The pace of today’s business requires agility and the ability to change. But beware, “change” can be difficult on you, your staff, and your company. Sometimes change is accomplished with small steps, other times you might have to destruct the very structures that have taken your company to its current point of achievements.
This article will help you clarify your reason to take on the difficult task of change and to assess whether your employees are prepared to follow you.
Are you ready for change? Perhaps you can relate to one of these problems:
- Work has become the obsession of your life.
- It’s just not fun anymore.
- Complex decisions are becoming increasingly difficult.
- You have become increasingly less effective over time and may be suffering from burnout.
- The stress to address a new challenge is greater than maintaining the status quo, even if the company sales are not hitting projections, profits are below yours or industry expectations, or other inefficiencies are not being addressed.
If any of these 5 concepts or other pain points have struck a chord, then you may have reached a tipping point. Stay the course or accept the need to change.
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again
and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein
Your recognition is the first step to a different and better outcome. You have come to the healthy realization that change will bring benefits. But what about your team — are they ready for change? You want to grow the company, increase profits, but what is the advantage for your employees or key management staff? To double the company revenue, to increase profits by 3 percentage points — this will require you and your staff to work harder and smarter, and this is a tremendous commitment.
WIIFM — “What’s In It For Me?”
It is vital, to make the “changes” you seek, that your staff understand your motives, reasoning vision, and how they too could benefit. Without support of your staff, you and the company are not all rowing in the same direction. The next steps will determine if your company is ready to walk down the path of change. First meet once, twice, and three times with the key members of your staff to talk, share your reasons, lay out your vision and goals, listen attentively, seek input, work to understand their concerns, and explain what they too will gain from the efforts. Only when (and if) the key members understand and are ready to accept the changes you seek can everyone take the first steps toward implementing change.
Next Month:
Obtaining buy-in and identifying critical next steps