Organizations have to periodically make major changes in processes.  While these changes are sometimes inspired by poor results, they are often inspired by changes in customer behavior or an increased competitive threat.  Whatever the reason, big changes aren’t to be taken lightly.

Both Forbes and Small Business Trends have recently written articles on Change Management.  No organization should embark on major changes without a plan.  Three months into the change initiative, there needs to be a way to measure whether the changes are leading to the results that were initially expected, and those expectations need to be laid out before the results are analyzed.

Also, as the Forbes article points out, employees are rarely excited to hear that their job will be changing in a major way – a Change Management Plan helps to explain the reasons the changes are being introduced, along with the expected results.  This allows employees to understand why change was undertaken and benchmark their success in achieving the intended goals. As is the case with most employee initiatives, the more you communicate about the changes, including the why, the more likely the initiative will be successful.

Make sure you incorporate technology requirements into your Change Management Plan!  Changes in employee processes can be obvious, but sometimes your technology will need to change to allow these new processes to happen seamlessly.

Don’t get caught in a change initiative that did not factor in the technology implications, or resources needed. Will your changes require higher bandwidth?  Better remote data access?  If you’re planning to implement new software as part of the process, will that software require a rethinking of your network?  One of the biggest advantages of a Change Management Plan is that you don’t discover major flaws in your plan in the middle of implementation.  With the proper planning, technology won’t make Change Management harder – it will make it easier.

Are you considering major changes at your company? Do you want to learn how WingSwept can make those changes easier?  Call us at 919-779-0954 or contact us online!