As a business leader, you accept change as part of the journey. However, these past few years have really tested your ability to adapt to completely unexpected events. Unfortunately, all this unpredictability and uncertainty looks set to continue for a while longer.
It’s during challenging periods such as these that a firm grasp on change management can mean the difference between your business surviving (even thriving) or failing. And while it’s true that entrepreneurs and business owners are generally more open, resilient and adaptable to change, this is not always the case with employees. The result is that a business owner can struggle to not only understand why their team cannot successfully embrace change, the false assumptions and misunderstandings can create unnecessary conflict and disruption within the organisation.
Reaction to an unexpected event usually follows this pattern:
- Shock at the change event
- Denial
- Anger & blame
- Frustration
- Uncertainty/depression/confusion
- Acceptance
- Problem solving and decisions
- Commitment
What’s vital here is how you navigate these natural reactions and their consequences. By spending less time in the trough of anger & blame, frustration, uncertainty/depression/confusion, the better chance you have of coming out the other side of change with a more positive culture and healthier business.
So, how good are you at change management? Here are three questions to ask yourself. Go through them and reflect on your answers:
1. How well do you deal with change when you are instigating it?
2. How well do you deal with change when it is imposed upon you?
3. How well does your organisation manage and implement change?
Following these questions, look back to a recent situation where there was a need for change in your business—what went well and what did you do well in managing that change? What did not go well? Is there an example of where you think an organisation implemented change very well? If so, look further into understanding how this was done, and take their lead.
Evolve’s Change Management Process is about evolving change instead of imposing it. We believe there are six crucial steps to achieving this harmony:
1. Define the Change—Identify the change that is required and why
2. Create the Vision—Engage leadership and prepare to present the compelling need to change
3. Drive Commitment—Engage your team in the planning process; align perceptions and embrace hearts and minds
4. Design Change Infrastructure—Assess and design how change will actually be implemented, and the new skills, resources, etc, that will be required
5. Implement—Commit to the change, and deploy training resources, etc
6. Sustain the Change—Measure progress via KPI’s; communicate success; review and take action if needed
- Do you need help navigating your business through the current uncertainty? We offer coaching and team development to enable leaders and their teams to enhance their trajectory towards success, all based on Evolve’s exclusive methodology.