Change
management is a systematic approach to dealing with change, both from the
perspective of an organization and on the individual level. A somewhat
ambiguous term, change management has at least three different aspects,
including: adapting to change, controlling change,
and effecting change. A proactive approach to dealing with change is at the
core of all three aspects. For an organization, change management means defining and implementing procedures and/or technologies to deal with changes in the business environment and to
profit from changing opportunities.
STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL CHANGE'
American
John P Kotter (b 1947) is a Harvard Business School professor and leading
thinker and author on organizational change management. Kotter's highly
regarded books 'Leading Change' (1995) and the follow-up 'The Heart of Change'
(2002) describe a helpful model for understanding and managing change. Each
stage acknowledges a key principle identified by Kotter relating to people's
response and approach to change, in which people see, feel and then change.
Kotter's
eight step change model can be summarized as:
1. Increase
urgency - inspire people to move, make
objectives real and relevant.
2. Build the
guiding team - get the
right people in place with the right emotional commitment, and the right mix of
skills and levels.
3. Get the
vision right - get the
team to establish a simple vision and strategy focus on emotional and creative
aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency.
4. Communicate
for buy-in - Involve
as many people as possible, communicate the essentials, simply, and to appeal
and respond to people's needs. De-clutter communications - make technology work
for you rather than against.
5. Empowers
action - Remove obstacles, enable
constructive feedback and lots of support from leaders - reward and recognize
progress and achievements.
6. Create
short-term wins
- Set aims that are easy to achieve - in bite-size chunks. Manageable numbers
of initiatives. Finish current stages before starting new ones.
7. Don't let
up - Foster and encourage
determination and persistence - ongoing change - encourage ongoing progress
reporting - highlight achieved and future milestones.
8. Make
change stick -
Reinforce the value of successful change via recruitment, promotion, and new
change leaders. Weave change into culture.
.. ........................... By Syekeye Mathayo ...........................
