It has been said the only constant in business is change. Technology is moving at such a rapid pace that constant change has become the norm in most organizations, regardless of industry.

Elliot Markowitz

July 30, 2014

3 Min Read
3 Strategies for Successful Change Management

It has been said the only constant in business is change. Technology is moving at such a rapid pace that constant change has become the norm in most organizations, regardless of industry.

This goes well beyond technology deployments, IT infrastructure and computing purchasing. Mobile technology and cloud computing has turned the traditional business model on its head—from organizational structure to processes and procedures to customer service. No part, group or division of a company works the same way it did five years ago and if it does, it is falling behind.

Employees now have more say in technology purchasing, usage and applications. Many technology decisions now involve the approval of the CFO because there usually is a direct tie to potential efficiencies gained and the ROI must be there. Marketing has had to evolve its strategies to incorporate digital integration programs addressing brand awareness, thought leadership and lead generation, all at the same time.

To boot, these massive shifts in the way organizations are operating is occurring during a time of a prolonged recession, when hiring is still stagnant, training dollars are evaporating and investing in anything new is being reviewed to death. Regardless of these challenging economic and business times, organizations must continue to adapt to new ways of doing business, satisfy and reach their customers in the most streamlined fashion possible, and keep adopting new technology. It’s a tough task, but here are three critical areas that must be addressed to successful implement change in your company:

  1. Executive Buy-In: Any significant change must have executive support, plain and simple. Employees can see if a project or a new initiative is worth their while if they see their managers and the C-suite activity pushing it. So many good structural, procedural and sales and marketing changes have been sabotaged because there was no mandate from above. The same thing holds true for new technology implementations. ERP and CRM systems fail not because the technology doesn’t work, but rather senior management does not enforce the new programs. 

  2. Effective Communications: Many times companies are divided into silos and employees are happy having those walls. Their feeling is that if doesn’t affect their group then they don’t need to pay attention to it. That is why companywide communications coming from the executive level is a must when implementing any change, from complicated technology deployments to new marketing and brand strategies to even corporate culture changes. Never assume one division has communicated everything to another division. Tunnel vision runs rampant in business. Take the time to address the entire company and give regular updates on important business changes. Otherwise, your organization will not operate as one body with a common goal.

  3. Fair Accountability: With every process change, procedural change or structural change comes action items. Someone or a group of people are responsible for specific tasks. This needs to be made perfectly clear when introducing change. The go-to team must be decided and given the authority to get the resources they need companywide. That needs to be made known throughout the organization. Many people don’t respond well to doing tasks for people they don’t report to. However, if the objectives and who is responsible are made clear, then there are no excuses. There must be accountability for those tasked with implementing the change, but they must be set up to succeed and have the support of the entire organization. 

All business leaders know the world does not stop change because their specific line of business may be in a holding pattern. The key is to implement necessary change and do it correctly.

About the Author(s)

Elliot Markowitz

Elliot Markowitz is a veteran in channel publishing. He served as an editor at CRN for 11 years, was editorial director of webcasts and events at Ziff Davis, and also built the webcast group as editorial director at Nielsen Business Media. He's served in senior leadership roles across several channel brands.

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