True to the popular quote ‘change is the only constant’, there is so much change happening around us. How we work has undergone significant change. How we entertain ourselves has changed. Medium of our communication has completely changed. How we commute has changed.
Lifestyles of people have changed in almost in all aspects. And people are not disconnected from the business world. What we consume is supplied by some business or the other. For e.g., companies like Amazon have made us change, how we buy stuff? Uber has changed how we commute. COVID has changed how we work. Netflix has changed how we entertain ourselves. Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / YouTube has changed how we keep ourselves informed and updated. LinkedIn has changed how we connect & exchange ideas. Smartphones, internet and technology have changed how we engage in the world, how we spend time, how we read, how we listen to music, how we chat with our friends, how we share our feelings with the world, how we make friends.
Businesses have leveraged technology innovation to create, design and offer better and a convenient products or services. Businesses have changed how they do business by innovating new business models. They have disrupted old models of doing business which have abruptly faded.
Like Charles Darwin said, those who adapted, survived and those who did not are struggling.
Organizations which are unable to cope with the sudden force of the tide of change are struggling to find their feet in the new business world.
Main reasons why organizations are struggling are because
- Organizations are so engrossed & consumed in make the ends meet in their current business using the conventional business models that they are caught completely unaware from where their business is under attack. They are constantly operating in a firefighting mode. They are still trying to work with old rules, old structures, old principles of managing and leading without realizing that the old rules have become irrelevant in the new business world. They don’t seem to get a hint from the challenges they are facing. They are in DENIAL or no AWARENESS stage.
- Some might be convinced that they need to change urgently and may also have an idea of the new direction but are struggling to find answers to where do they begin in their whole complex maze of myriad of business variables? FRUSTRATION or CONFUSED stage.
- Some may have taken the first step but are unable to align the rest of their organization towards this newfound direction that they are dealing with resistance and more internal conflicts. Lack of KNOW-HOW stage.
What could businesses do?
There are two key changes every business must include in their daily business.
- Business innovation to
- Value innovation: Continuously find better ways to enhance value to the customer/consumer.
- Competitiveness: Find better ways to increase their competitiveness/uniqueness of your proposal to the customer/consumer.
- Invest in studying how the needs of their existing customer are evolving. How the unmet needs can be met.
- Business model / Cost optimization: Finding ways to radically change their business models and cost structures.
2. Manage Change proactively to
Any change triggers a series of questions & emotional responses in the minds of the workforce and partners. Unless addressed, undercurrents & unanswered concerns lead to the sub-optimal outcomes of projects.
If people are not aligned, are not prepared, are not made ready
- People would have no or varied degree of conviction about the change.
- People continue to hold their differing perceptions about the relevance of the change to the organization’s strategic direction & its benefits
- With differing convictions/perceptions – organization energy is under-leveraged because people would pull the organization in different directions.
- People don’t adopt the change wholeheartedly (absence of a will, they don’t see it supporting their work, they don’t understand it, not trained)
- Tend to fall back to old ways/behaviors / work practices which they are comfortable with
- Make errors while using the new methods (training was ineffective)
- Learn on their own how to use/acquire the new models/behaviors but time is lost
- During the time they learn, productivity is low
- In the chaos or uncertain situation, good talent is lost (often they are the first ones to leave)
- The company does not get the desired benefits
- Invest in managing change to minimize the collateral damage as you are trying to transition from your current business model/structure/technology/product to the new one.
