Change management means planning changes in an organisation and implementing them in a structured process. Selected measures are defined to transform departments or even the entire organisation from an initial state to a defined target state. And this is particularly important in the case of digitalisation. Many companies focus on digitisation projects. But they can introduce the best systems: If the employees are not involved in the change processes at an early stage and thus acceptance for the planned transformation is not promoted from the beginning, the system will not work in everyday life.
Change management is not to be confused with just any change. It is not about changing individual processes – that would not be change in this sense. Change management is about fundamental change. In the course of digital transformation, this takes place in the areas of technology, processes, organisation and culture. When such a fundamental change is imminent, employees typically react with a negative attitude, are possibly afraid of losing their jobs or are not convinced by the digitalisation strategy. In this context, many thoughts and questions arise: Is my work still important? Can I cope with the new processes? Will digitalisation change my status? In order to reduce scepticism, excessive demands or a negative attitude, it is important to involve the employees from the very beginning.
Implementing Change Management Successfully
Systematic planning, implementation and control as well as special communication of the changes serve as a basis to ensure that the innovations are accepted step by step and are effective.
Successful change management includes …
… a clear objective: the company management should develop a long-term digitisation strategy and clearly state the vision.
… transparent communication: employees should be clearly informed about the goals, benefits and progress of digitalisation. Dialogue, not monologue, is what counts. Good communicative integration is needed here to create a consensus and enable a permanent exchange.
… a high level of adaptability: Digital transformation is an iterative process that is regularly adapted and improved. It is important that the company is flexible in order to quickly and effortlessly map changes in technology, market conditions and customer requirements in the digitalised processes.
How The Right Communication Drives Successful Change Management
For this purpose, a change management and communication plan is created: Here the challenges, risks and communication groups as well as the readiness for change and resistance to change are identified. Which employees receive which information? What can, want and should employees contribute? Where is there particularly strong resistance? The communication groups have different levels of prior knowledge and readiness for change and communication is adapted accordingly. How deep the differentiation in the communication strategy goes depends on individual factors of the project. In order to increase acceptance for the transformation, it is important to clarify the added value in addition to comprehensible, trustworthy and clear communication. Routine tasks, for example, are automated, which frees up employees for more interesting tasks. When developing a communication plan, strategies are worked out to reduce resistance in the team, for example through training.
Digital transformation processes should always be implemented with change management. It is a decisive success factor for digitalisation in SMEs. THE MAK`ED TEAM supports companies in their digital transformation. We create communication concepts that actively involve employees in the change processes, motivate them and at the same time help employees develop the necessary digital skills. After implementation, we measure the success and progress of the digital measures. THE MAK`ED TEAM ensures that our medium-sized clients benefit from the effective implementation of change management in digitalisation. With our interdisciplinary team and iterative implementation, we enable a smooth introduction of new technologies, improved process efficiency, higher customer satisfaction and stronger competitiveness.
