Following on from Transitioning for success, to prepare business owners for the next challenging stage, we wanted to share our tips to successfully implementing change.
As experts we know that implementing change in workplace is not easy. If you have tried doing this before, you can understand how hard it could be. Nonetheless, we are here to help you with some effective ideas and strategies.
Making changes in the workplace can only happen when you understand the environment and that is what this post will discuss. Whether it is about making policy changes or any cultural changes, we can help you with all.
Strategies and steps to implementing change
Here are a few strategies and steps we suggest you use when implementing change in your business.
1. Get your team ready before implementing change
If you have managers, they have to be trained so that they can deal with the change at ease.
One of the biggest misconceptions that exist in businesses is that managers have all the experience in the world and have dealt with drastic changes. Even with unprecedented organisational change in the way of closures and redundancies, there are a few managers who haven’t seen any sort of change in the past. In addition to that, they might also have to change their own feelings so that they can adapt to the change. Therefore, it is important to train all your managers on how they can handle the transitions for their team and themselves.
If you don’t have managers, then this may be your team directly. In this instance all of the above applies, they will need time and support to adapt themselves.
2. Communicate openly and as frequently as you can
There is literally no magic trick you can use to bring out the best plans. Always remember to communicate the changes often, make those changes and understand why they need to occur and what does all of this mean to the team.
The biggest detriment to the business is not being able to communicate frequently. As a result of this you could lose out on a few good team members.
3. Use all channels of communication
One of the biggest mistakes most of us make in businesses is to ignore those parts of creating change in every business and how you can use the mediums of communication and the methods of communicating.
Mediums will include email as well as visual aids when a presentation is being conducted. The methods also include having regular meetings face to face and communicating even after the meeting is over.
The reason why you should want to mix a few mediums and methods is that people get this information in several ways and think about the information in several ways. There are some people who need to see graphs as well as tangible items. Some people would like to get more information face to face and have a dialog regarding it when others must think about it and most importantly process it.
4. Get more support when implementing change
Next you should garner more support so that they can help in the process of change.
You should also include a few internal decision makers (if you have them) as well as a good program implementer. They also have a good communication plan which will tailor the content of communication and style to all of the preferences of the stakeholder. You have to make sure that the lines of communication with all the groups are open through the whole process.
4. Have goals that are articulate
This step means you will have to define the desired outcome of the business in terms that are measurable and specific. By doing this you will be able to remove ambiguity and also clarify where you would like your business to be at the end. You should not have any wishy washy goals. Consider breaking down the goals into chunks that are manageable and may also set a baseline for comparison. Most importantly, you must also have a measurement regime that will help you keep a track of the progress.
5. Roles of nomination
Once you have clarified all the roles, now you will have to assign the responsibility so that the individuals of the business are secure. You also have to make sure that the tasks are well done and the responsibilities that you assign everyone are helpful for the business. You must also make sure that everyone who is involved has all the needed skill for fulfilling their responsibilities and implementing the training where skill gaps have been identified.
What’s next when implementing change?
We are big believers in planning and implementing change well, with the right support. Once implementation is complete there is value in completing a post implementation review (PIR). In short, a post-implementation review is a process to evaluate whether the project objectives were met. You can also use it to see how effective the project was managed. This helps to avoid making similar mistakes with future change projects and learning how to run the project better.
We hope that by sharing all our tips for success, that you will be prompted to start thinking sooner rather than later. It may seem an overwhelming task, though our advice would be where change impacts people, you should never underestimate the amount of time needed.
We believe that lots of businesses are going to be impacted by the Furlough Scheme coming to an end. For this reason, we would like to share the following reminders:
- One of your goals should be to protect your business. Make sure you do this by managing this change well.
- Stay well connected to your values and make sure you uphold and live them through everything you do.
- As a foundation to any great business, you need great teams at the heart. Whether they are existing team members or new team members coming in, make sure they are all treated in the same way.
- Finally outsourcing is a great way to grow your business, is there an opportunity here to manage this change well and grow at the same time? Maybe bringing in experienced helping hands would be a better temporary option whilst the landscape is uncertain?
With a difficult period ahead, we know the importance of implementing change well.
If you would like or are looking for help Implementing change your business, why not contact us.
It costs nothing to chat through what you are looking to achieve and the solutions we have to help make things happen.