How to manage organisational change
Generic managing change processes or packaged systems

You can get "off-the-shelf" change management programmes. Marketing in change management is designed to pursued you that managing change is required if you are to maintain or improve your market position. Whilst this is true that does not mean to say that packaged change management systems are the solution. The problem with buying the latest change management flavour of the month marketing forces will produce another irresistible change management initiative for you to buy. My view is that regardless of whether these managing change initiatives have been successful elsewhere they do not guarantee managing change success for your company. You must always ask is there a better way to achieve managing change? Many would subscribe to generic change management processes without the limitations and prejudices imposed by packaged managing change management programmes.

The key to effective managing change flows from the sound management of the processes for cultural change, strategic and business planning, role and process design, management development and performance management.

Therefore before embarking upon managing change first review the quality and effectiveness of what you currently have in place, and then design a change management programme that is tailored specifically for you. Ideally an managing change programme contains only those new processes or improvements to existing processes that are shown to be necessary. The change management process should ensure that not only has effective managing change been achieved but that a change management culture has been created.

The following represents a brief insight into processes impacting upon managing change.

Culture and managing change

Many organisations undertake reorganisation changes on the assumption that this is all that is needed to keep the organisation energised and focussed on managing change initiatives. Whilst this can help maintain cultural vitality it is implementation of the vision and values in the Strategic Plan that will drive the culture and managing change initiatives.

Establishing a culture of constant managing change is essential for long term organisational success. Once a culture is successfully changed management will be relieved of the daily operational struggle to focus on value adding managing change initiatives. This represents more effective utilisation of valuable resources.

Managing change and strategic planning

Strategic planning for managing change ensures that an organisation is doing the right things. In the context of a change management programme, a strategic plan explains what managing change is needed. Once it has determined what are the right things to do, managing change devolves accountability to change management for doing them right.

In large organisations, strategic managing change plans may be prepared at different levels in the organisation and/or define the role of particular functions across the whole organisation. Corporate managing change planning is the highest form of strategic planning. Smaller organisations do not need this many plans, and often have only have one managing change plan, which is covers the Strategic and Business Plan.

The strategic managing change planning process first identifies ‘critical stakeholder needs’ and environmental threats to success. It examines current competencies, values and resources to determine what managing change and development is needed to respond to these needs, threats and opportunities. Strategic managing change plans usually contain a vision and/or mission, corporate values, SMART objectives and broad aims. The strategies define the products, and/or services to be delivered, markets to be served, key result areas, processes and technologies that will be used to deliver them.

Business planning for successful managing change

If strategic managing change plans explain what the organisation must achieve, business plans explain how they will achieve it and change management is the process for delivering the strategic requirement. The strategic managing change plan and consequent change management process will ensure that the business will be viable.

Business Plans may be used inside the organisation to provide direction to staff and outside the organisation when seeking investment funds. They should contain managing change and development strategies for marketing, operations, human resource management and financial management.

Is job and process re-design the heart of managing change

The purpose of job and process redesign is to ensure that the people are employed within the process chain that enables them to optimise their contribution, to realise their potential and to maximise their contribution in implementing managing change strategies. All organisations or organisational units, both large and small, can benefit from redesign Good redesign aligns resources with the managing change strategies being pursued. Redesign is driven by effective resource use not downsizing.

Management development for change management skills

The skills needed by managers in organisations ready for change management is quite different from those associated with traditional operations management. Skills in change management enable managers to build constructive relationships with their team members, fellow managers, strategic partners, etc, as it is all agents working in unison that will enable the organisation to achieve its strategic managing change goals. Communication, motivation and leadership skills are essential for effective change management. They lead change management missions by example, modelling the new behaviours that they expect of their staff. Because they need to make strategic managing change decisions they have developed an ability to step back and see the big picture. Therefore managers equipped with the skills needed for managing change are not afraid to delegate.

Performance management driving managing change

Managers ready to take on managing change missions will be experienced in integrating performance management into business planning. This integration is achieved by first establishing the common managing change goals that will drive business plans and then linking the managing change goals to the roles, competences and performance improvement measures needed to achieve them.

Individual performance development plans therefore should include assessment of role requirements and competencies needed to achieve managing change goals, mapping career and linking to developmental plans, establishing performance improvement actions and agreement on organisational resources and support requirements.

A performance management system will only be effective in supporting managing change if it is objective, valued by both employees and managers, judged to be fair and realistic and proven to make a positive contribution to personal and organisational development.