Today’s business climate is constantly changing and businesses either adapt to the changes or go under.  To keep up with the political, economic, or technological changes and thrive in the 21st-century organizations must have proper change management.

Change Management entails having a structured plan to enable individuals, teams, or organizations to move from a current position to a future desired position. Tools (techniques, models, methods) and control mechanism (processes and procedures) are what is required for change to efficiently and effectively happen.

The Three Levels of Change Management

For effective change management to take place it has to take place at three levels.

1. Individual

For an organization to successfully change, individuals need to change. The success of each project ultimately lies with each impacted employee doing their work differently.

Change is only successful when every staff member is on board so they need to be aware of the change, desire it, and know what role to play. Organizations must facilitate employees through their own personal change journeys.

2. Organization

To is successful in an environment of rapid and continual change, a business must build their change capability. Change management must be the norm on all projects and change processes are continually applied throughout the company.

People from the very top of the organization to the front line must know and fulfill their roles in leading change. Making change management a core capability brings impressive project success across the organization and builds your organization’s capacity to embrace and succeed at constant change.

3. Projects

While change happens one person at a time, project-level change management can help facilitate this change across groups. Here you prepare for change, manage the process and final reinforce the change taken.

Change Management is important for an organization because of it;

1. Improves Revenues

Solves problems reduces operation cost, helps seize emerging opportunities, or aligning work with strategy.

2. Helps in Remaining Profitable and Relevant

By remaining competitive through innovation companies can drive sales for their products. We no longer leave in a world changes occurs after 3 years. Businesses are facing complex and fast changes than ever before. An organization must, therefore, apply change management to enable it to build competencies that grow the organization’s ability to change as soon as they need arises. Only through changes can you remain relevant today. For example, social media has really changed how businesses operate so you have to change and incorporate it into your day to day operations.

3. Increases Probability of Project Success

Research is clear that the better an organization is on change management the more likely project objectives are met. Harvard Business school research shows that initiatives with excellent change management are six times more likely to meet objectives than those with poor change management.

4. Ensures a Match Between Requirements and Results

Through change management, you are aware of how to effectively equip and support people who will drive the change and bring it to life. You also have a process to have the right people in place to ensure success

Successful change management is not easy. Obstacles to change management are many and barriers to success include

1.  Lack of Executive Support

Senior Management can be the greatest barrier to change. If they don’t drive the change it is bound to fail. An absent leader gives employees as an indication of how important or unimportant change begin advocated is. Leadership must, therefore, get in and drive the change and mobilize support for the change required.

2. Inadequate Change Management Buy-in and Resourcing

Like any other area change management must be adequately financed. It has to be resourced according to the scope and scale of the change. A strong correlation between effective resourcing for change management activities and meeting project objectives has been found.

3. Resistance and Lack of Support for Change

Many people don’t like change and so resistance is to be expected especially with groups affected by the change. Lack of understanding of the business reasons for change could be the reason for resistance to make it clear to them, by explaining both the business reasons for the change and the benefit they get for the change.

4. Change-Resistant Culture and Organizational Structure

Internal politics, poor behavior control, and personal agendas can also help shape a change-resistant culture. So, take a holistic look at your organization and ask hard questions if the environment is friendly or Opposition to your change.

Conclusion

Managing change has never been more crucial. Change has become a must and those businesses that take change management seriously will definitely emerge ahead of the competition.  Change management will make your organization more successful on projects and help employees adapt faster, stay engaged during disruptive change, and understand the why of change. Change can have a strong positive or negative impact on staff morale so ensure you work with them as you start or further develop your change.