to reevaluate – переоценивать
to modify – модифицировать
to adjust – приспосабливаться
to anticipate – предвидеть
to launch – запускать
to implement – реализовывать
smoothly – гладко
psychological – психологический
obstacle – препятствие
way – способ
to operate – функционировать
employee – работник
behavior – поведение
to considerable extent – в существенной степени
habitual – основанный на привычке
Basically… – В основном…
habitually – на основе привычки
move – действие
certain – некоторый
way – образ, способ
to accompany – сопровождать
uncertainty – неопределенность
stressful – вызывающий стресс
staff – штат
to respond – реагировать
to decide – решать
to make an effort – предпринимать усилие
to maintain – сохранять, поддерживать
status quo – прежнее положение
to resist – сопротивляться
to take place – иметь место
at a snap of a finger – по щелчку пальцем
tip – совет
implementation – реализация
clear – ясный
to identify – определять
obstacle – препятствие
bottleneck – узкое место
crystal clear – предельно ясный
exactly – точно
to launch – запускать
to require – требовать
resource – ресурс
to assess – оценивать
change capability – организационный ресурс
sense of urgency – ощущение срочности
to involve – вовлекать
decision-making – принятие решения
to form – формировать
ally – союзник
guiding – руководящий
well-thought-over – хорошо продуманный
step-by-step – пошагово, поэтапно
to eliminate – исключать
constraint – постоянный
to train – обучать
to equip – оснащать
to empower – давать полномочия
to act – действовать
to consider – рассматривать
to influence – влияние
to explain – объяснять
necessity – необходимость
to emphasize – обращать особое внимание
threat – угроза
benefit – выгода
to encourage – воодушевлять
to introduce – внедрять
efficient – эффективный
approach – подход
uncertainty – неопределенность
vacuum – вакуум
to assume – предполагать
Do your best… – Сделайте все от вас зависящее…
unfortunately – к сожалению…
to anticipate – предвосхищать
ruthless – жесткий
to consolidate – закреплять
to reinforce – усиливать
norm – норма
to reward – награждать
to celebrate – праздновать
towards – по направлению
to go on – происходить
to be courageous – иметь смелость
to express – выражать
thought – мысль
concern – беспокойство
to provide – предоставлять
feedback – обратная связь