Change is a constant. It always is occurring and organizations that understand, embrace and prepare for change are more likely to have a competitive advantage.

One of the desired outcomes of strategic planning is the decision to change how an organization operates. This change may be straightforward, such as pursuing a new market, or be complex, such as changing the organization's culture to be more innovative. Creating a plan for managing the transition is how the organization is able to quickly integrate the strategic initiative into its operations.

There are two elements of successful change initiatives: managing processes and managing people.

From a process perspective change management means defining changes in how activities are conducted. As part of that assessment necessary resources, capabilities and skill gaps are identified and acquired.

From the people side change management means guiding individuals to embrace the change. Behavioral sciences tell us that individuals transition through stages of change. Faced with change people initially resist, then accept, then commit to change. Individuals have varying tolerance for change depending upon their experiences, their personality and the organization's culture. We see a variety of reactions to strategic initiatives: some workers are immediately accepting, while others seem to resist every step of the way, and still others never do commit. On a macro scale we can take actions to facilitate organizational acceptance and we can implement actions to enhance individual commitment.

Managing change starts with identifying process and capabilities changes. It is successful when the stages of a transition are understood; when the stages that individuals, work units and the overall organization are in are revealed by behavior; and when actions are taken to move individuals - and the organization - through the identified stages of change so that they arrive at a place of commitment.

Contact us to help you manage the changes you desire for your organization.