Best Step Forward

Bringing about change is hard work. It requires support from the top, motivation of those who are affected by it, and orchestration from within.

- Neharika Vohra

There is no manager in the world who does not possibly know that bringing about change is difficult. The fact that people resist change and it is difficult to persuade others to do what you want is also well known. Research on change planning and implementation shows that changes attempted by managers are more often a failure than success.

There might be several changes that are unplanned. However, this article is only about changes that are planned. At the heart of all planned changes, there is a proposer and there is possibly a team that translates the idea into an action, and there are people who are affected by it and have to behave differently for it to be successful. Planned change mainly involves influencing the behaviour of various stakeholders involved in it. Thus, the focus for a change agent in managing a change effort has to be on understanding, empathising, and motivating people.

The thoughts on managing change may be categorised under three broad heads—planning, communicating, and implementing change.

Planning for change

Involve relevant stakeholders in the identification of the problem

We see the world not as it is but as we are. So, trying to define the problem through how we see the issue would be limited and not even be accurate. Investment in listening to varied perspectives would itself lead to a superior definition of the problem. Also, the proposer of change is likely to face least resistance to change when those most affected by it were involved in the articulation of the problem and the possible solution.

Be mindful of your responses to criticism of your ideas