Maintaining morale and motivation (as well as productivity and excellent customer service) during times of change is always a challenge, which is why effective change management is so much more than just a process to be followed.

Companies quite rightly invest a lot of time, money and effort in designing, planning and implementing changes to make their businesses more competitive and profitable. Other organisations do it to make themselves more effective as well. However, many don’t involve, or communicate with, their people at an early enough stage, which often results in fear and anxiety and encourages rumours to take hold and become ‘fact’ – all of which are avoidable with thoughtful planning.

Timely involvement and clear, effective, jargon-free communications are key to the successful implementation of any change programme – focusing on how individuals can make the changes work for them whilst at the same time recognising where they are on the change curve at any given time and helping them to feel more confident about embracing the new ways of working.

The business aim should therefore be to implement the changes and get back to a state of ‘business as usual’ as quickly as possible, involving and taking your people with you rather than leaving them behind and feeling ‘done to’.

It’s all about creating commitment rather than compliance.

Three steps to success

• Timely and genuine involvement
• Clear two-way communication using a strategy and plan that not only reflect the implementation timetable but also the trajectory of the change curve
• Proactive support at all stages of the change implementation

How can we help you?

• Assisting in creating a change communications strategy and plan that will facilitate the change in behaviour required and take you through implementation and beyond
• Coaching managers and implementation teams on how to involve people at an early stage and recognise the impact of the proposed changes on people in the business
• Coaching managers, change facilitators and support teams on understanding the reasons for resistance to change and how that resistance can be turned into acceptance and understanding

Our thanks to Kate for writing this page.