Change is a constant part of running a company. Time and other external factors may bring in a number of changes and it’s important for every business owner to have a system in place to easily manage the changes. This is where change management comes in. But what is change management and what role does it play in helping improve your business operations?

What is Change Management?

Change management refers to the methods and approaches implemented to help organizations handle organizational changes. These changes can be one or a combination of internal process updates, digital transformation, revamps in corporate hierarchy, and other essential business factors. Changes in organizations can either be

• Transformational – a large-scale change that usually involves the whole organization and occurs over a period of time.
• Adaptive – small, iterative changes to improve certain processes, workflows or strategies.

Examples of Change Management

• Migration to a new software
• Introduction of a new training program
• Implementation of a new strategy
• Shifting from office to hybrid work model
• Hiring new employees to meet workload demands
• Establishing a new department or team
• Going from local to international operations

Why is Change Management Important?

Implementing changes into your regular business operations is not an easy feat. Through change management, you can enhance your chances for success. By successfully implementing a change management plan, you can reap the following benefits.

1. Prepares the People Involved

The success of your organizational change can be highly impacted by how well you have prepared your team. Change management can help you set your team’s expectations and make sure that they know what will happen next. Additionally, letting them know how they will be impacted by the upcoming change is a good way to set them up for success.

2. Helps Reduce Resistance to Change

Proper communication is key to effective implementation. Through a well-communicated change management plan, your organizational change will be easily accepted and supported by the majority of the organization. You can expect less resistance if you are transparent about what the organizational change involves and why it’s important.

3. Improves Performance and Productivity

Implementing change management is key to introducing better and more efficient ways of working. If your organization has been running the same processes for a long period of time but not getting the results you desire, then it’s about time that you introduce some innovation into your organization. Through change management, you can boost productivity and promote the importance of high level performance across teams and individuals.

4. Reduces Costs

By effectively implementing organization changes, you can help your team run a lean operation, eliminate waste and reduce costs. Be it digital adoption, agile transformation, or even a simple upskill training for your employees, you can improve the way you operate on a day to day basis, which then transforms to a smarter use of resources and lower operational costs.

5. Promotes Better Company Culture

Transformative change can play a huge role in improving how employees perceive the company. Change management that is geared towards promoting a positive work culture, a healthy work-life balance or a career progression plan are all great ways to help boost morale in your organization.

6. Helps Meet Growth Objectives

Every company has their own goals for growth. Organizational changes, if done correctly, can help you effectively achieve these goals. In fact, change management statistics show that 93% of organizations who reported to have excellent change management effectiveness met or exceeded their objectives. Change management urges organizations to plan how they want to achieve their growth objectives. By being strategic in implementing changes, there is a higher chance to achieve these objectives.

With all of these benefits in mind, change management can be a great way to boost your overall success as an organization.

Steps to Planning a Successful Change Management

Thinking about implementing change management in your organization? Follow these five steps to ensure an effective change management implementation.

Step 1. Define the Change and Align to Your Business Goals.

There is a proper time and venue for everything, including change management. Before you consider rolling out a huge change in your organization, you must first consider how it aligns to your organizational goals. This will help guide you as to what changes are of utmost priority, and help you determine if a certain change will bring you to the right direction.

Step 2. Identify the Impact of the Change.

It’s important to understand the scale of the organizational change you are planning to implement. You must identify who will be affected, what processes will be impacted, and how much resources will be needed in order to successfully implement the change. This allows you to prepare everyone who will be involved in the change and free up some resources to support the change you are planning to implement.

Step 3. Determine How to Communicate the Change.

Once you have defined the changes you are planning to implement and identified the scale of its impact, you are now ready to communicate the plan to your team. It’s important to determine how to best communicate with all the people involved, taking into account that the purpose of the communication is to prepare them for what comes next.

You can choose to send out an email to the whole organization, set up a company-wide meeting, or run one-on-one meetings with the people involved, as long as you see to it that everyone impacted is made aware of the organizational change and what they should expect from it.

Step 4. Provide Training and Support.

Apart from the right means of communicating your organizational change, you should also determine how to best support your team in relation to the change. If you are planning to migrate to a new work tool, then it’s important that you train your team to make sure they optimize the use of your new work tool.

If you are revamping the whole organizational hierarchy, see to it that you provide ample support to those impacted and make sure that they understand the reason behind such a huge change. Encourage everyone to ask questions and see to it that you set up your team towards success by giving them the right kind of support that they need.

Step 5. Measure the Results.

Once the organizational change has been rolled out, it’s important to have a structure that will help you understand how the new change has impacted your operations. Proper documentation and data gathering should be a part of the whole process. This way, you can use the data you have gathered to determine the effectiveness of your organizational change and identify what proper steps to take next.

As part of measuring the results, see to it that you gather feedback from everyone involved in the rollout of your organizational change. This way, you can also understand how your team perceived the change and if it has any other impact that might not have been captured by your other data gathering processes.

Transform Your Organization through Effective Change Management

Jumpstarting your organization’s digital transformation is easier when you have the right kind of tools and support. Here at TKKIE, we are ready to provide you with the professional support you need to effectively roll out your change management plans.

Contact us today to learn more about our comprehensive digital transformation solutions.