The Importance of Managing Change
Billions of pounds are invested each year by organisations wanting to transform themselves to become leaner, more productive or more competitive. But 70% of all change programmes fail. So how can you ensure that your change programme is one of the 30% that will succeed?
We can’t avoid it
The world has never moved so quickly. Our lives are often defined by the non-stop change that surrounds us and drives us forwards. This is true in our home lives but even more true in the work environment. At any one time, people in an organisation are typically affected by between 2 and 5 initiatives to change the way that they work. These initiatives may be formal projects or informal efforts, but they all take a toll on the people who are affected.
It can be managed
We’re told that people don’t like change, but this is fundamentally untrue – we accept, embrace and reach for change constantly through our lives. Think about your life 15 years ago; did you have a smartphone? If you did, how much did you use it? Think about how quickly your life has changed since then and how eager you were to embrace the opportunities that smartphones offer. The chances are you have actively sought out this fundamental change to your lifestyle and rarely, if ever, been afraid of it or resistant to it.
What we don’t like is change that is out of our control, particularly when that change is confusing or seems not to provide us with personal benefits.
Managing change within an organisation is about: ensuring the people who will be affected (Adaptors) understand what the change is, how it will affect them, why it is necessary and how it might benefit them; and helping them to feel that they have an element of control over the way that they will work in the future.
Why is it important to an organisation?
Whenever a significant change is introduced to an organisation, productivity will initially be reduced.
This happens for many possible reasons:
It takes time for people to absorb and take ownership of the initiative’s vision and purpose
It takes time to learn new skills and achieve a good level of proficiency
It can be concerning or frustrating to lose a familiar way of working if the new way doesn’t seem sensible or personally beneficial
New teams or workgroups take time to form and start to work together efficiently
No amount of Change Management can stop this from happening. But if we proactively manage the change, we can:
Minimise the severity of the impact
Reduce the time it takes to return to a normal level of productivity
Increase the amount of benefits that will be achieved by the change programme
Change doesn’t have to be difficult, but if we leave it to chance then all the effort spent in designing and building a new way of working is likely to have been wasted. When embarking on a new technical project or programme, organisations almost always appoint a Project/Programme Manager to plan, track and implement the technical changes. This is no less necessary for implementing changes to people’s ways of working.
You must proactively support and guide people through change programmes so that they are prepared and motivated to embrace the change. Only then will you ensure that your change programme succeeds.