subject: Leading Change Management-Leading Change Management Skills [print this page] Leading Change Management-Leading Change Management Skills
Leading Change Management
Change can be a very scary word. It at once can eliminate the sense of security, instill fear and paranoia, and be the best thing to ever happen to a company or individual. People sometimes tend to resist change in their own lives, this only compounds when change is introduced into the corporate world. Leading change management can be a difficult task to accomplish, especially if it is not approached in the right way.
Mentioning change can offset people in a number of ways. The first consideration when approaching change management is the attitudes of the employees. Some changes are necessary, but without the support of the people working in the company, it can be strenuous. One way to mitigate a negative attitude in employees is to take their thoughts into consideration. Make them feel like they are part of the change. Everyone wants to feel included, even the ones not making the decisions.
While considering the thoughts of the employees, remember what change can mean to them. Leading change management is not just about changing the processes. It can really have an effect on the minds and hearts of your employees that will be most affected. Try and understand the emotional and mental distress of large changes. People may fear that they are losing their jobs, being shuffled out of their comfort zone, or losing their responsibilities.
Some tactics to overcome these fears are to implement situational strategies that encourage people to participate in change. Another method is to inspire positive buy in from key employees. More importantly, focus on innovation versus reactive thinking. If an employee hears the news, they will automatically start thinking of how it will affect them. The bottom line for your employee is not how it affects the company, but how it affects them.
Another consideration for leading change management is the steps of change. In every company and situation, you may have an end goal in sight. That end goal may be a complete 180 from the current practices. People will resist such a large change if it happens all at once. However, if you take the change into incremental steps, you take away the wariness. People will support small, incremental change, but resist large change.
All in all, leading change management can be a difficult task if not undertaken properly. By diffusing resistance to change and creating readiness for the coming change, you allow your employees to be part of it. If they feel like they are part of the change, they are less likely to resist it all together. The main consideration for any change management is your employees. They can be the defining feature of whether change is accepted easily or not. Change is not always easy, but by taking these suggestions into consideration it can go over a lot easier.
