Tips To Make Change Work

Practical tips to address the natural response of resist attempts to change

1.         Learning from history

·         Provide change leaders with access to historical data, people surveys, culture assessments and ‘‘war stories,’’ as well as the people involved in previous projects

·         Learn from both good and bad experiences

2.         Make realistic assessments

·         Examine the project’s scope, likely impacts and expected outcomes

·         Assess the dimensions of the change – people, culture, behavior and organizational aspects, as well as process and technology impacts

·         Realistic in defining the necessary change and communicate that information widely within the organization.

3.         Plan and adjust

·         build a change plan to identify and address complexities

4.         Take the long view

·         Changing takes time, patience, and consistent and continuous activity

Practical tips to better manage change

1.         Integrate

·         Designate change management as a formal workstream and as a key part of overall project management

2.         Focus on the prize

3.         Keep the method consistent

·         Develop and promote a standard change method

·         Communicate this widely and monitor its adoption

4.         Teach future leaders the method

Shared from:

Hans Henrik Jørgensen, Lawrence Owen, Andreas Neus, (2009),"Stop Improvising Change Management!", Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 37 Iss: 2 pp. 38 - 44