by Maria
Elena Salazar, Productivity Consultant
Change Management is an inherent
element to any quality, productivity or improvement
project, and represents modifications to the “way of
living” inside a Company; as a consequence, it needs
to be handled in a strategic manner. During my
experience as consultant and key user of many diverse
kinds of projects, I have found that there are many
useful materials for assisting us in understanding
this key responsibility. Nevertheless, most of the
time we need to spend a quantity of time and resources
to understand and combine this concept with project
planning and implementation.
The context of this article is
to provide a quick reference to give people a starting
point and/or time to analyze and start thinking about
changing their organization, in conjunction with any
productivity or business improvement project.
The steps are mentioned with a
brief comment for reference. It is important that each
of the following points is completely covered before
starting with the following:
1. “Keep it simple”. We need
to be conscious that productivity means to do the best
with the least quantity of resources and effort,
following the baselines and policies that the Company
has. And need to start with our own responsibility.
2. Understand the concept of
change management. We will define it as a task for “putting
order in a chaotic situation, with a strategic scope”;
taking into consideration both internal and external
elements. Knowledge of General System Theory,
business, finances, productivity tools, as well as
interpersonal / analytical skills and management
perspective. As you can see, is not an easy job.
3. Understand and believe what
the Company wants. Ensure that there aren’t any
wrong corporate, organizational culture, mission or
vision objectives. Any human group has their own way
of living. This should exist even when it is not the
ideal for some people. Any organization should have a
road to follow and canalize their efforts. We need to
discover what is our path. This comes from top
management and our first question should be: where we
are and where we want to go?
On the other hand, we need
really to trust and believe in what we will be
defending, and this is the first filter of the plan.
If you disagree with the policies, goals, objectives,
etc. of your organization, you need first to discuss
it with your Management and/or look for another
activity. You can not “push against the flow”.
4. Decide which strategy to use
There are plenty of strategies in Change Management
that come from the “normative/educative”
strategies based on mutual commitment based on values
and cultural norms, until the “Coercive”
strategies based on authority power and “imposition
of sanctions”. The strategy to follow depends on
what you found in point number 3.
