Successful organizations do not react to change: they anticipate it and manage it. Change management does not mean controlling change, nobody can do that. Change management means being prepared for change so you can survive and succeed, in spite of it.
Designing a Successful Change Management Process
Designing and implementing a successful change management process is actually easier than you might think. All you have to do is sit down, list the changes you expect then start devising strategies for dealing with them.
The best way to do this is to get representatives of every department in organization together. Then have each of them list the changes he or she expects in the near future. Once that is done you can start devising a change management strategy to deal with the changes that are most likely.
The IT manager might note that the software you are using will soon be obsolete or that the computers will soon need to be replaced. The team could devise a strategy for purchasing and deploying the new software and equipment. It could devise a budget for purchasing it, a strategy for coping with the change over and for educating the team in the use of the new equipment and software.
Part of change management is listing all the problems a change might entail. For example bringing in new software will require you to successfully put all the data in the old system into the new. Is that possible and if so what will it take.
You can also anticipate disruptions to business and potential customer service problems. For example will the organization have to shut down while the changeover is in progress? Will that cut business and how can it be done without driving customers away. Will sales people be able to fill orders while the computers are unavailable?
Brainstorming to address these problems is the essence of change management. Once you have mastered that your organization can survive and thrive. For example you can create smart goals to convey the change management strategy to the team.
Via EPR Network
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