Driving organizational change - 5 tips for leaders

Change Works Ltd Leadership and team development

Driving organizational change - 5 tips for leaders

https://www.changeworksltd.co.th/course/leading-and-driving-change/

In any organization, change is inevitable. It could be a small and incremental change that the organization needs to undertake to continuously evolve or a big-scale change that involves a radical shift in the direction in which the business is going. Oftentimes, these changes are driven by pressure or necessity. As a leader, you have an important role when it comes to driving organizational change.

Here are some tips on how to drive organizational change:

1. Communicate the change

It's important to communicate the change to your subordinates. You need to plan an effective strategy for communicating the change you want to impose. You need to determine what to communicate and who needs to know. Timing is crucial. If you announce too early, it could give everyone in your organization more time to think, worry, or speculate. If you wait until the last minute, you will also catch people off-guard.

Here are some rules of thumb when communicating change:

• Be clear and honest

• Use empathy

• Set expectations

• Let them know why and what needs to be done

2. Choose your champions

It's important that you get the support of people at all levels of your organization. This may not be an easy task, but with the help of the right people, you can do it. You need to choose your champions (or representatives) at all levels. You can hold meetings or discussions to get feedback about the blockers and how to remove them.

3. Expect pitfalls

It's normal to have an adjustment period after a change. During this stage, you may encounter pitfalls. If you are caught unprepared, it could jeopardize your initiatives. To avoid this, it's important to anticipate any potential pitfalls during your planning stage. With proper planning on what to do in case a problem arises after a change, you could easily implement a solution.

4. Be open to changes

When there's a plan to change, be open to possible changes in your plan. Any idea of creating a change will remain an idea until you fully implement it. Be open to tweaking that idea if it means getting better results. The earlier you do it, the better. It's important to note that once you fully implement a change, making any changes to it could be costly. Apart from that, it could also negatively impact your credibility.

5. Celebrate successes

Once you go live with the change, celebrate it as an important milestone. Even if the change is painful to some, celebrate still, but focus on the positives. Celebrating successes could greatly boost the morale of the people who supported the change.

If you want to learn how to drive organizational change, Change Works can help you. Our program, Leading and Driving Change, is designed to help leaders successfully drive and inspire others through positive change.