Strategies for Managing Change Effectively

This is helpful particularly for leaders that have been assigned to a new school or environment. Managing change effectively requires moving the organization from its current state to a future desired state at minimal cost to the organization. Bateman and Zeithaml identified three steps for managers to follow in implementing organizational change:
Diagnose the current state of the organization. This involves identifying problems the company faces, assigning a level of importance to each one, and assessing the kinds of changes needed to solve the problems.
Design the desired future state of the organization. This involves picturing the ideal situation for the company after the change is implemented, conveying this vision clearly to everyone involved in the change effort, and designing a means of transition to the new state. An important part of the transition should be maintaining some sort of stability; some things—such as the company's over-all mission or key personnel—should re-main constant in the midst of turmoil to help reduce people's anxiety.
Implement the change. This involves managing the transition effectively. It might be helpful to draw up a plan, allocate resources, and appoint a key person to take charge of the change process. The company's leaders should try to generate enthusiasm for the change by sharing their goals and vision and acting as role models. In some cases, it may be useful to try for small victories first in order to pave the way for later successes.
"Successfully changing an enterprise requires wisdom, prescience, energy, persistence, communication, education, training, resources, patience, timing, and the right incentives, " John S. McCallum wrote in the Ivey Business Journal. "Successfully leading and managing change is and will continue to be a front-burner responsibility for executives. Prospects are grim for enterprises that either cannot or will not change. Indeed, no industry member is quite so welcome as the one that steadfastly refuses to keep up."






FURTHER READING:
Adebanjo, Dotun. "Corporate Restructuring: Managing the Change Problem from Within." Leadership and Organization Development Journal. September 1996.
Austin, Mary Ruth. "Managing Change." Manage. August 1997.
Bateman, Thomas S., and Carl P. Zeithaml. Management: Function and Strategy. Homewood, IL: Irwin, 1990.
Dove, Rick. "The Principles of Change." Automotive Manufacturing and Production. March 1997.
Hurst, David K. "When It Comes to Real Change, Too Much Objectivity May Be Fatal to the Process." Strategy and Leader-ship. March-April 1997.
Maurer, Rick. "Transforming Resistance." HR Focus. October 1997.
McCallum, John S. "The Face Behind Change." Ivey Business Quarterly. Winter 1997.
Recardo, Ronald J. "Overcoming Resistance to Change." National Productivity Review. Spring 1995.
Schwartz, Andrew E. "Eight Guidelines for Managing Change." Supervisory Management. July 1994.
Trahant, Bill, W. Warner Burke, and Richard Koonce. "Twelve Principles of Organizational Transformation." Management Review. September 1997.
Wallington, Patricia M. "Making Change." CIO. April 1, 2000.