There may come a time when your organization would benefit from some changes. Implementing these changes in the right way can lead to tremendous benefits for your organization and help your business grow. To execute these changes effectively, you’ll need to consider the different strategies at your disposal. In this article, we discuss the benefits of organizational change and provide you with eight different strategies you can use to implement change within your organization.
Recommended
The benefits of organizational change
Implementing changes within your organization can provide many benefits, including:
-
Encouraging innovation
-
Helping employees develop new skills
-
Increasing efficiency and productivity
-
Improving staff morale
-
Cutting costs or increasing revenue
-
Developing new skills
-
Improving communication
-
Giving you a competitive edge
-
Increasing your market share
-
Improving customer service
Implementing large organizational changes can take a considerable amount of time and resources, but these benefits make it worth the effort. This is why it is important to adopt strategies that will allow you to optimize this process.
8 different strategies for implementing organizational change
To carry out a major change within your organization, you can take a few different approaches. Here are eight strategies you can implement during your next major change to help things go more smoothly:
1. Plan out the change
The best strategy for implementing change in your organization is to create a plan. You should detail everything about the change before you get started on the process. Some of the questions you will want to answer during your planning include:
-
Who does the change impact?
-
What size does the change need to be?
-
What is the timeline of the change?
-
What steps are involved in the change?
-
What will the change cost?
-
Who is responsible for implementing the change?
Answering these types of questions before you start offers several benefits. For example, it allows you to identify potential issues before they arise so that you can better prepare for them. It can also help your organization implement the change more easily and quickly.
2. Strive for regular changes
It is often easier to implement change within an organization when employees experience changes regularly. Changes that come infrequently are more jarring and, therefore, more challenging to adapt to. As a leader in your organization, you should always be on the lookout for ways to improve your business through change so that your team members do not become too accustomed to their current ways.
Your goal is to have employees who are comfortable with change, and you can reach this goal by implementing change more frequently. However, all changes should be done for a reason. So, even if they are minor, only make changes that can help improve your business processes.
3. Create stability
While change is good, it needs a solid foundation to rest on. There should be certain foundational things about your business that remain consistent. For example, you can keep your organization’s values and mission statements the same while changing how employees operate. After making a change, your organization’s employees should feel like they are working for the same company, just in a different way.
Before making a change, you should write down your organization’s core principles. Keep these in mind as you implement any change, as they will help determine how you carry out the process.
4. Let others have a say
People have an easier time adapting to change when they play a role in creating that change. Whenever your organization needs to make a change, it’s a good idea to include more people in the decision-making process. Ask for advice on what changes to make or the best ways to implement those changes. This will not only help others feel more involved with the change, but it may open you up to ideas you had not previously considered.
5. Give reasons for the change
When making a change within your organization, it’s important the supply your colleagues with reasons for that change. This will help them understand the reasoning behind it and make your decision seem less arbitrary. You can start by providing the logical reasons for the changes, such as increasing revenue, decreasing costs or improving productivity.
Besides the logical reasons, also provides some emotional reasons. Talk about the benefits employees can expect to see from these changes, such as exciting new projects, a more creative atmosphere or closer team relationships. The logical reasons help employees understand why a change is needed, while the emotional reasons can help them embrace this change as something positive to look forward to.
6. Offer incentives
A good way to get more employees excited about an organizational change is by offering incentives. Incentives encourage employees to try out the change sooner and start adapting to it. For example, you could offer a party at the end of the week if each employee uses your new project management tracking system each day. Other incentives could include paid time off, gift cards, awards or small prizes.
7. Package the change
How you present the change to employees in your organization will impact how quickly they embrace it. Aim to present the change in a fun or interesting way to help people remember it. For example, you could order lunch for the group and provide a personal demonstration of new software rather than sending out a mass email with instructions. If you discuss the change in person, you can also explain the benefits and answer any questions people may have about it. Some people can be resistant to change, so it is crucial to present changes effectively.
8. Lead by example
To get others to embrace a change, you need to embrace it yourself. Talk about the change with a positive attitude, and demonstrate the change yourself whenever you can. For example, if you are training new employees in your department, you should take the initiative to get to know them and make them feel comfortable with the current processes and procedures.
Participating in the change can help encourage others to join in. Additionally, employees are less likely to feel like you are forcing a change upon them and may instead believe that you are making a positive change that impacts everyone, including yourself.
I hope you find this article helpful.
