Leaders must prepare for change
Effective leadership need to be in place at all levels in the organisation, if incompetent leaders are in place, the organization will not be motivated to adapt and change.
Employees needs to be personally motivated to change. Change happens when people are sufficiently dissatisfied with the status quo and are willing to make the effort and accept the risks involved in doing something new.
The company culture needs to be accustomed to collaboration. Effective change demands collaboration between willing and motivated parties.
Key parameters that senior executives need to do:
- Share information freely. Information is the lifeblood of any organization.
- Help people see why the change is necessary. During times of change, getting and disseminating information is critical to operating effectively, flexibly, and quickly.
- Encourage participation within your team. Allow others to make informed decisions, rather than imposing your own. This will increase employee autonomy and empower your team members to do their best work.
- Make communication a two-way process. Talk but also listen, especially to people who are resistant to change.
- Get into the trenches with frontline employees to better understand the day-to-day issues they face.
- Push decision making down to the lowest levels possible. Give people practice in collaborative work between functions by tackling problems and assigning projects through cross-functional teams.
Change is part of the new normal. Outperforming leaders will be those who help their people get ready. Although creating a culture that is ready for change is not easy, it will be worth it. As a senior executive one must look “outside in” to embrace the developments outside the industry that have the potential to radically change what is happening within it. One must create internal cultures of innovation willing to embrace rapidly changing ways of doing things. One will need to “resist short-term thinking” and keep focused on the long-term changes that these technologies can bring to their business.