Member Article

How to manage and adapt to change

Most businesses will undergo change at some point in the pursuit of growth. It’s important to accept that change is inevitable and businesses will have to deal with it eventually; it’s a necessity that keeps businesses sharp.

In the current business environment, dealing with change can be a make or break point for businesses. Bloomberg published an article about a leading fast-food chain restaurant testing an app that allows customers to order and pay from their smartphones.

It’s a good example of change - showing that no matter how established a company is, it will have to deal with change and adapt to it.

In the same way, this blog will help leaders understand the possible causes of change a business will eventually have to deal with, and how to be prepared for them.

External Influence

Some changes are outside of the control of a business. Competitors can introduce a new product to the market, which makes the share prices of your product or company drop. There isn’t much you can do to prevent that.

Apple lost its momentum, also due to the growth in popularity of Samsung’s Android services Sources of external change can be social, political, legal technological, the list goes on. Examples can range from deregulation of markets or the introduction of new market regulators. The best way of managing and dealing with external change is being prepared to adapt.

Planning and preparing is important, so invest in forecasting to prevent being caught by surprise. Understanding that change is inevitable is the first step in adapting successfully.

Changes in the internal structure

Internal change can come from a variety of sources, and can be a cause of uncertainty. The most frequent reasons for internal change are companies cutting back or expanding, and this usually has a direct correlation with declining or climbing revenue levels.

The economic downturn in Britain and the rest of the world made for some fairly turbulent markets, and in turn, for some much-needed change.

Structural changes could mean moving offices and fewer members of staff, or of course, expansion and growth. In any case, identify leaders in the organisation to help plan and organise the changes. Create a team representing different levels and departments to discuss ideas about how to manage the change effectively. It helps in keeping the organisation focused in times of uncertainty.

Dealing with it

To get everyone on board and minimise the possibility of resistance against the new reality, leaders can create presentations describing what the company’s future will be like.

Give a short explanation of what such change involves and help employees understand what is happening, and for what reason. Change is inevitable, but when successfully dealt with, it has the potential to lead to a new, better way of working.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by durhamlane .