There is much talk of change management in companies and resistance to change, but this discipline is not systematized with a theoretical-practical framework.
This article deals with some references in this regard and draws attention to the perspective of ItegralMS (The Integral Management Society) of combining continuous improvement or organizational development programs with projects to facilitate the administration of change in the short term, and how to carry out something so challenging.
Change Management: An Innovative Approach
The concept of change management has not been fully understood despite the fact that the term is being used more and more frequently in corporate environments, if the meaning of each word is used, the concept really dissipates in a too wide horizon, for what is essential to clarify precisely what we mean by change management.
For example, all the company administration and management methodologies, technology, communication, everything that happens in an organization or to ourselves implies a change.
So does Change Management apply to everything? Which changes fall within the concept of change management and which do not?
The Integral Management Society, which is a society that studies the concept of change management and its implementation, limits the concept to the changes that are planned in order to improve; that is, the set of steps that lead to, for example, reducing risks or taking advantage of opportunities. Likewise, it also circumscribes its meaning to the changes produced within the organization that lead to its greater integration.
The administration of change is closely linked, then, to continuous improvement, it is a cause-effect chain whose result is the improvement or evolution of processes and results within an organization. However, the process of continuous improvement has major obstacles: resistance to change.
Resistance to change is generally associated with conflicts of interest or is understood as resistance in only one direction: the resistance is some people (generally some workers) to the change proposed by another (usually the Management) However, following the ideas of the psychological contract or transactional psychology or the Nudge Theory all people in an organization have very complex interests and motivations and, ultimately, perform actions, or do not perform them, for generally unconscious reasons. It is not a good and bad movie.
Although the psychological factors are very varied, the IntegralMS approach gathers all of these in only 3 that can cause resistance to change:
- Because the company's vision is not clear to everyone and the real dimension of the risk and opportunity diagnosis process has not been understood, because there is a conflict of interest or because the strategies and steps to follow to reach that vision are not clear.
And this is where, according to the model of The Integral Management Society, change management projects are differentiated from continuous improvement processes. Continual improvement sets medium to long-term goals and should combine them with short-term change “release” projects. This is a totally new approach that is called the New Perspective of Integral Administration.
Thus, the administration of change and the figure of the professional facilitator of change must be focused on facilitating a process of constant and fluid improvement in the organization and / or on a personal level for each of the workers. To do this, the company must establish a change management program, from which specific short-range projects emanate and which essentially focus on releasing concrete resistance to change that is preventing the process of continuous improvement in the company. If, on the contrary, these resistances are not treated, they will grow naturally according to their nature. On the contrary, by releasing these blockages in the processes, positive synergies are produced that revolutionize the process of continuous improvement in the company.
Always bearing in mind that it is not a matter of “overcoming” resistances but rather to dissolve them.
This is where the professional facilitator of change management enters the scene, this expert has the task of collaborating with all areas to design and support the implementation of actions aimed at generating synergy to nullify resistance and enhance the achievement of objectives. It is necessary to clarify that the professional facilitator does not replace any other professional in the area under evaluation.
The facilitator designs concrete actions aimed at unlocking resistance and achieving short and medium-term objectives, for which he uses a planned method, which differentiates him from facilitators who offer motivational courses.
In conclusion, natural adaptation to change is crucial for an organization in the same way that it is in nature, just like animals and plants, organizations formed by individuals will find whether they want to change conditions or not. The more effective the strategy is at dealing with change, the better the chances of success.
In times when the slogan is to adapt or perish, it is very necessary to adopt business philosophies that can be easily transmitted to us by experts and professionals who have already traveled the path.
References:
- New perspective of comprehensive administration:
