Effectively Managing Change (Part 1)

Studies have repeatedly shown that change initiatives fail nearly 70% of the time. It would be ludicrous however to suggest that you don’t know how to manage change – of course you do. The challenge lies in the frequency and duration of change. Today we are dealing with more changes, more frequently than ever before.

In a recent talk I gave to a group of senior executives, I outlined the six principles of effectively managing change. Here are the top three:

1. Mindset: Our receptivity and willingness to embrace change determines how effective we will be. We need to prompt and request (not wait for) diverse input, spending time considering how the feedback will help or hinder the change initiative planned. If you don’t get the feedback now, you will get it later. A good time to be proactive.

2. Priority: We need to identify which changes are our greatest priority, and most importantly we need to engage others in this assessment. If everything’s a priority, then nothing is a priority.

3. Comfort: We need to help others (employees, stakeholders) feel comfortable in change. When Maple Leaf encountered the listeria outbreak, they focused their efforts on helping others (employees, customers, shareholders, the media) to become comfortable again with the organization. How are you helping your stakeholders be more comfortable in change?

Watch for our next post to see the remaining principles to effectively managing change.

© Shawn Casemore 2013. All rights reserved.