3 Strategies for Successful Change Management

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. 

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.

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.