As much as a butterfly has to undergo a metamorphosis before it epitomises natural beauty, the same applies to most things in life. For enterprises in a fast-paced business environment, change is inevitable and if the need to change is shot down, the ship sails away.

In this case the ship refers to the opportunity to grow the enterprise’s bottom fine. The reality is that productivity within an entity is driven by the need to accept change. Without an inkling of a doubt, change is not always for the better; hence individuals in companies fear variation and resist any attempt to rock the boat.

Wikipedia defines change management as a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams and organisations from a current state to a desired future state. The common denominator in other definitions is that in change management there is a desire for a better state of affairs that can be derived from doing things differently. As theoretical physicist Albert Einstein points out in what has become somewhat of a cliché, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

It is crucial for enterprises to acknowledge that technologies, processes, people, ideas and methods change consistently, thereby affecting the methods of operation. If change is not managed effectively efforts to implement new things may be counterproductive. By telling people what to do, by presenting solutions and by attaching labels to initiatives a leader may unwittingly create monoliths for people to throw stones at. The root of resistance to change is in thinking for people and telling them how they should change. Change management should facilitate processes for people to buy in. Organisations do not just change because of new systems, processes or new organisation structures. They change because people in the organisation adapt and change too. Only when the people in an organisation have transformed can the organisation truly reap the benefits of change. Organisational change management should begin with a systematic diagnosis of the current situation in order to determine both the need for change and the capability to change.

The objectives, content and process of change should all be specified as part of a change management plan. Change management processes should include creative marketing to enable communication between changing audiences as well as deep social understanding about leadership styles and group dynamics. As a visible track on transformation projects, organisational change management aligns groups’ expectations, communicates, integrates teams and manages people training. Organisational change management inculcates the use of performance metrics such as financial results, operational efficiency, leadership commitment, communication effectiveness and the perceived need for change to design appropriate strategies.

Leading thinker and author on organisational change management John P Kotter in The Heart of Change describes a helpful model for understanding and managing change. Each stage of Kotter’s work acknowledges a key principle identified by him relating to people’s responses and approaches to change in which people see, feel and then change. Kotter’s eight-step change model can be summarised as:

• Increase urgency – inspire people, make objectives real and relevant.
• Build the guiding team – get the right people in place with the right emotional commitment and the right mix of skills and levels.
• Get the vision right – get the team to establish a simple vision and strategy focus on emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency.
• Communicate for buy-in – Involve as many people as possible, communicate the essentials simply to appeal and respond to people’s needs. De-clutter communications – make technology work for you rather than against you.
• Empower action – Remove obstacles, enable constructive feedback and support from leaders – reward and recognise progress and achievements.
• Create short-term wins – Set aims that are easy to achieve. Manageable numbers of initiatives. Finish current stages before starting new ones.
• Don’t let up – Encourage determination and persistence and highlight achieved and future milestones.
• Make change stick – Reinforce the value of successful change via recruitment, promotion and new change leaders. Weave change into culture.

Leaders contemplating change should know that people matter. It is tempting to dwell on plans and processes that do not talk back or respond emotionally than to face up to the more difficult and more critical human issues. Mastering the “soft” side of change management should not be a case for Sherlock Holmes.

By: Bongani Coka –  CEO of Productivity SA

This article was originally published on the Productivity SA website