Change nothing, and nothing changes – The Art of Managing Change

08 Feb Change nothing, and nothing changes – The Art of Managing Change

It is said that `Old ways will not open new doors’; nothing can be closer to truth than this. The only thing permanent in life and work is change. Greek philosopher Socrates had stated: The secret of change is focusing all energies on building the new and not fighting the old.

Considering that Socrates had spoken about change, we can see how old a phenomenon change happens to be. However, change in personal or organizational space continues to be dreaded even today. Agreed, change is a disruptor. It would be fair to assume that any intended change is expected to boost organizational efficiency eventually resulting in financial benefits. One has to positively and actively handle change. The key to a successful change management program lies in the process of implementation. Irrespective of the size of the organization, people are affected by impending changes in different ways. The focus therefore would be on those who look at change in a negative way and ensure no disruption happens while implementing the change.

Organizational changes entail several impactful decisions. Re-organization may imply positions becoming redundant, new systems may result in the trimming of workforces, and balancing of resources may mean movement to other locations. All of these are stressful and if not managed appropriately will result in significant insecurities causing disruptive behaviors amongst employees. This can have an adverse effect; one totally opposite to what the proposed change intended to achieve.

While the organization is undergoing some `bold’ but well thought out changes, there is every likelihood of an initial drop in efficiency in work performance, causing frustrations with a general feeling of negativity, even indignation. This initial, very vulnerable phase of the change process needs a deft and sensitive approach to dealing with the situation. There is the very real danger of positive people turning negative and rapidly so because of the influence of already negative people in the system who see this change as unnecessary. People engage aggressively with any willing listener and elaborate on the imaginary disasters the changes could result in.  This negativity is contagious and can derail the entire process. This must be dealt with head-on but also calls for resilience, which is necessary to overcome the initial hiccups.

Some specific areas of focus

It is essential to manage the change through change agents carefully selected based on defined criteria. Communication is key and is one of the ways to make the change process an inclusive process. Communication must necessarily include:

• Proposed changes
• Benefits of the changes both to organization and to employee
  • The answer for WIIFM (what’s in it for me)
• Timelines for the change process
• Likely problems to be faced during the process and proposed methods of handling the same
• Ways in which individual may be affected and ways to work around the same

People and their emotions need to be given critical attention because more often than not, change has a negative outcome if the people factor is ignored and a disproportionate focus is given to the financial benefits estimated to be gained.

Focus groups and identified professionals can deal with the anxieties of people during the change, and again this will need to be a well-managed process with careful planning having gone into it. Ad hoc interventions can only aggravate instead of alleviate the situation.

Further, the pace of change has to be such that it allows business to carry on as usual and does not overload people to the point where the business is disrupted and the expected benefits are not achieved.

People are at the heart of any change and ignoring people during process or system changes is a recipe for disaster. As said before, communication plays a key role and no matter how much is done in this area, it will not be adequate.  Constant communication – in plenary sessions, work groups, one-on-one mode – should be handled to ensure every person in the organization comprehends the significance of the positive impact the proposed change is bound to achieve.

A final thought for the leaders driving the change – be as adaptive as you expect your people to be. And remember:  Change is never painful. Only the resistance to change is. [The Buddha -The Minds Journal]