For a business to be successful, it has to be able to adapt and change. But change is never easy, especially in the context of business. You will encounter countless obstacles whenever you want to implement change within your organisation. There could be a problem with adopting a new process. Your team could rebel against you and say no to the change.
It might surprise you to learn that as many as 70% of change procedures fail and never get off the ground, and many changes fail due to human reasons. You might be wondering what you can do to prevent this from happening. The answer is to change management. In this article, we’re going to show you how it works.
So what is change management? Change management is a systematic approach to the process of implementing change within a business, whether it’s a new system or a new and better way of doing things.
Change management guides how you prepare, equip, and support people in your organisation to adapt to change. Clearly explaining what will change, why it needs to change, and how it will be actioned. The ultimate goal is to drive success in your business and achieve critical outcomes.
Whatever change you want to make will likely be unique, just like the individuals you want to change. However, research has shown there are things you can do to influence people to feel better about change and trust and love the way of working.
It is a methodical way of dealing with change. Methods include the use of tools, knowledge, and resources. The result is that change drives organisational success.
The secret of change is to focus all of your energy,not on fighting the old, but on building the new.
Seven Rs in change management gives you a checklist of important points to consider when changing processes.
Before implementing change, use this seven Rs checklist to answer questions and identify benefits.
There are three basic types of models.
There are many various helpful change management models, methodologies and theories (Glossary) that can be used in the change process. All have been effectively applied to businesses to help deal with the transition process and change.
Change models vary. Some focus on the way businesses should approach all aspects of change, while others focus on employees’ responses to change.
Flowcharts and process mapping help visualise the various business processes, but many other models and methods can be used:
ADKAR Model: This coaching tool ensures everyone is involved and believes in the change.
Deming Cycle (PDCA): Control and continuous improvement of processes
Force Field Analysis: This tool is called barrier and aids analysis. It helps identify and analyse forces for and against your proposed change.
Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model: This is an 8-step method that helps you manage change. It is a handy checklist you can follow.
Stakeholder Analysis: This helps you identify your project’s stakeholders and why your project is important to them.
Gantt Charts: These are very useful when your project includes many tasks, all of which people have to complete on time.
Lewin’s Change Model: This change model is a 3-step process. It involves unfreezing, changing, and refreezing.
McKinsey 7-S Change: 7 categories that companies should be considered in a change management plan.
Kübler-Ross Five Stage: Five stages which people may go through during change.
Nudge Theory: Nudging, encouraging and inspiring change.
Bridges’ Transition Model: Focus on the transition process and not change as such.
Culture Mapping: Company culture helps discover information to make change successful.
Satir change model: Similar to Kübler-Ross. Created to help people improve the way they cope with change.
ADKAR model can be used in change management to make sure that teams involved in the process understand why it is happening and believe in the change. This is important, so they understand how beneficial the change is and for it to be embraced and successfully implemented in the change strategy.
ADKAR is an acronym for the five stages that people need to go through to achieve successful change.
Awareness – What change and why
Desire – Support the change
Knowledge – Share skills for the change and create checklists
Ability – Feedback and evaluations
Reinforcement – reinforce the changes with incentives.
PDCA also sometimes referred to as PDSA, Deming Wheel, or Deming Cycle is a continuous quality improvement model.
PDCA key stages: Plan, Do, Check/Study, and Act.
This systematic process helps gain valuable knowledge for the continual improvement of a business process. A simple but effective approach for solving business problems and managing change.
Lewin’s change management model is based on the changing states of a block of ice. This model consists of three main stages:
Unfreeze: Prepare for change
Change: Change gets implemented
Refreeze: Change is accepted
McKinsey 7 S Model have seven steps which gives you a deep insight into the way the business works and how to manage change.
Strategy: Step-by-step procedure
Structure: Organisation structure
Systems: The process how day-to-day operations.
Shared values: Core business values
Style:
Staff: Workforce / Team members
Skills: Skills team members possess
The specific schedule for implementing change will differ according to the type of organisation and the type of change you’re planning. There are everyday issues that must be faced and general principles you’ll need to follow. With guidance, often in the form of a checklist, your process implementation plan is more likely to succeed.
Agreeing on a clear change management strategy is vital.
Base it on the objectives and goals outlined in the plans you’ve already set. Understand why it needs the changes and how will the changes benefit the business.
Make a plan as detailed as possible and make sure it’s in line with the strategy and timetable.
Define a start date and a finite time span for the implementation process.
Decide on your change champions. These are the people directly involved in the change implementation process.
Include key change design and delivery people.
Also include people affected by the change who can champion the change to others.
Establish programme management best practices: Clearly define each step in the process and devise a checklist to follow.
Document each stage of the process in a checklist so steps can not be missed and clear instructions are available on the new process best practice.
Clear communication is essential if you want your change programme to be successful.
How will you explain the changes, why it is essential for the business, and how you can listen to feedback and measure success?
Be prepared: Conflict often accompanies any change. Allow it to come to the surface, tackle it, analyse, and resolve it.
Ensure participation and minimise stress: Change is stressful, especially if you don’t consult participants.
Training and explaining how this change will benefit team members and the business overall.
Help team members take ownership: This is easier if they can personalise and relate to the change.
Encourage and develop new skills: View the change programme as a learning process. What new skills will they gain?
Motivation is vital: Make sure your employees feel valued. Do this by recognising their achievements and efforts.
Maintain momentum: Develop strategies to help create a sense of purpose. Quick wins and success points are useful.
Gauge your programme’s success against the milestones and goals in your plan.
There are many change management models available to help change happen smoothly, but they can take time to understand and work out what will suit your business and the people working with the change. Work out a change management checklist that works for you and your business.
Having a clear framework and method to deploy your changes will give you a more reliable way to manage change and establish a clear way to improve and evolve the business.
Change is always going to be scary. But if you’ve got a plan in place and a checklist to follow, you’re more likely to achieve your goals.
Change management is a systematic approach to implementing change within a business, whether it’s a new system or a new and better way of doing things.
Change management guides how you prepare, equip, and support people in your organisation to adapt to change. Clearly explaining what will change, why it needs to change, and how it will be actioned. The ultimate goal is to drive success in your business and achieve critical outcomes.
Read More: Change Management: Action Plan for Implementation of New Business Processes
Design of experiments (DOE) is a systematic methodology that identifies the connection between elements affecting a process and the output of the process.
DOE is a branch of applied statistics that evaluates the factors controlling the value of a parameter through conducting, planning, analysing and interpreting controlled tests.
Read More: Design of Experiment: Evaluate the Effect of Making Changes to a Process
Many helpful change management models, methodologies and theories (Glossary) can be used in the change process. All have been effectively applied to businesses to help deal with the transition process and change.
Change models vary some focus on how businesses should approach all aspects of change, while others focus on employees’ responses to change.
Read More: Change Management: Action Plan for Implementation of New Business Processes
The ADKAR Model is a simple tool to help the change process. Breaking it into its most basic critical elements, where each step outlines a successful journey.
ADKAR is an acronym representing the five principles of implementing changes successfully. Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement. The approach sets goals for change management that increase the success rate. It’s a practical system that takes your process a step at a time.
Read More: ADKAR Model: 5 Building Blocks for Successful Change