Crux of Change Management

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In the organizational context, when people talk of change, they associate the dreaded word with the way it personifies itself. 

Generally change is perceived in many ways, some of which are:

◙ Technological change happening as a result of major revamp or process upgrade which threatens to change the face of operations forever.

◙ Change in management, as a result of strategic sale, merger or acquisition by where your organization is the target.

◙ Major crisis that manifests itself as adoption of restrictive policies in the organization and retrenchment as a last ditch effort to contain costs and maintain profitability.

What has to change?

If change were only about the aspects brought out above or any other such aspect, it would not have been so difficult to cope with it, people would have adopted to change as it came. 

Change is not about technology, re-engineered processes, change in top management or even change in market conditions. Change is about human mindset. 

Other things that we discussed so far are about the way change manifests itself and not the change itself. Change is something that plays on human psychology as people perceive themselves being pushed out of their comfort zone. As people find themselves doing things that they were not used to, negative thoughts of privileges and comforts that they would lose begin to dominate their thinking, rather than the positives that they would gain if they endured the transition.

This negativity that so naturally establishes itself in the mind, makes the change look like a monster and reasons causing it the real villains in the game. So, what essentially has to change is “we”, so that requisite change in strategy, business model, processes and technology can be brought in.

What is change?

So what has to change is not the technology, process or strategy at marketplace but it is the mind of the people that has to change. Change in organizational context is only about shift in mindset of the people. 

What is change management?

With this understanding of change, change management can be defined as bringing the required shift in the people’s mindset, where they no longer worry about the happenings but in fact become part of it and emerge victorious rather than victims.  

Change management is not about implementing new technologies or re-engineered processes; it is about transforming people so that they view ongoing process as an opportunity for learning and commit themselves to make it a success. 

So change management is about creating and maintaining interest among people to participate in the ongoing efforts of transforming the organization and not let this enthusiasm fizzle out any cost.  

Well defined vision, communication, resource management, facilitation, training and other means of managing change that we come across in literature are all the ways of creating and sustaining enthusiasm in people.

Change and change management in precise

• Change is about shift in mindset of the people
• Change management is for creating and sustaining enthusiasm among people to change their ways

With this clarity, successful leaders have devised their own ways of transforming their people and achieve desired goals. This is around these unique and exemplary practices, that management experts have weaved different kinds of frameworks to help other companies change. 

(Source:  “Crux of Change Management”)