Print Version - Fact Sheet

“Though changing an organization is a complex challenge, some companies and departments do succeed in reinventing themselves quickly and frequently in the face of constantly changing business conditions.”

Harvard Business School Press, Managing Change to Reduce Resistance

Audience:

• All managers
• Communications team

Delivery:

• Half day management orientation
• Two to three hours to charter communications team

Contact:

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303.730.0018
www.centerod.com

MANAGING CHANGE

People are the cornerstone of successful change

The challenge facing businesses is not only “what” solutions to put in place, but “how” to implement those solutions in a way that gets the intended benefits. Research shows that 60-70% of change efforts fail or achieve only partial success. And the primary reason is that management did not take into account the effects of change on people.

Managing change does have to do with good planning and project management. Leaders need to have a “master plan” that integrates various organizational development and technology initiatives into their long-term vision and rolls them out in an efficient and coordinated way. We often help leaders develop this plan as well as create a “charter” and commission the teams responsible for implementation.

In addition, we help management think through the implications of change on employees —what will be different for people? How will it change the way they do their jobs? What are they losing or giving up? What needs to happen for people to accept change and make it succeed?

People resist change when they don’t understand it or see how it is in their self-interest. We talk about the stages people go through when they face change, help management think through everything they need to do to minimize resistance and present guidelines for helping people deal with change.

A big part of this, of course, is how we communicate about change. We plan a specific communications strategy that includes the what, how and when of your ongoing communications, as well as who will assume this responsibility. A communications plan may include all-location communication sessions, department staff meetings, informal stand-up meetings, brown-bag lunch discussions, memos, in-depth orientation meetings, etc. Of course, communication is not a single event but a continuous process that occurs at many junctures and often needs to be two-way.

Creating a plan to manage change takes time on the front end of a project but saves time and emotional anguish in the long run. There is little that will do more to gain the commitment and goodwill of employees than open communication and good change management.