Modern enterprises operate in a very dynamically changing environment. In addition, they are constantly under the pressure of continuous development and achieving a competitive advantage. They are not without significance also the constantly growing and more and more individualized customer requirements. A change in an organization, understood as a transformation, adaptation, transformation, change, reconstruction, evolution or revolution, is in fact any significant modification of any element of the company's activity. One that may be triggered by internal forces or external factors. The internal forces can also reflect external forces.
An organization's ability to change includes the effective management of individual activities undertaken in the course of its business. The challenge is to introduce changes in such a way as to maintain organizational and image coherence, with the simultaneous dynamics of activities aimed at development and improvement of the current situation. Organizations must therefore constantly develop their adaptability, innovation and flexibility. Otherwise, they can treat change as a crisis and introduce it instead of managing it crisis management.
Why is a change in the organization a necessity?
Due to the complexity of the processes taking place in the environment and their unpredictability, organizations are constantly looking for a new perspective for their presence on the market. Change is the natural path of development of any organization. In order to achieve its goals in a constantly changing environment, the company has to modify its moves. The change is therefore a kind of price that the company incurs in return for being able to stay on the market.
The changes differ in scope and scale of operation, as well as in the place they concern. The goal of large and radical changes of a strategic nature is to increase the competitiveness of an organization by changing the way it operates and changing the offer, technology or sales markets. On the other hand, smaller changes taking place at the operational level usually concern one aspect of the company's activity and result mainly from the current needs.
J.How is the process of change going?
Changes may be planned or unplanned. They can be of a technical and technological, economic, organizational, personal and informational nature. They can relate to the company's management structure, production, logistic or organizational processes. Changes may also occur in another field. In the area of material and personal resources, i.e. people, tasks assigned to them, communication, competences and relations between them.
The introduction of a specific change in one area usually causes specific effects and the need to introduce further changes in other areas of the organization's functioning. Organization development phases they are also about change. So we are dealing with an endless process, permanently inscribed in the company's activity.
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Stages of the process of changes in the organization
The organization's activity is based on constant change. It covers the effective management of individual projects with a clearly defined start and end. At the same time, these activities can be related to each other or run independently. As for the change itself, we treat it as a three-stage process consisting of:
- Balance
- Rapid change
- Stabilization
Change is a disruptive event that it undermines current status quo, i.e. patterns and ways of functioning of the enterprise. The organization's ability to change helps resolve the conflict between change and stabilization as it involves making changes and effectively maintaining daily activities at the same time.
Development strategy requires thoughtful and effective actions. In turn, introducing changes in the organization requires combining opposites and resolving many dilemmas. Concerning, for example, the scope of changes and the pace of introduced modifications, as well as the creative use of tension resulting from diversity, uncertainty and the conflict of specific values and goals.
In order to effectively recognize the need for change, it is necessary to use an early warning system. What is it characterized by? It is aimed at capturing stimuli coming from the external and internal environment and their proper interpretation in terms of causes and goals. The balance between stability and change is helped by the introduction of a kind of "organizational routine", i.e. specific operating procedures.
How to effectively introduce changes in the organization?
Effective introduction of changes is a key factor in the functioning of all organizations that want to survive and succeed in a competitive and changing business environment. The importance of an organization's ability to change is growing in highly competitive industries, where the advantage can be quickly destroyed as a result of typical imitation.
The key to success is treating change as an opportunity and opportunity for development. Brand strategy should it include. Organizations with a positive change orientation are more effective in implementing change than organizations that perceive change as a negative and risky phenomenon. Changes can be carried out in the form of simple improvements, in a team or even individually, and one of the best tools for planning and implementing changes is project management.
The effects of change management in the company
Factors necessary for the effective implementation of changes in the enterprise include: credible leadership, trust in the changes of other employees, awareness of achieving a specific goal, organizational culture based on innovation and responsibility, the willingness to undertake innovative activities, the ability to carefully manage resources and effective communication. The recognition of the need for changes in the enterprise is influenced primarily by the awareness of the organization's strengths and weaknesses. It is also necessary to set the goals of the company, as well as to create conditions for bottom-up initiative of employees in the area of streamlining and perfecting the processes and tasks performed.
In change management, the ability to integrate activities of different nature is particularly noticeable. With the participation of different tools and the use of different skills. It is also no less important communication strategy. As a tool not only to inform, but also to involve interested parties in various activities related to introducing changes.