Strategic change management allows companies to carefully and responsibly make needed changes.
A strategic change management strategy is needed because companies face daily changes such as launching a new product or restructuring the organization. In order to prevent organizational disarray, companies need to make changes through careful planning.
In other words, strategic change management is the process of managing change in a structured, thoughtful way in order to meet organizational goals, objectives and missions. Change is necessary for organizations to continue to thrive and meet and exceed the competition of industry competitors.
There are several different models that companies use to guide their organization through change. The steps might include something along these lines:
- Establishing a sense of urgency, or making sure that there is a need for the change and that people understand that need
- Creating a guiding coalition of supporters that can help model the new change and work well together as a team
- Developing both vision and strategy, a “picture” of where the company is going and the steps for how to get there
- Communicating that vision to employees in a way that is easy to understand
- Empowering employees throughout the company to act on making the change possible
- Generating short-term wins or small celebrations along the way to celebrate and encourage success
- Consolidating what is learned from the current change to help the company improve the change process in the future
- Anchoring the change in the corporate culture through strategies, such as making clear links to performance, profit and customer satisfaction
Change often brings about challenges. One of those challenges involves preparation for anticipated resistance. This also requires thinking ahead. In creating a strategy for change management, identify where resistance can be expected:
- Are particular regions or divisions impacted differently than others?
- Were certain groups advocating a different solution to the same problem?
- Are some groups heavily invested with how things are done today?
By identifying resistance, you can plan special tactics to overcome it before it begins.
There’s much more to learn. Tonex offers Strategic Change Management Training, a 2-day course that covers principals, strategies, and approaches required to effective change management.
Additionally, Tonex offers 120 different courses in a dozen categories in Leadership training.
For more information, questions, comments, contact us.