Implementing Change in the Department - Research Paper Example

Implementing Change By Implementing Change The manager’s role and responsibility in implementing change in the department Scholars have noted that the title of a manager in a specific organization or work place comes along with a realm of duties. Most of the duties are supervisory in nature, hence will be at times required to make certain decisions that require implementation hence change. Changes within work place, in many a times, is note received with positivity. Worth noting though, having changes in a department usually come with positive results. But how different employees perceive the change is what matters. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the manager to ensure that all the employees embrace the changes positively. This is because changes in office can bring about stress and anxiety among the employees (Rothwell, 2001). There are a number of ways that a manager can use to successfully implement changes in the department. Communicate with the employees Communication in any organization is vital. It is the role of the managers to ensure that communication channels are followed and the right message is conveyed and in time. As a manager, therefore, if there are changes in the organization that might either in the short run or long run affect one’s specific department, it is vital to make the communication to the workers in that department in time. Earlier information helps to ease the effects of change. Embrace the positive sides of the change and share it with your workers. When the employees see that their leader is positive with the upcoming change, then they will accept. This thus results to good performance within the said department. Avoid favors When the changes are focusing to a specific department, it can be a source of conflicts and disagreements between the employees from the other departments. It is the duty of the manager to explain to all other workers why the change is focusing a particular department and not all. This is to help curb the feeling of unfairness among the workers, (Britain, 2007). Invite suggestions from the employees After giving out the necessary information regarding the change, invite suggestions from the employees. Also, let them ask questions regarding the upcoming changes and answer them appropriately. Communication helps in making the transition smooth. Implement the change When communicating about the change, it is important to give a timeframe of when it is going to happen. Delay on implementation may raise anxiety among the employees. Have goals that are timely and learn to keep promises, (Rothwell, 2001). In case the change is not implemented as earlier stated, inform your employees and give reasons behind the delay. Be a good manager Mange well the department changes and make everyone understand the importance of the change (Williams, 2015). Do not be too bossy and just impose changes on the staff members. The employees may resist and be against you. Understand their needs and address them well. Give solutions to whenever problem arises. Respect every staff and handle them well. How to successfully handle staff resistance to change Not all people accept changes at the same rate. There are some workers who will accept change within a short period of time while others tend to resist. There are ways in which the manager can handle the resistance to change successfully. Involve participation from all employees When every staff is participating actively towards the change it will help curb resistance. Once people participate, they own the idea and accept it. Additionally, they can make suggestions towards the change, (Williams, 2015). Initiate a dialogue Have a dialogue with the employee who is resistant to change. Get to know the reasons behind the resistance and explain why the department needs the change. Give the advantages of the change. As the dialogue continues you will be able to deal with the resistance successfully. Always be prepared to handle resistance When working with many people from different backgrounds, it is good to be always prepared to handle resistance. These issues will always be there because of change initiation. When you are prepared, you will be able to handle the resistance effectively, (Britain, 2007). Do not ignore the resistant staff It is usually tempting for one to go with the majority and ignore the minority. This will create unhealthy job relationships between the leader and some staff. Even if it is only one member, take time and talk with them. Let them feel they are equally important as the rest of the employees who have accepted the change (Rothwell, 2001). This will improve the personal esteem and with time they will be able to accept the changes. Knowledge management The culture of change in the department and in the organization can be effectively handled through knowledge management, (Heier, 2004). Charles Darwin said, “Survival is not determined by how strong or intelligent a species is but survival is determined by the acceptance to change.” Thus, the more the staffs are knowledgeable the more they will embrace change. Knowledge helps people to employ critical thinking. Organizational learning It is essential to have organizational learning sectors where workers interact with their leaders. These sessions will inform the staff on the emerging issues that are in the department and organization (Heier, 2004). Learning is continuous and no one ever gets enough of the knowledge. Continuous organizational learning will help handle the culture of change. People will become more radical and will embrace changes as they come. These platforms help the staff to understand that the leaders embrace change too. Transformational leadership The culture of change begins from the leaders to the staff. The leaders are the first people to embrace change so that they can pass the knowledge to the employees. If the leaders are resistant to change, then automatically the employees will not embrace the change. In addition, when changing the leaders, it is good to nurture the incoming manager, (Williams, 2015). It should be done as a process also to give time the employees to adapt to the new manager. Abrupt changes affect the responsiveness to changes. The staff should be prepared psychologically that they will be expecting a new leader. Through the transformational leadership the culture of change will be improved. References Britain, G. (2007). Managing Successful Programmes. London: National governemnt publication. Heier, H. (2004). Change Paradigms in the Setting of Knowledge Management Systems. Wiesbaden: Deutscher Universiitatsverlag. Rothwell, W. J. (2001). The Manager and the Change Leader. Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training and Development. Williams, C. (2015). Effective Management. Alexandria. Read More