Why does organizational failure occur at such a high rate,
and
What can you do to avoid it?
Let’s say that you want to make a
change in your organization. It could be anything really — maybe you want the
sales team to embrace a new strategy or you want the entire office to implement
a new HR policy. Whatever the case, one thing is for certain: it won’t be
easy.
Even though we are living in a time
where business is conducted as Bill Gates once observed “at the speed of
thought,” employees tend to resist change
Why does organizational failure occur at such a high rate,
and
What can you do to avoid it?
1. Lack of Communication
No, it’s not that management fails
to communicate what the change is or what it should look like, but rather, they
fail to communicate why the change is needed. The number one reason why
organizational failure occurs is because the case for making a change is not
adequately articulated to the troops, and therefore, is never fully embraced.
So too your office. If you
articulate a clear, positive vision for the future and explain why that change
is necessary, the chances are much higher that your desired change will be
embraced.
2. Differing Agendas
Poor communication will have many
children. One of those will be staff members who resist the change due to ego
and self-interest. Without a full understanding of why a change is needed, some
employees will be threatened by it and thus will resist it out of perceived
self-interest; they need to protect their little fiefdom.
Another bastard child of poor
communication are those employees who will feel alienated or excluded. If, for
instance, the change is a top-down dictate where the team had no real chance to
give their input, the result will likely be people who don’t own the change and
therefore resist it.
4. A Lack of Leadership
It is incumbent upon management to
create an atmosphere where the troops buy into the new corporate vision. But if
employees feel alienated or otherwise don’t trust their higher-ups, getting
them to buy into any new direction will be quite difficult.
5. Poor Planning
Changing the direction of an
organization requires forethought. If the change is entered into willy-nilly,
or too quickly, or without a proper plan, a likely outcome will be a false
start, resistance, and/or eventual failure.
6. Lack of Commitment
If you really want to create a
change in your organization, there has to be a 100% commitment on the part of
the leadership. Once you have that, the same commitment should be expected of
everyone in the business. The desired change must be considered a rule, not an
option.
7. Poor Processes
Finally, success will require that
you give your team a means and process for implementing the desired change;
otherwise, their natural reaction to resist will persist.
Author Rick Maurer puts it this way:
Most people react to change by putting up a wall of protection. It is the job of
the leader in an organization to engage with those people so they truly
understand why the change is needed.
Basil Mbuna
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