::Leading Change in a difficult environment::

"In the change from being a caterpillar to becoming a butterfly, you're nothing more than a yellow, gooey sticky mess."

You have to stop being a caterpillar in order to become a butterfly. Change is not always a conscious decision. Change will occur, inevitably. We can choose to be active participants in change or not. Metamorphosis is an uncontrollable process with an unclear result. It is dangerous to think you know the answer unless you allow the process of change itself.

What is Change?
… to make different is some particular processes or activities, to make radical different (Transform) or to give a different position, course or direction.

What is most recurrent in this definitions is ‘Different(ce)’.
Changes are important in every aspect of our lives. Be it at home or at work. Managing it is the major challenge people face. Personal changes are most likely easy to deal with, but corporate changes are not. This is so because of the number of people (views) involved.

Best practices state the following when managing changes
• Design a Process
• Write Procedures
• Communicate the Plan

These processes are very important as different people have different views and perception of what should be. In designing a process, you require everybody’s inputs as to make them have a buy-in into the vision of the change.

A change that is not autonomous is as good as a personal goal set for a group of people. You need to get everyone together on the same page with the change before execution. If you don’t, you are going to face a lot of challenges managing issues that will come up during the implementation period.

Write the vision and the methodology for carrying out these changes as you need it to keep your team in line. If you fail to write it down, you will have different people going in different direction. Management alone cannot plan for change, execute it and expect the whole team to drive with it.

These changes will definitely affect the day-to-day activities of the team, hence a need for their buy-in. you require more than the bodies of your team but also their Souls.

While changes can be perceived as positive or negative, it is important to set clear target for the team. Man I say is a product of Nature and Nurture, given way to the way we interpret events and perceive others view to same. Human Behaviour defines Culture. Culture reflects the need for order.

The reasons for resistance are usually some the following:
• Self-interest
• Fear of the unknown
• Differing perceptions
• Suspicion
• Conservatism

While managing changes requires looking at all the dimensions such as;
• Past history in putting change in place
• Degree of sponsorship
• Authenticity of sponsorship
• Organisational and individual current stress
• Who will be impacted by the change
• Cultural fit of the change
• Addressing “what is in it for me”
• Communication of the change and its progress
• Skill sets of the change agents

Lessons to be Learned
1. Develop a compelling Vision
2. Change is a Journey
3. Understand and own the Past
4. Build strong, omitted management coalition
5. Identify all the people who are affected or who need to be involved
6. Analyze Their readiness for change
7. Start where people are most receptive
8. People don’t resist their own ideas
9. Manage the driving force as well as the restraining forces
10. Establish a darn good reason to change
11. Say it once, say it twice and say it again
12. But monitor the communications
13. Encourage the heart
14. Show results – early and often
15. Prepare for ‘Implementation dip’
16. Validate the feelings of people
17. Don’t resist Resistance
18. Facilitate, Rather than just Train
19. Use a variety of mediums to build competency in the change
20. Recognise every person is a change agent
21. Finally, celebrate everyone