Operational Change Management Is Your Worst Enemy; Ways To Defeat It

What is a Change Management Process?

A change management process is a series of steps or activities that a project leader follows to drive individual transitions and ensure the project meets its intended outcomes. Operational change management is a framework to manage the effect of new business processes, changes in organisational structure, or cultural changes within an enterprise to achieve operational excellence.

What Are the Best Change Management Strategies?

The best change in management strategies:

Plan Carefully
Be transparent
Speak the truth
Communication is the key
Form a Roadmap
Providing training is a must
Encourage participation
Don’t expect change overnight
Observe and measure
Display strong leadership

What are the Barriers to Change Management?

A baseline assessment is an ideal process that helps any organisation to identify potential and actual barriers to change. Barriers create a gap in recommended and current practices and harm the daily production process of the organisation.

To prevent this, it would be appropriate to pinpoint the major barriers to change as well as know-how and stay clear of them.

Lack of involvement of the employee
Lack of effective strategy to communicate
A bad culture
Unawareness of the current state
Organisation Complexity

Strategies For Overcoming Resistance In The Path Of Operational Excellence

Reasons for Resistance to Change

Self-interest
Misunderstanding and lack of trust
Different evaluations
Low tolerance for change

6 Strategies for Overcoming Resistance to Change Management

When considering the strategies and techniques for reducing operational change management, there are six broad areas in which organisations must operate.

1. Communication and education

The issues that cause resistance to change are fear of the unknown and a sense of misunderstanding of why change is needed.

Communication and knowledge about the change in the business reengineering process should begin before it is initiated. This will help people to rationalise the change, and ensure that individuals and teams receive adequate information to make positive judgments for the production of operational excellence services.

2. Participation

A collaborative effort engages people in the change and the identification of potential issues and solutions. People are less likely to resist the change that they have helped to create.

A participative strategy is to employ socialisation, put people before practice, and ensure that shared values crush resistance to change.

3. Support

Support requires the leaders to develop their emotional intelligence and connect with their people.

4. Agreement

Resistance to change is precipitated when people feel they are negatively affected by its consequences.

To combat this resistance to change, a company may consider offering incentives that include extra pay, improved benefits, or offering structured career plans.

5. Co-opting

One strategy is to co-opt those people who are most resistant to change into central roles in the implementation of change initiatives.

6. Coercion

Sometimes it becomes necessary to coerce people into accepting change.

Tactics to implement change include wielding the threat of disciplinary action which will insist people fall into line with required behaviours and actions.

7 techniques for Overcoming Resistance to Change

After identifying the causes of resistance to change in the workplace and the strategic approaches that the company should take to overcome this resistance, the next step is to reduce resistance to change.

Here are seven techniques for defeating the hindrance in operational change management to help to embed engagement in your change process.

1. Build up the team to maximise its potential

After communicating the change initiative, the strengths and weaknesses of each team member should be considered.

You should give team members appropriate roles and responsibilities so that they use skills to their best advantage, while also providing the potential for personal and team development.

2. Put up Challenging, Achievable, and Engaging Targets

You should always be clear in guidance about goals and targets. Divide change projects into smaller milestones, and celebrate achievements. Goals should be progressive in nature and line with values and beliefs

3. Resolve Conflicts Quickly and Effectively

You should encourage openness and honesty and engender an environment of mutual trust and respect.

During periods of change, tension is expected to run high and personal anxieties will be heightened. Team meetings and team bonding sessions will help the people to understand and appreciate their colleagues more easily, primarily if the transparency of communication is ensured and a systematic approach to problem-solving that encourages a frank exchange of view to reach a collective and collaborative partnership.

4. Show Passion

Communication is the key and communicating passionately is an example of belief in the future vision.

5. Be Persuasive

You should engage employees in change by being an energised leader. Opportunities and persuasion should be focused upon rather than assert authority.

6. Empower Innovation and Creativity

Create space for feedback and remain flexible as you alter course toward your change goals. You should encourage people to be creative to discover solutions to unfolding problems and become part of the change process.

7. Remain Positive and Supportive

Employees have expectations from their leaders to manage change. Inspirational leaders have the ability to create a culture where change becomes the remit of all.

10 Change Management Best Practices

The following change management best practices advice is offered to help you optimally support:

1. Choose the Right Change Agents

The change process is challenging and unpredictable. Identifying and selecting the right change agents is important to support the change process.

2. Make the Change Desirable

You should help your employees understand the need for the change in the organisation by having a discussion about the problems with the current system and soliciting advice in making the change successful.

3. Make the Change Relevant

By outlining the goals of the company and illustrating how the change will help achieve them, you should break down the benefits as they apply directly to the employees.

4. Communicate the Change on All Levels

A study conducted on 288 organisations found that employees most want to hear messages about any change from their CEO and their immediate supervisor.

5. Time It Right

Employees are always hesitant to change more when it is sudden and they have little time to adjust. It is important to release information about any as soon as possible.

6. Have Thorough Research Before RELEASE

Nothing is more frustrating if a new software system is a buggy or a new set of rules that never stays the same. You should make sure the change has a solid base before you start implementing it.

7. Recruit Help from Within to Have Effective Change Management

You should select individuals with charismatic personalities who are widely respected among their teams. You should train these employees first and then allow them to set a positive and encouraging atmosphere while guiding other employees.

8. Integrate the Change Completely

You should help the existing employees adapt to the change faster, and ensure new employees understand it right away by keeping material within the company up-to-date. This includes your organisation’s mission statement, performance review guidelines, and new-hire orientation programs.

9. Keep Space for Feedback

Regularly schedule a meeting with your change team and encourage employees to give feedback on the modified operations to quickly identify what is working and what is not.

10. Give It Time

Never expect your employees to adjust to the change immediately. You should make it clear that there is a learning curve, always be open to questions, concerns, and suggestions and accept course corrections. Being flexible and collaborative will perfect the change.

Conclusion

Operational change happens every day as a matter of course. The challenge lies in instituting and bringing about that change in a deliberate and focused direction within a specified timeframe. Mastering the change management process is the most challenging issue for any company.

The work you do when you institute a process change or organisational principles is like changing the course of a river. It requires the necessary effort, consideration, and tools to be all in place.