How To Lead and Manage Organisational Change?

Change is an inevitable reality, and leading change in an organisation is an arduous task. Changes are often wrapped in uncertainty and crises. Managing complicated, large-scale and long-term change may not deliver the expected results. The main reason is that leaders typically fail to approach change according to their intent.

Companies must embrace change to stay abreast of new economic and technological developments. As per Gartner (Research company), the average business has taken up 5 significant organisational changes in the previous 3 years.

Organisational change is pursued since such a transition is expected to help an organisation operate at a higher level- becoming more profitable, innovative, productive and efficient. But if the change is managed inefficiently, it can spell doom and disaster.

Following are tips to manage and lead change in an organisation for long-term success that can be learnt from a graduate certificate in leadership and management:

Understand the process

One initiative for change is not like any other. But most of the successful ones follow a process of change management. The process of change is everything that happens from start to end. It comprises multiple steps, grouped into 3 stages: Preparing, Implementing and Following through.

• Preparing: change manager focuses on preparing the organisation and its employees.

• Implementing: change manager concentrates on executing changes to be compatible with the company's future vision.

• Following through: ensuring that change becomes embedded in the practices and culture of the company.

Know the forces of change

For effective management of change, managers should know why it is needed. Without this, it is tough to create a plan that deals with questions like:

• What are the pressures pushing for the change?

• Are they internal pressures like new leaders?

• Or are they external pressures like new competitors or new technology?

By understanding these, changes can be addressed more effectively.

Create plans

After knowing the motive of change, suitable plans must be made. The main plan must determine the reasons for the changes, define their scope, outline important stakeholders, set up a team and outline detailed steps needed to finish the project.

Communicate

Clear, accurate communication is a significant tool in the arsenal of a change manager for guiding the company and its employees through a period of major change. You must mainly communicate well with two parties: employees & team members and all other company stakeholders (senior management, board members etc.).

Prepare for obstacles

Even if you have done your best to prepare for change, not all things will go as per the schedule. It is good to be ready for all kinds of outcomes and contingencies. You can take out much mystery from the situation by anticipating obstacles or roadblocks.

Empower employees to modify their behaviour by eliminating roadblocks that prevent them from adapting to change. Once such obstacles have been identified, addressing and correcting even the most complicated issues is possible.

Learn the ways to manage change

All managers are not born with skills to lead change; these are built with good training and years of experience. By embracing as many opportunities as possible to flex your muscles of change management and by undergoing professional training in valuable courses like a project management diploma, you can become a better manager and hone the needed skills.

While seeking programs for training, opt for those that match your professional and personal objectives. For example, look for specialist programs in management that include training in change management.

In sum, these are all tips on managing major and minor changes faced by organisations caused by either internal or external forces. Going for the right training programs and harnessing years of experience in dealing with organisational changes, will help you become a good change manager.