News
Techniques addressing the barriers of managing change
According to Charles Macadam, managing change can be fraught with barriers and internal politics. He provides guidelines on how to approach these problems.
The current economic climate has brought about great opportunities for management to develop a new corporate image – to develop synergies with their staff and establish common values and goals.
This potentially invigorating situation can drive the organisation forward by improving productivity and generating new attitudes. However, there are barriers, often produced by an organisational inability to forge lasting trust and honesty between senior management and the workforce.
Instead of using common sense and skills for problem solving, these groups become immersed in the politics of power and intractability. Too often, the barrier – which could be broken – becomes the Berlin Wall, with management and employees behaving like countries at war instead of co-operative groups in one organisation with a common goal.
Organisational effectiveness
Recent statistical evidence reflects that most UK organisations are no more than 30 per cent effective overall. Such dispiriting findings may be countered by the knowledge that any group of 15-20 shopfloor workers can themselves create a 25 per cent improvement in productivity or a 50 per cent cut in waste in the space of two days without spending any money – provided that managers will let them.
From this, we should glean something significant. Do not underestimate the practical knowledge and experience which employees can bring to productivity issues. They are, after all, the people who make the product or provide the service and usually have a sound knowledge of what makes these things happen and what could be done to achieve this faster and better.
However, unless management is prepared to listen to new ideas and introduce some of them, workplace and productivity stalemate will continue. The key message here is not to let a lack of paper qualifications become an automatic barrier to problem solving and the creation of solutions as is sometimes the case. Before spending on fees for external management consultancy, most organisations can access valuable sources closer to home.
Do you investigate issues with your own teams – be they in human resources (HR), productivity quality or problem solving, as four examples – to see what team members think and how they would go about solving these issues? It costs little more than time yet, in terms of the barriers referred to above, can also provide an excellent bonding process between management and staff, while improving productivity and profits. Managers, therefore, need to be open to opportunities for involving employees at any level to help drive the corporate machine.
Reversing negative attitudes
In most industrial and service sectors, examples of barriers between management can be seen where the attitude in some levels of management borders on complacency. Reversing these attitudes takes time, effort, will, and also requires a desire to change backed by a capability to implement that change for organisational benefit. The first steps of such a focus can produce startling results, enabling us to understand more about ourselves and how we react to managing changing situations.
Change, after all, brings out the best in some people and the worst in others, so its management is a vital skill, particularly in ever-changing economic and commercial environments. For example, the recession of the early 1990s created rapid change, sometimes where it was least expected, but those organisations which have been most flexible and responsive have emerged as winners.
As a second example, downsizing has given people the opportunity to explore new areas of work and develop new skills. It has also brought a feeling of loss of value – a fear that one’s name may be next on the redundancy list, or a belief that the company does not care about its people. All these feelings are negative and unproductive. Usually, the fears about a lack of corporate care are unfounded since any company has to deliver a product at a price which is competitive in the marketplace. Companies also know that a happy workforce is a productive workforce.
However, change is frequent in most organisations, and some of it radically affects the day-to-day working environment. Staff may be asked to change departments, learn new skills, rediscover old ones, take over additional responsibilities, work a shorter week or cut their overtime. Often their first feelings and subsequent reactions cover:
- Resentment;
- Depression;
- Distrust;
- Stress;
- Disloyalty; and
- Lack of productivity
How can these be reversed? By welcoming change and recognising the opportunities it can bring. So where is the problem? Many people are resistant to change because they might have been in their job for years and do not want the challenge of learning new skills, or they may feel stressed when required to move out of established comfort zones.
Leaving the comfort zone
It is HR and management’s job to help them understand that leaving a comfort zone can be a productive move if, as individuals, they want to expand their knowledge and reach new goals.
To achieve this, oganisations should encourage individuals to:
- Welcome change;
- Seek new opportunities;
- Accept the challenge;
- Enjoy learning new skills;
- Develop through new experiences; and
- Think and act positively
Getting in control of emotions in relation to change is just as important as setting professional goals. Once change is accepted as inevitable and is welcomed, the potential benefits emerge when negative attitudes are reversed.
For example, by constructively planning time in relation to new tasks and goals, an individual becomes better equipped to enjoy the changes. This may be at purely personal levels where a reaction may have a knock-on effect on others, especially where teams of people are at work. Here, leadership and motivation after change are key if an increase in productivity is the objective.
Apart from attitudes, workplace skills in environments of rapid change present another challenge where the focus in on flexibility and how people adapt to changing work patterns.
For example, technology has emerged as quiet revolution in many respects and, in most cases, users have learned new skills in order to cope. However, it is acknowledged that younger team members have grown up with computers and are naturally enthusiastic or adaptable in learning a new software package. For older people, the transition is not that easy.
They have had to overcome resistance and a lack of confidence in their ability to learn new concepts. In practice, most seem to manage the transition and find a new freedom, while others resist and dig in their heels. Interestingly, in our experience, it has been the older generation of management which has been the more enthusiastic about IT skills, while middle managers have been the most resistant.
There is also a new element of attributes within IT departments. Practitioners there are not only expected to be excellent specialists, but are also required to have a sound business understanding as well.
This example, which can be applied to other business functions, has resulted in the emergence of a new hybrid manager where management capabilities can be incorporated into their skills pool. This in turn allows individuals to move their skills into industry-specific sectors and relate their knowledge to new markets.
The key is flexibility of approach and the desire to learn. Having left the comfort zone, the only sure way ahead for organisations and individuals is towards this more fulfilling professional life where the management of change becomes the management of opportunity.
This article is © Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here (www.charlesmacadam.com). Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited. www.emeraldinsight.com
