Business Management Skills

One of the pieces of engineered organizational change is Planning. Without planning no sought after corporate change is ever going to come off well. Not having a plan for change is like not having scheduled rehearsals for a new stage production. No one will show up, the lines won’t be learned, and the play will fail. Change efforts are subject to the same outcomes when planning is neglected.

Sticking with the metaphor, how will things turn out if the actors aren’t told what roles they have? What if they did not know which rehearsals they needed to attend? It would end in misery. For situations of corporate change, this would be like holding meetings but keeping the location secret? Or, announcing meetings but refusing to answer the question of who needs to be there. How would anyone realize they needed to attend? Would they accomplish any goals? Would anything happen on schedule? Naturally, none of that would come to pass.

No matter the degree of secrecy regarding the initiative, corporate change still demands disclosure to the relevant employees. Sooner or later, cards have to be put on the table. Beyond a certain point, it becomes counter-productive to keep people in the dark. To do a job, employees need to know the job is there to be done. What this amounts to is that in planning certain conditions have to met. To be completed satisfactorily, there are four major components to be dealt with in planning.

The creation of a master implementation schedule is an absolute must for effective change. Moreover, it must be communicated to those expected to carry it out. There is no substitute for an employee that knows what is happening. When implementation assignments are being distributed, face-to-face meetings are the best. This could translate to a lot of foot travel between offices, but in a crunch meeting with limited attendance can be almost as effective. The whole idea is make sure that goals are clearly communicated to the people who have to go make them happen. Schedule meetings on a regular basis. These can be a chance to evaluate progress or analyze a lack thereof. Finally, when there is success, celebrate it. Affirming success, particularly when corporate change is afoot, can keep people focused on the purpose and solidify team spirit.

Planning is a core piece of a satisfactory corporate change. The use of planning is much like the use of rehearsal schedules for theater companies. It keeps the focus on the goals that need to be achieved and when they need to be achieved. It is best achieved through a master implementation schedule, individual implementation assignments, and regular meetings for project review. When goals are met, make it a reason to celebrate. Corporate change can happen on schedule with judicious planning.

For more information, please see our website: Corporate Change