One of the biggest challenges an organization faces is change.  Change can cause disruption not only in operations and procedures but can have a material impact on the culture of the organization. Manage change with flawless communication and a well-thought through content plan and the cultural of the organization may thrive.  Attempt to make changes to an organization with a mismanaged approach and the wheels can come off the company.

I have been involved in several wholesale changes both in my corporate career as well as my role as an Interim Executive Manager.  Each of these environments require that trust is built from the leadership level and cascaded throughout the organization that change is in the best interests of all involved.  With solid trust, even the most complicated and disruptive changes can occur flawlessly.  Building that trust, on the other hand, is not an easy task.

While trust needs to be built well in advance of any change, here are few steps to effectively implement change and ultimately build organizational confidence along the way:

Clear Vision, Objectives and Leadership:  It all starts with a clear, concise plan on why the change is necessary and ultimately, what success looks like.  Leadership plays a huge role here to help provide a path to why this change aligns with the organization’s strategic plan and how this change will impact the team.  If the objectives are vague, the organization will have a hard time getting behind the change and begin to question what the real agenda is.

Stakeholder Engagement:  When I was at Clark, we had many stakeholders that each had their own perspective on all changes that we implemented.  Our stakeholders included our private equity owners; the employees; franchisees; dealers; our customers; our vendors; and even our media partners.  While the change message may have had an overall objective, each of these audiences needed to hear how that overall change was going to impact their respective areas.  Carefully addressing each of these audiences can make the overall change message significantly more effective.

Communication Plan:  This is the road map.  Not only will the communication plan outline all the content associated with the change, but also the timing.  With multiple audiences, the sequence of content delivery needs to be carefully orchestrated, or a communication disaster can occur.  Develop a phased or full rollout plan with timelines, milestones, and responsibilities, including contingency planning.  The last thing you want to occur is to have an employee hearing about the change in advance of their boss.

Change Impact Assessment:  As part of the overall change plan, great efforts should be made to help equip employees with the knowledge and skills needed for the change.   While the initial announcement may create a “state of shock” for all impacted, it is directly on the shoulders of leadership to provide support mechanisms such as coaching or help desks.   The leadership team should understand in advance how change affects processes, people, technology, and structures and to use all tools available to mitigate the impact.

Resistance Management:  Let’s face it, people hate change.  No matter how positive a change may be, the fear of the unknown will permeate throughout an organization’s culture.  The leadership needs to anticipate and address employee resistance through empathy, feedback, and engagement.  Gaining buy-in from constituents requires the leadership team to actively seek involvement; provide incentives; and communicate transparently.

Whoever tells you that change is easy, is lying.  Change and disruption to the status quo always presents a challenge no matter how well thought-out the plan may be.  Further complicating this change are the number of different stakeholders that are required to hear the message and somehow, someway that must be done in a cohesive fashion.  Ultimately, it’s the leadership of the organization that can determine the success of the change.

Want more ideas?  For more information on Gray Cat Learning Series, visit: https://www.graycatenterprises.com/gray-cat-learning-series