What is Change Management

“The only constant in life is change.” Heraclitus

Changes have always been omnipresent and affect all areas of life. Change can happen on different levels. 

• The personal change focuses on the change of a person. Your New Year's Resolution or dealing with bad habits. Personal changes can use coaching to be successful.

• Team-related changes deal with the change of a team or a department. For example, implementing a new software product in your customer service or merging two departments.

• Organizational change focuses on the change of the complete organization. For example, a new brand positioning, implementing new structures, or M & A.

As change can happen on different levels the change management plan must always be individual. 

• But how does successful change work? 

• Is it all about short-term wins? 

• What do you have to implement? 

• And what is necessary to sustain the change?

If you want to sustain the change in a company and manage successful change, it is very important to focus on the whole organization, the people side, the leaders and the leadership style, the resources, and the teams. Your specific business, the use of new technology, the process of how to support the change, the specific change benefits, and an overview of tools can help you in the implementation process of change management.

However, change management normally requires workshops and training courses as people need to be involved in the change process and thy need additional resources (training) to change their mindset.

The "WHY" of Change

People who are affected by a change must be aware of the "why". 

• Why are the changes necessary? 

• Why must the change take place now? 

• And why do I have to change?

In addition to the "why" they must understand "What is is for me?".

If they don't understand why the change is important and what is personally in for them, it will be very hard to finish a change process successfully.

In a nutshell: What is Change Management?

Change management is a structured and holistic process that starts with the definition of the change and the objective, but also includes the target groups and success factors as well as the topics of leadership, corporate culture, and communication. Change management focuses on people, leaders, teams, and resources to manage change.

Change management always considers the goals pursued, the process of change, and the processes that need to be changed. Change management thus helps to relate the individual actors and topics of change to one another and to achieve the best possible solution overall.

Change management always tries to take best practices into account and therefore uses change models. But it is also very important to focus on the different types of organizational change.

Types of organizational change

Why is change management important for your organization?

Organizational Change management can be used in an organization or team. Continuous development contributes to the fact that organizations must be able to survive in the rapidly changing world that surrounds and directly influences them.

Changes can have a serious impact on the existing structure of organizations and, in the process affect, for example, its organizational structures and processes. New departments are created or an existing team is merged with another team. Existing workflows are made more efficient or automated, or new processes are introduced. 

Best Practices of Change Management

The PROSCI change approach is a systematic approach that focuses on the resistance of the people, the resources, and the challenges which need to be taken. Short-term and long-term wins are considered and the ADKAR methodology helps companies in their change initiative to take the right steps.

But it is not so easy to change a company as it might be your interpretation when reading this article. Change is complex and hard to predict. The PROSCI Change Management Model is surely one of the best models in the world, but only if you understand it in-depth and can manage change in the right way.

Focus on the whole cake!

The implementation of change management helps companies and leaders to manage challenges and to implement the necessary technology and to use the right tools.

Changes not only affect structures and processes, but they also influence the levels of the social fabric or the work behavior of employees. Changed framework conditions such as flexible working hours and performance-based compensation models play an important role within an organization. New management tools - such as the implementation of 360° feedback or a different style of leadership- also require managers to deal with their employees differently.

An organization that uses change management in combination with necessary tools, benefits, resources, training, measures, and technology will benefit from the changed human mindset for many years. The implementation of change management will help the leaders in future challenges.

Questions you should ask in any change project:

• Why or for what purpose is the change or the transition necessary?​ 

• What is the objective of change and what exactly should have been changed once the goal is reached? 

• Which processes are affected? 

• Who is affected by the transition? 

• How exactly is the goal defined? 

• What is the status quo and what is your change strategy to get things done? 

• Have you created a change plan and who is responsible for the change process? 

• How do you measure and monitor the progress? 

• Has the goal been achieved sustainably? 

• Did you celebrate success?

Objectives of change management

Analyze your company before you start a change project!

Do you have a good strategy? Are you achieving your desired goals?

When setting up a successful business strategy, it is always helpful to start with a different analysis to get an overview.

A SWOT analysis helps you to get a better understanding of your Strengths, Weaknesses, opportunities, and Threats. Those different perspectives will make it easier for you to set up your change strategy and start with a concrete action plan.

You can use a GAP analysis to identify the gaps in your organization.

• Do you know how your employees are acting in day-to-day business? 

• How long do your processes take? 

• Do you exactly know how many employees you need to perform the whole workload of a year? 

• Do you have a good strategy to take care of all of your risks? 

• Are you satisfied with your leadership team?

A PESTEL analysis might be a good way for your company to get an overview of different external aspects. This kind of analysis focuses on the following perspectives: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal.

Therefore, it can help you to get insights into these perspectives and lead you to new ideas. A PESTEL analysis is always helpful in a long-term view.

You should also be aware of additional risks from a holistic view:

• Financial risks - Risks arising from current income and expenses 

• Estimation risks - Risks arising from annual planning and actual development 

• Fraud risks - Risks arising from fraud or embezzlement 

• Process risks - Risks arising from inefficient processes 

• Employment risks - Risks arising from staff absences or staff turnover 

• Organizational risks - Risks arising from organizational problems 

• Experience-based risks - Risks arising from new processes or risks that arise because the previous knowledge holders are not available 

• Compliance risks - Risks that arise due to problems in complying with all regulatory requirements

At GRIFFOX we believe that it is always essential to examine the status quo and the strategy for achieving the goal. However, we consider it just as important to deal with the factors influencing the achievement of goals. 

This can be the economic situation of the company as well as the customer side, sales aspects, or communication with the customers. It is also important to understand, how the process is structured or, why organizational leadership development is necessary.

• Who is manufacturing or distributing your products?

• Who is responsible for customer satisfaction?

• Who ensures the quality of your services?

• If the customer is not satisfied with the quality provided, this will always lead to problems sooner or later.

A strategic change view helps you to analyze your specific situation and to set up an individualized action plan like Change communication. This planning must include time planning and resource planning. 

Milestones will help you to keep your project running in the right direction. After the completion of the project, an evaluation should take place.

Lessons learned or feedback rounds will give you additional insights for your next project. 

Strategy consulting can take on many different perspectives.

GRIFFOX can support you in every step of that process to ensure that the most efficient action plan is developed and implemented in your organization. Contributions to the project therefore consist of: 

• the moderation of workshops using professional methods 

• the implementation of training for team or project leaders, e.g. regarding the topics of meeting facilitation, project management, conflict management, or group leadership 

• the support of the project organization and the project planning 

• the collection and analysis of information 

• the preparation and follow-up of project meetings, e.g. setting 

• the agenda or writing the minutes 

• the support in the preparation of presentation materials 

• the action planning and project management 

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us! contact@griffox.com