Six Strategies for Managing Organizational Change

by Terry Welford
Pursuit, September 2006

Change, even good change, can be disruptive. It destroys the status quo and moves us into unfamiliar territory. So, even positive and useful change can cause stress.

When experiencing change, sometimes we feel like a free-falling, rookie skydiver. However, the skydiver learns strategies for maneuvering, gaining control, and falling safely. Like a skydiver, we need strategies for managing change-strategies that allow us to respond constructively, not emotionally.

Here are six strategies for managing change effectively:

• Make the positive choice. Change can have negative consequences but that doesn't have to be the case. You can choose the way you respond to change. Shift your focus to see the positives of change, and move towards a healthier response.
  
• Understand that change is a journey. Most people experience a four-phase emotional journey through change: comfort and control, learning, acceptance and commitment. Understanding how change affects us, enables us to move through these stages.
  
• Know what is creating change. Understanding the rationale behind change helps us to adjust. Therefore, identify the specific internal and external forces creating pressure for change. In organizations, external forces may include technology, government regulation, and customer demands. Internal pressures may include leadership, vision, and employee dissatisfaction. Understanding these forces can help to initiate and sustain the change.
  
• Replace a perceived loss with a gain. Many people approach change as if it foreshadows the loss of something important to them - power, independence, security, a feeling of competence, or connections. These perceptions make resisting change more likely. To manage change successfully, understand what are perceived to be the greatest losses and develop a plan to eliminate, reduce, or offset that perception with an opportunity.
  
• Communicate. The importance of regular communication is critical during stable times but it is even more important during times of change. Sharing as much information as possible about impending changes can reduce fears.
  
• Develop resilience. People are blessed with varying levels of resilience, which influences whether they view change as a danger or an opportunity. Resilience is made up of several qualities: self-assurance, personal vision, flexibility, organizational skills, problem-solving skills, interpersonal competence, social connections and a proactive approach. Developing personal resilience will help people to thrive amidst the turmoil of change.
  

These are just a few of the strategies that can help organizations diffuse emotion and overcome the resistance, fear, and cynicism typically associated with change.

"This is my third class with Terry Welford. It was great as usual!!"
- Patricia W. Veasey, CPA
Quaker Valley Foods, Inc.