Change is perhaps the defining word of our times.
From political regimes to technological innovation, the world is changing at a breakneck pace, and businesses around the globe are struggling to catch up.
While businesses can do a lot themselves to weather the various storms that batter their shores, there are also many cases where it’s appropriate to bring in help. One form of assistance lies in the form of professional change management, but why exactly is it so crucial for businesses? Let’s take a look with insights from the team at MovePlan.
What is change management?
Change management refers to the set of procedures that are implemented with the aim of bringing about a smooth, successful transformation process within an organisation. Often, this is facilitated by a professional external provider, who can be bright in to help implement certain systems and practices.
Why is change management crucial?
As the name may suggest, change management can have a massively positive impact on a business’s ability to successfully enact change.
Empowering people
At the heart of many change management strategies lies the belief that successful change depends on empowering individuals. Rather than enacting change measures themselves, change management professionals tend to come into an organisation with the goal of empowering the people that run that organisation, at every level, to affect those changes themselves.
This enables change to be made in a manner that’s sustainable, both in the moment and moving forward; often, it’s people within an organisation itself who are most resistant to change. Preparing those individuals, empowering them to make impactful changes themselves and calming any fears allows change to be made without negative resistance.
Implementing effective strategy
While it might be your business’s first time undergoing a period of such dramatic transition, for change management professionals, it’s something they’ve seen hundreds of times before. In short, that means that they know what works; they don’t have to mess around with different strategies, working things out via trial and error – they come in, see what’s what and know what strategy will be most successful.
They will then help the employees at the company, from the receptionist to the CEO, implement those systems and processes themselves. In doing so, this method of enacting change provides the employees of the company with real insight and clarity into how things will progress going forward, promoting a sense of stability during otherwise tumultuous times.
Change that works
The end result is that businesses manage to effect change that actually works – that’s why change management is truly crucial. Often, transitioning during a crisis can result in a company tanking, in time becoming insolvent or ending up with a brand that’s simply obsolete.
In essence, change management offers the best opportunity for businesses to weather all manner of storms, coming out afloat on the other side with a sense of meaningful direction.
