Change management consulting for your change

Change Management: Definition

Change management is a systematic approach to introducing and implementing change within an organization in an effective and smooth manner. This systematic process helps to manage the impact of new business processes, changes in organizational structure or cultural shifts within an organization. It involves structured processes and activities that are carried out at an organizational, team or individual level to facilitate the transition from a current state to a desired future state.

In a business context, change management can be used for a variety of changes, including organizational restructuring, implementation of new technologies, process improvements, changes in corporate culture, strategy shifts, and more.

The main objective of change management is to introduce change in a way that minimizes negative impacts on employees and the business, reduces resistance to change, and increases employee acceptance and engagement. Effective involvement, communication, training and support can motivate employees to support the change and integrate it effectively and profitably into their daily work.

Factors for a successful transformation

At its core, every change is made by people and for people - and therefore only works with and through people. It is therefore important to align a transformation through leadership, to inform and involve employees and - where necessary - to train them. Changing an entire organization initially seems like an immense challenge. And you know what? It is. But if you transform your company in small, manageable steps, you have the best basis for achieving your big goal. We have been supporting organizations with change projects for more than 20 years. In this practice, the following factors have crystallized for the success of a sustainable transformation:

• Status quo: A shared view of the current state of the organization is important as a starting point for change. In order to achieve a legitimized status quo, a status quo analysis is useful. This involves creating a common picture of the starting point together with the organization. What is the current way of working? What is the current structure? What are the current challenges? A status quo analysis answers these and other questions and assesses the results in relation to the business objectives. Different perspectives from different roles (e.g. teams, management) are brought together to form a common picture. This allows the organization to know where it stands.
  
• Leadership: Managers lead the change and are responsible for the success of the change project. Managers act as trailblazers who not only communicate the target image clearly and regularly, but also create the necessary framework conditions so that the organization can change. 
  Successful leadership is characterized by the fact that it not only develops strategies, but is also actively part of the change and acts as a role model. This includes removing obstacles and supporting the organization during implementation.
• Iterative and incremental approach: A change project is complex, as the effects of change steps cannot be predicted in their entirety. For this reason, an empirical approach is recommended. Proceeding in incremental and small steps supports the handling of complexity. During this process, it is important to evaluate the progress of the steps and make adjustments if necessary. This ensures that the solution developed in the change project is optimally geared towards achieving the business objectives.
• Empowerment: Empowerment is the basis for the change to be implemented. During a change, people are empowered to perform and behave in the way required by the change. They learn to understand and exercise their role and responsibility in the target picture. This can take place in various formats: Training, workshops or individual support such as coaching or mentoring. In this way, empowerment becomes a building block for the acceptance of change and a reduced occurrence of resistance.
• Participation: Participation is an element for the sustainable anchoring of changes and acceptance. This means that those affected are involved in the process at an early stage so that their perspectives and expertise can be incorporated into the solutions. This ensures that the solutions are feasible and effective. A high level of participation promotes motivation to actively implement the change.
• Track impact: As the change is implemented, it is important to regularly evaluate the effectiveness and benefits quantitatively and qualitatively - to identify whether the change is moving towards the target picture or whether corrections are needed. This can be done, for example, by collecting feedback, conducting evaluations or analyzing data.
• Communication: Regular communication creates transparency, trust and acceptance among those involved. Regularity is important in order to anchor the change in the organization's consciousness. Fundamental communication is carried out by the management, e.g. to make decisions made comprehensible and understandable. Communication must not be one-sided, it must be designed as a dialog. This enables the organization to process and implement what has been communicated.
• Orchestrating change: Orchestrating change means managing the entire change project holistically. Orchestration includes the planning, implementation and evaluation of measures that are necessary to achieve the economic benefits of the target image. At the same time, it ensures that the success factors are implemented during the change process. Successful orchestration is characterized by a structured and adaptive approach in order to be able to react to unforeseen challenges. This enables the complex change to be designed as an incremental and iterative process aimed at progress and sustainable success. A change team is usually established for successful orchestration.
  

wibas supports your organizational development with change management principles

We support you in approaching change in such a way that it is aligned with your company's business objectives. In other words, a change with us is individually tailored to the needs of your organization. We help you to understand the principles of change in order to redesign your company's organizational development and support it with appropriate techniques or interventions. We work as part of your transformation team and provide you with an external perspective and feedback in addition to the procedures. With impact monitoring, we make transparent how well the change is working in your company and measure the degree of target achievement - at any time during your change process. In this way, we can always react together in good time and make any necessary corrections. As experts in organizational development, we have many years of change experience and achieve success in small organizations as well as in very large ones with thousands of employees;