Schlagwort-Archive: Cooperation

The biggest mistake in Change management

The world changes the Homo sapiens and the Homo sapiens changes the world. And for sure these alterations happened with pain. Who really knows how many people burned their fingers with the discovery of the fire or struck their fingers painfully in the invention of hand axes. Innumerable humans paid with their life the spreading and the changing of religions and political systems. If today enterprises introduce huge changes, many employees are concerned. Nevertheless the leading team makes again and again the largest error in Change management.

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Everything starts with change pressure. This results from the will for change or the psychological strain of the management team. Depending on whether the decision makers want to new or away from unwanted procedures and behavior, they have to overcome different hurdles.

Heading for new shores contains much positive energy. This eases the definition of the direction. The way out of problematic routines has to overcome more negative energy, in order to find its way. In both cases it is important to bring the strategy into a structure, so that the concerned people of the involved areas understand what has to be achieved.

The participation is an important pre-requisite, so that the new ideas have at all an opportunity to be realized. For this purpose, the integration of the people, who have to change, is crucial at an as early as possible stage. The transformation, in which the target group participates in the development, can be easier realized.

Change always happens in the mind of individual people. The proverbial „Nuremberg funnel” unfortunately does not exist. Everybody has to achieve the transformation by themselves. Managers have no other chance than ensuring attractive perspectives for all people.

Some management teams believe that it is sufficient to define the direction. The employees have no other choice than going along with the change. Unfortunately this is not the way it goes. The resistances that unfold unnoticed in the daily business can prevent the complete initiative.

Many limit themselves to lavish marketing and communication measures. They hope that the prepared messages convince the employees to join in. For an inexplicable reason, they however avoid the direct contact to the target group. Therefore it is important to establish feedback channels that allow determining difficulties before they grow and than will only be dissolved with very large expenditure.

Effective Change management worries about the smooth operational sequence of the activities. For this purpose the direct contact to the working groups and the target people is important. The biggest mistake in Change management that the leadership team can make is to stay away from the target group during the changes by only involving representatives. That way you do not get the necessary feedback that would facilitate to adapt oneself to the new world for all involved people.

The following aspects lead to hurdles and abysses that overload needlessly the transformation.

  • Too little information,
  • Too little participation,
  • Too little cooperation and
  • Too little listening to the concerned people.

Bottom line: The biggest mistake in the Change management is not to consider the target areas. Frequent publications and official endorsement by the decision makers as well as an intact mutual exchange of opinions and mental states are the basis for successful changes.

The too tightly held egg breaks

Every time I take an egg in my hand, I pay attention that it does not slip out and breaks on the ground. At the same time, I avoid making a too strong grasp, so that I do not break it. I am aware that the shell is stable, but nevertheless the careless pressure could crack it.
Aren’t executives not in a similar situation? They lead the employees and ensure that they adhere to the sets of rules that result from the laws, the corporate guidelines, contracts and other arrangements. As with the egg, the leaders have to create the balance between a too loose and a too tight guidance. If results are missing or the employees withdraw their respect, then the leader forfeits his authority. If the manager controls too pedantic, then he risks the staff commitment and loses employees through fluctuation in the mid-term. In any case the danger exists that the basis for cooperation will be broken.

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In the past executives could grow into their tasks by accompanying experienced superiors. Today, after graduating, a few internships and some short professional experiences, one can already get assigned to an executive position. This trend is amplified by HR policies in large companies, which rely more and more on assessments in artificial „lab conditions “. We can recognize these bosses from their work style. They are characterized by their Micro Management, the taking over of project functions and thereby missing out the leading.

The following leadership tasks are crucial, in order to accomplish the guiding role.

  • Communication
    The regular exchange of thoughts, opinions and facts is particularly important and at the same time very time-consuming in groups. The more employees are directly assigned, the more time is needed for the exchange of thoughts and the less time is available for each employee. It takes time for personal talks as well as for different forms of conversation (e.g. fireside chats, coffee talks, powwows). Besides personal discussions the comprehension of the employees is increased by publishing regularly important topics as emails, newsletters or a personal intranet page.
  • Coordination
    The skimpiest alternative of coordination is the command chain with their order and obedience. It is actually clear for most people that this model is no longer workable. Who would like to be led in such a manner! For this reason there are today further mechanisms for coordination, e.g. agreements, targets or the Linking pins. This naturally requires more time, than simply issuing an order. In the long run, however, the involved people learn to act autonomously. Then the remaining effort happens particularly in the information exchange.
  • Cooperation
    Also executives are forced to work together with others. For this purpose an environment should be created, that facilitates teamwork. Apart from the necessary equipment with spaces and media, workshops offer a setting outside of everyday life. In these work groups people coordinate the direction of the area and business models as well as the culture.

In all cases it is crucial to find the right balance between demanding and promoting. It is not a matter of not being able to exert pressure, but to create with the right leadership results AND to keep the acceptance, motivation and commitment of the employees.

Bottom line: Leadership is a critical task, since it has a large influence on the economic well-being of the company. It is an important contribution, in order to keep the teams on track and to provide them with sufficient hold. The same way as the too loosely or too firmly held egg breaks, the efficiency of a team stands and falls with too little or too much leadership.

See also: Out of the liability